Sri Lankans a satisfied lot

China, Lanka tie for being most optimistic:

Sri Lanka topped an Asian list of people most satisfied with their lives.Sri Lanka topped the list with 93 percent while Taiwan took the last spot with only 28 percent in an Asia Pacific consumer study by the advertising firm Grey Group.

In its fourth year, the study polled more than 8,000 people aged 18 to 65 from Asia-Pacific countries, via e-mail or face-to-face interviews between last December and January. Singapore ranked ninth on the satisfaction scale out of 16 countries surveyed.But Singaporeans' outlook for the future was more pessimistic than that of most people from neighbouring countries. Asked if the future would be better than the past China and Sri Lanka tied for being the most optimistic, with 94 per cent each while only 65 percent of Singaporeans agreed, making Singapore the fourth-most-pessimistic country. Only 24 per cent of Singaporeans are more contented now than 12 months ago, down from last year's 31 per cent.

And only 17 per cent saw their finances improving, down from last year's 39 per cent. Grey Group Singapore's chief executive, Subbaraju Alluri said the results had been affected by the financial crisis. Describing Singaporeans as being 'cautious about everything', he said:

"When there's the slightest disruption, they will be more pessimistic because they want to be prepared for worst-case scenarios." Asia One.