Consultant hired to make Ipoh a happier city, Mayor says

Ipoh City Council has hired from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman consultant to improve the city’s overall happiness, according to mayor Datuk Rumaizi Baharin. The consultant will be given six months to identify areas for improvement, Rumaizi said at a press conference after chairing a city council full board meeting.

Despite impressive infrastructure and economic developments, as well as 5G network coverage, Ipoh’s satisfaction level and happiness index are still lower compared to other cities, he said.

“We have given the consultant six months to prepare a report,” Rumaizi said.

The decision to hire the consultant comes after Ipoh failed to make it into the Top 10 Happiest Cities in Malaysia for 2022, which was held in Putrajaya last month in conjunction with World Happiness Day on March 20.

The 10 cities that made the list were Kluang, Petaling Jaya, Manjung, Gua Musang, Klang, Kulai, Krai, Kuantan, Rompin and Alor Gajah.

“I think to make it into the top 10, you need to get a score of at least 98%. Ipoh scored 88%, which saw a 7% improvement from 2021. It could still be considered a happy city,” he said.

Rumaizi believes that issues related to road conditions, domestic waste collection, cost of living, and a mismatch in employment could be factors contributing to people’s unhappiness.

“We often see these issues on social media. And within our internal discussions, we also feel that a mismatch in employment could also be a factor,” he said, adding that through their job interviews, they have come across job seekers who had degrees but were working in factories.

“As for the cost of living, it is something that is beyond our influence as it involves the global market,” he added. Rumaizi said one way to address the cost of living issue is to increase people’s earnings.

“We need to create more opportunities for the people. The average salary for Ipoh folk is about RM2,000. We will try to double it within five years so that with more earnings, we can address the issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, Manjung City was listed as a Happy City in the country which was announced at the 2023 World Happiness Day Celebration and the pre-launch of the Malaysian City Happiness Index Dashboard at Zenith Hotel Putrajaya.

The Happiness Index Study was conducted by the Ministry of Local Government Development (KPKT) and it involved a questionnaire to 42,000 respondents from 117 local authorities (PBT) in Peninsular Malaysia, the Federal Territories (Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan) and Sabah.