Comment on "70% of Chinese feel happy in 2011" (China Daily, Dec 23)

People are prone to using concrete criteria, such as a good house, a stable and secure income, good family relationships and friendships, to measure "happiness".

But, in the process, they could neglect some abstract qualities such as liberty and other rights.

I have my doubts about the survey's results. It is possible that the survey asked some tendentious or even biased questions, and people might have felt they had to give the right response, which would not necessarily have been the case had they reflected their true feelings.

Jen, on China Daily website

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(China Daily 12/29/2011 page9)