‘People in rural areas happier’

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians living in rural areas are happier than those living in the cities, according to a study conducted by the Malaysian Urban Rural National Indicators Network on Sustainable Development (MURNInets).

The study, conducted last year, found that 72 out of the 101 local authorities involved in the survey had scored the happy level.

A total of 40 out of the 72 local authorities were in the district council category.

Of the 32 remaining, 26 were in the muni­cipal council category while the remaining six were city councils.

The study involved 31,733 respondents from 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia.

The aspects taken into account were relationship with family, neighbourhood and environmental atmosphere, the interaction between people, the safety of the population, the level of health facilities and the level of local authority services in their areas.

The findings showed that the 10 most happy local authorities were Kuala Terengganu City Council, Petaling Jaya City Council, Manjung Municipal Council, Batu Gajah District Council (both in Perak), Bentong Municipal Council (Pahang), Jasin Municipal Council (Melaka), Jeli District Council (Kelantan), Segamat Municipal Council (Johor), Padang Terap District Council (Kedah) and Bandar Baharu District Council (Kedah).

The study also found that 81.5% of its respondents were happy. — Bernama