Singaporeans divided on where responsibility to provide for the people lies

SINGAPORE — Respondents of the Our Singapore Conversation survey generally felt that the Government was doing a good job, even as they were divided on the right balance between the Government taking responsibility to provide for the people and people taking more responsibility to provide for themselves.

The lower the income, and the older the age, the more likely was the respondent to favour the Government taking more responsibility to provide for the people. More than half of respondents aged 50 and above, and 54 per cent of those with an income of less than S$1,000, preferred this.

More affluent respondents, earning above S$7,000 a month or living in private property, expressed greater willingness to pay higher taxes to support the needy. But in contrast to the less affluent, who placed more emphasis on having a caring government, they gave greater priority to having an honest government.

Overall, more than two-thirds of Singaporeans said the Government was forward-looking and managing the country well.

Agreement levels were slightly lower, though, on other facets on governance: On whether the Government does what is right for Singaporeans, whether it understands the concerns of Singaporeans and whether it did a good job explaining policies.

The survey also found that about two-thirds of Singaporeans had a high level of life satisfaction and were generally optimistic that the next five years would be better than today, and that today is better than five years ago.

On the different kinds of governance that Singaporeans preferred, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Senior Research Fellow Leong Chan-Hoong said: “For low-income families ... the kinds of challenges will be different.

“Certainly ... they hope that the Government will do more for them. Whereas for more privileged families, their needs will be different and they hope the Government can be a more responsive government.”

The researchers said that the Government has to communicate better and be more mindful of differing needs. Said IPS Faculty Associate Tan Ern Ser: “You need a lot more dialogue and communication, a lot more in convincing people, a lot more listening. And when you talk to the people a lot more, there is greater trust ... that you meant well, you’re not out to get anybody.”

Added Dr Leong: “The Government will have to be mindful of the needs of the different communities and the needs of Singaporeans as a whole to understand that even though we have good policies, some groups of Singaporeans may fall through the cracks nevertheless.

“Policies may not be able to have a one-size-fits-all approach, and certain segments may require more help.”