Smile more? First, give Hongkongers something to be happy about

So smile more everyone, and the tourists will come. Granted, it’s about extending a warm welcome to visitors. And it’s true that it begins with something as simple as a smile. When you’re genuinely smiling out of happiness, and someone asks you for directions, for example, you’re unlikely to walk away.

However, smiling, by itself, can be a superficial act. As World Smile Day suggests, making it a point to smile on one particular day serves as a reminder of the importance of spreading happiness, kindness and positivity through simple acts. But therein lies the point: smiling is an expression of true positivity.

And just last week, I for one found it hard to smile after reading a survey by Schroeder’s that found the average Hongkonger faces a HK$2.4 million (US$307,298) gap between their expected post-retirement expenses and the money available in their pension funds.

So again, when it comes to raising Hongkongers’ level of happiness, we have a long way to go.

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA