Are you happy in the East Timor?

Priscilla wrote:

Hello everyone!

According to the 2016 UN World Happiness Survey, Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland are the happiest countries on earth.

How about you? Are you happy in the East Timor? Do you feel happier today in your host country than before in your home country? What has contributed to the change?

In your opinion, are locals in the East Timor happy? How can you tell?

Please share your experience!

Hi Priscilla,

I saw your posting last year, but did not reply immediately.

If you would allow me to give my delayed response, I would like to share with you my opinion.

First of all, if I may be so blunt in answering your question concerning whether or not I am happy in East Timor; the answer is BIG NO. No, I am not happy living in this country. I can honestly say that I don't feel happier here than in my home country. The people are very rude and unwelcoming. Many places that I have gone to (restaurants, etc) they are not friendly. They hardly smile at me. Sometimes, I get a feeling that the don't like or even hate foreigners. Or, they might even think that they will not need foreigners and if possible they would like to kick all of foreigners out of this country. Well, in a way I cannot blame them. In the past, they have been colonized, tortured, killed, then manipulated, taken advantage by foreigners. The have probably come to a point of becoming Xenophobia.

In my opinion, the locals seem to be quite happy. They have been told by their government that they are on the way to becoming a much better nation, and prosperous one. However, their dependence on oil will lead to their own demise. One day, when their oil resources have dried up, they will have nothing else left to live on. That's the time when they will really experience a huge problem.