Singaporeans split over gay, censorship, social support issues: OSC survey

[UPDATE 13 Sep: Correcting figures of survey results]

The views of Singaporeans on social issues have become more diverse – diverging mainly between the old vs young and the higher vs lower income groups.
 
This was among the main findings in the latest Our Singapore Conversation (OSC) survey report, which involved interviews with 4,000 Singaporeans.
 
Younger Singaporeans, for example, showed a stronger preference for less censorship, while older Singaporeans were reflected as placing more value in censorship to protect public interest.
 
While acknowledging that there remains a “significant consensus” among Singaporeans, Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) added they also found “a diversity of orientations towards several key policy areas.”
 
This, he said, reveals a “sense of the dilemmas that we face as a society going forward.”
 
Other social issues like gay lifestyles also saw split views.
 
While the statistics reflect that society in general did not accept gay lifestyles, the acceptance level varied significantly. The younger and more educated tended to be more accepting while the older and the less educated were far less open to the idea.
 
A whopping 72 per cent of Singaporeans with no formal education rejected the idea of gay lifestyles, while  37 per cent and 40 per cent of polytechnic and university graduates rejected or disagreed with gay lifestyles.
 
The social issue which drew the most diverse responses was the balance between governance and social support.
 
While 54 per cent of respondents earning less than $1,000 felt that the government should take more responsibility in providing for Singaporeans, only 30 per cent of those earning $10,000 and above felt the same.
 
The majority of those interviewed aged above 50 also felt that more government support was needed, while 43 per cent of those aged between 15-19 felt citizens should take on more responsibility to provide for themselves.
 
An encouraging takeaway from the survey was what seemed to be a willingness amongst more well-to-do Singaporeans, like those earning over $7,000 a month and living in private property, to pay higher taxes in order to support the needy.
 
Overall, the survey found that Singaporeans were more optimistic that the next five years would be better than today, and agreed that today was better than five years ago.
 
“We hope that the survey… has given us a better appreciation of the range of views held by Singaporeans… and thereby work towards making Singapore an even better home, nation and economy,” said Professor Tan of the findings.

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