KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Kelantan’s fifth position in the inaugural Malaysia Happiness Index (MHI) 2021 is a testament to how happy and satisfied its residents are "even if there are problems”, according to its Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah.

News portal Malaysiakini today reported Mohd Amar pointing out that both Kelantan and neighbouring Terengganu under PAS-rule outscored more "advanced” states like Selangor under the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

"We are among the happy states. Happy means that the people are satisfied, the people are happy even if there are problems. That is why we are included in the happiness index.

"We got a score of 7.0, slightly different from Terengganu’s 7.2.

"Compared to Selangor’s 5.0, it is much different. That is a state that is said to be intelligent, ruled by Pakatan Harapan, the land is abundant, the state is rich, but the people are not happy,” he was quoted as saying.

Mohd Amar was also reported to tell Kelantan residents to think about what they wanted out of life and not be swayed by parties seeking to change the government.

"So we choose what we want in life, what do we as voters and citizens want?

"We have to think, not simply follow calls to change the government,” he was quoted saying.

The news report did not indicate if he elaborated on the context, but Mohd Amar’s remarks followed the release of the first-ever Malaysia Happiness Index (MHI) 2021 on July 22, based on a nationwide survey conducted by the Department of Statistics.

The survey has 73 indicators covered under the 13 components of MHI, namely family, housing and environment, social participation, health, communication facilities, education, working life, income, public safety, time use, religion and spiritual, culture and emotional experience.

Happiness was measured on a score of one to 10 from very unhappy to very happy.

The first top three happiest places were all in the three Federal Territories. Labuan took first place with a score of 9.29, followed by Kuala Lumpur (7.77) and Putrajaya (7.28).

In fourth place was Terengganu (7.20), followed by Kelantan (7.02).

The sixth to 10th spots were Perlis (6.96), Pahang (6.75), Johor (6.69), Sarawak (6.69), and Negri Sembilan (6.68).

Penang (6.65), Kedah (6.59), Perak (6.35), and Sabah (6.28) rounded up the remainder of the "happy” states.

Two states that scored less than six, which indicate their residents are moderately happy, were Melaka (5.85) and Selangor (5.74).