A recently available online happiness survey in Dubai asks users to respond with a frown, a smile or an unimpressed straight line. The Dubai police, whose current tagline is 'Your Security Our Happiness', unveiled this poll as a seeming effort to support Dubai's attempt to join the top 10 ranks of the happiest cities in the world by 2021.
Respondents are given a web link to the poll through an SMS. The link opens to a page with but a simple single question on it translated in both English and Arabic: 'Are you happy in Dubai?' On the same page is an image of ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum backdropped by the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa tower.
The police say that an unhappy respondent may well merit a call from them.
William Davies, who is senior lecturer at the University of London and author of the book 'The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being' says, "This looks like to me an attempt to try to slightly frighten people into A) replying to the survey question and B) replying to say they're happy because people really don't want to be rung up by the police with the question: 'Well, what's your problem?'"
"But I don't know. Maybe there's something sincere about it," he qualifies.
The survey was first presented in an electronic show. It received an encouraging 200,000 responses on its first day alone. Of this initial number, 84 percent responded with a smile, 6 percent were neutral while 10 percent admitted to being unhappy.
Police chief Maj. Gen. Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina explained that police offices will call a random selection among the unhappy respondents and inquire into the cause of their unhappiness. While police are unable to assist with personal issues, he says, "If the matter is under our jurisdiction, we will help them with it, but if it has to do with another government entity we will forward the issue to the concerned department."
