S'poreans not surprised at trust survey results

While a survey has revealed that Singaporeans are the third most trusting of their government leaders, many Singaporeans are not surprised at the results.

The 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer conducted by Edelman Public Relations showed that Singaporeans ranked third among 25 countries, with China in first place and United Arab Emirates second, in trusting their government to tell the truth and do what is right.

Most Singaporeans Yahoo! Singapore spoke to said they found the results to be unsurprising given the pervasiveness and presence of the government in the society.

Producer Benjamin Tan, 28, agreed that the government has provided a stable environment to live and work with, thus Singaporeans don't distrust the government.

"By controlling education and introducing kindergartens, day care centres as well as their national education modules in schools, young Singaporeans are taught from an early age to trust the government," Tan said.

23-year-old executive Janice Tan said, "In terms of the government, yes I say we do have trust and faith in the government. This stems from many who feel that government is the one that leads us from a third world country to what we have today."

"But this trust generally stems from the older population. With the recent spate of events and the change in opinions among the young, many have started to be more skeptical," Tan added.

This view was shared by Arif Bamadhaj, who felt that generations of Singaporeans have been trained to believe that the government knows what's right and therefore led the country to what it is today.

He added that "this is fast changing with the current generation having 'a mindof its own' after being trained by the education system.”

This year's Trust Barometer also showed that Singaporean's trust in the media increased by six per cent compared to last year.