Would putting up signs that look like speed limits, but tell pedestrians that they are in, for example, a "10 Smiles Per Hour Zone" be frivolous nonsense and a waste of taxpayers' money?
I feel compelled to write about this today after my mother complained to me about how strange it was that the shopkeepers at Cabang Tiga market in Kuala Terengganu did not wear any smile and were unfriendly. Certainly, for a state that has many long stretches of beautiful beaches and rich cultural heritage, it's strange. The supposedly world class equistrian resort is staffed by people who find it so difficult to smile and greet visitors.
In the 1970's, American psychologists Alice Isen and Paula Levin conducted an experiment in which some randomly selected people making a phone call found a ten-cent coin left behind by a previous caller, and others did not. All subjects were then given an opportunity to help a woman pick up a folder of papers she dropped in front of them.
Isen and Levin claimed that of the 16 who found a coin, 14 helped the woman, while of the 25 who did not find a coin, only one helped her. A further study found a similar difference in willingness to mail an addressed letter that had been left behind in the phone booth: those who found the coin were more likely to mail the letter.
While the differences shown by Isen and Levin seem orgasmic, very small positive experiences can make people not only feel better about themselves, but also be more helpful to others. There is little doubt that being in a good mood makes people feel better about themselves and more likely to help others. Psychologists refer to it as the "glow of goodwill."
Can it be concluded that Terengganu people lack positive experiences? I'm looking for an explanation as to why drivers in Kuala Terengganu have very little sense of consideration for others - slow drivers hog the fast lane, motorcyclists hog one whole lane, cars are parked in parking lots that aren't theirs.
Why shouldn't taking small steps that may produce such a glow be part of the role of government?
Don't we all want our children and those who live in our communities after the present generation has gone to have the same or even better opportunities for a good quality of life as today's residents have. To protect that quality of life, we have to be able to measure all the varied aspects that contribute to it - and friendliness is one of them.
For both state gov't and local municipalities, preventing crime is a far higher priority than encouraging friendship and cooperation. In his recent book Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, Professor Richard Layard of the London School of Economics has argued that promoting friendship is often easy, cheap, and can have big payoffs in making people happier.
So why shouldn't that be a focus of public policy?
In Australia's Port Phillip, the Mayor says that putting up the signs is an attempt to encourage people to smile or say "G'day"—the standard Australian greeting—to both neighbors and strangers as they stroll down the street. Mayor Janet Bolitho adds that smiling, encourages people to feel more connected with each other and safer, so it reduces fear of crime—an important element in the quality of life of many neighborhoods.
In a related effort to get its residents to know each other, the city government also facilitates street parties. It leaves the details to the locals, but offers organizational advice, loans out barbecues and sun umbrellas, and covers the public liability insurance. Many people who have lived in the same street for many years meet each other for the first time at a street party.
All of this is part of a larger program that attempts to measure changes in the city's quality of life, so that the city council can know whether it is taking the community in a desirable direction. The council wants Port Phillip to be a sustainable community, not merely in an environmental sense, but also in terms of social equity, economic viability, and cultural vitality.
Port Phillip does not consider private car ownership as a sign of prosperity, instead, it hails a declining number of cars—and rising use of public transport—as a sign of progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions while encouraging a healthier lifestyle in which people are more inclined to walk or ride a bike.
Can Kuching use this measure of quality of city life: the proportion of people who smile at you in the city?
Source: Project Syndicate http://www.project-syndicate.org/
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