This
tiny, carefree nation of 220,000 in the South Pacific was voted the happiest
place on the planet in a global survey conducted by the New Economics
Foundation and Friends of the Earth.
To
identify the winner of the Happy Planet Index, researchers used three factors. Life
expectancy, human well-being and the damage caused by a country’s environmental
footprint.
This Melanesian
nation of 83 islands and 120 different tribal languages easily qualifies for
the top gong. Proud, colourful, cheerful and, above all, untouched by and
indifferent to the troubles of the world around them, the ni-Vanuatu, as the
islanders are known, enjoy a way of life that has barely changed for 4,000
years.
The British
in their tropical white suits have come and gone, the French in their cravats
have departed, and the Portuguese in their galleons have long since sailed away
. . . they’ve all had a go at turning the islands into a far-flung colonial
outpost, only to find that native culture is a powerful defence against Western
influence.
To
understand why Vanuatu as taken this number one spot, we should briefly look at
the three factors on which it has been judged the happiest place in the world.
First, life expectancy. Despite the islander’s poverty, many live to 90 and
beyond.
On a
village on the southern island of Tanna, where a remote tribe worship the Duke of
Edinburgh as their god (that’s another story) and where many were in their 80s,
put their long lives down to roast pork and yams.
Second,
is the well-being. In Vanuatu this is a state of mind inspired by
self-satisfaction, pride and a continuation of centuries-old cultures that have
no room for one of the greatest ills of the Western world, greed.
Quite
simply, no one bothers keeping up with the Joneses in Vanuatu. Uniquely, they
just seem to accept that what you’ve got is what you’ve got, and that’s all
there is to it. Finally, there’s no pollution to speak of. There’s very little
vehicle traffic apart from the main street in the capital, Port Vila (which
doesn’t even have a traffic light), and now they are thinking of using coconut
oil as biofuel because there are a lot of coconuts in Vanuatu.
Timber
companies don’t fell swathes of forest for profit, and there are no demands for
enormous energy resources. Beyond Port Vila, villagers draw water from wells
and bathe in rivers, where, at dusk and dawn, the air is filled with communal
laughter.
Cheerfulness
is in their genes. How could you fail to chuckle at the two cheerful descriptions,
in pidgin, they use for a piano? The first is, one big fellow box, he has white
and black teeth, you hit him, he sings out. The second, a box where white man
fights black man, they hit each other in the face and the belly and he talks.
Number one is an upright piano, number two a grand.
It was
during World War II, when U.S. troops were stationed in the islands, writer
James Michener sat on a beach, looking across at the island of Ambae, and used
it as inspiration for Tales Of The South
Pacific, which became the musical South Pacific.
How
apposite that Michener should have penned the words: Happy talk . . . if you
don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true? Overwhelmed by the
happiness and romance around him, Michener fell in love with the islands and
their people just as so many Westerners have.
The
men are strong, proud, sharp, quick to learn, and carry ancient wisdom that
distances them from the West. You always feel they know something more about
life than you. The women are kind, graceful and go about their daily chores, no
matter how difficult, with a cheerfulness that puts to shame those of us who
complain about nothing.
Vanuatu
has remained untouched by the violence of the world and even by troubles in
neighbouring island countries such as Bougainville, the Solomons and Timor.
They
keep themselves to themselves, for who cares that a millionaire in London
drives around in a Roller, or a French tycoon has a luxury yacht. If there’s a
fish on the line a villager has cast out from his canoe, his day is fulfilled.