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S’poreans still prefer physical books, survey shows

SINGAPORE — When it comes to reading, Singaporeans still prefer thumbing through physical copies, a survey commissioned by the National Arts Council (NAC) has revealed.

SINGAPORE — When it comes to reading, Singaporeans still prefer thumbing through physical copies, a survey commissioned by the National Arts Council (NAC) has revealed.

The first National Literary Reading and Writing Survey found that 86 per cent of readers preferred to read their books in the printed format.

The data was collected in March last year, with 1,015 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents aged 15 and above interviewed. Surveys were administered islandwide through face-to-face, street intercept interviews conducted by trained interviewers. The research is part of the NAC’s efforts to understand Singaporeans’ attitudes towards reading and writing, as well as to build knowledge of the local literary arts scene.

The scope of the survey was limited to literary books, which includes “fiction, poetry, drama, children’s and young adult literature, graphic novels, creative non-fiction, critical writing and anthologies”.

The inaugural survey showed that English was the dominant language for reading, with 92 per cent of respondents saying they read English books. Fiction was the most popular genre among respondents, followed by creative non-fiction. Readers were also more likely to be female professionals below the age of 40 with at least post-secondary education.

Readers of print books outnumbered readers of e-books by a ratio of five to one. Only 12 per cent of respondents said they read books in both print and electronic versions. E-books were most popular among those aged 30 to 39, with 39 per cent of this age group having read an e-book.

Book buyers also prefer to make purchases the old school way: 77 per cent said they bought their books from brick-and-mortar stores.

The survey also found that only three in 10 respondents had bought at least one literary book over the past 12 months, while four in 10 had read one in the past 12 months.

More can be done to promote local authors, the survey found. Only one in four said they read books by Singaporean writers and two out of five said they did not do so because of a lack of awareness.

Meanwhile, on the writing front, only one in 10 people said they engaged in creative writing. Those who did not said they lacked the interest or time to do so, with men being more likely to cite the former and women, the latter.

In terms of the respondents’ awareness of literary events in Singapore, only 16 per cent knew of the Singapore Writers Festival, the country’s biggest annual event for the literary arts.

The NAC said that with this information, measures can be taken to promote literary awareness in Singapore. “NAC and industry players can draw on these insights to formulate strategies and recommendations that will further promote Singapore literature and encourage a deeper engagement in the literary arts,” said the NAC’s Ms May Tan, acting director, Sector Development (Literary Arts).

Added Mr Goh Eck Kheng, publisher of Landmark Books: “With the sustained growth of Singapore literature over the last decade, publishers, authors, distributors and bookshops need now to work together to get more and more people to read and appreciate the stories and poetry that are distinctly our own.”

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