HÀ NỘI — A talk show themed “Vietnamese people’s conception of happiness” discussed how to build  happy families and communities in an event held on Friday in Hà Nội.

The discussion was co-organised by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Việt Nam Academy of Social Sciences as a celebration of the International Happiness Day, March 20, with participation from scientists and management agencies.

The event was an open forum where experts, scientists and management officials discussed how to build a happy family and happy community. The talk show focused on major content areas including the academic outlook on happiness, the need for studies on happiness,  conceptions of happiness from different religious, ethnic and gender approaches, feasible and practical solutions to create a set of criteria for building happy families, social welfare and the impacts of arts and literature on Vietnamese happiness.

Speaking at the talkshow, deputy minister of culture, sports and tourism, Đặng Thị Bích Liên said, “The motto, “independence, freedom, happiness”, has long been associated with our national name of Việt Nam and the cause of national establishment and defense since Hồ Chí Minh read the declaration of dependence on September 2, 1945.”

“Every Vietnamese person wants happiness. Since 2012, the world has celebrated International Happiness Day on March 20. The member states of United Nations, including Việt Nam, all want to form a harmonious world, bringing happy lives for people all over the globe,” said Liên.

Since 2013, activities to celebrate International Happiness Day have been held nationwide. From 2014 until now, the activities themed “Love and Sharing” have put focus on building a happy life and happy community.

In addition, the implementation of the research on the happiness of Vietnamese people and happiness evaluating index affirmed Việt Nam’s commitment to the international community and provided foundational knowledge for policymakers to build development strategies and manage social development sustainably, Liên said.

Việt Nam needs to study and measure its conception of happiness and create an index to evaluate the happiness of the Vietnamese people. It can be implemented through two theoretical approaches of emotional state and the satisfaction with life, according to professor Lê Ngọc Văn from the Institute for Family and Gender Studies. — VNS