The Difference Ten Years Makes
by singaporearmchaircritic
What do you remember of your life and life in Singapore ten years ago?
Today, Singaporeans are the unhappiest people in the world. But according to the World Values Survey (sample size 1,500+), Singaporeans were a very happy lot in 2002. When asked about their feeling of happiness, 28.8% reported that they were “very happy” and 66.2% said they were “quite happy.” In total, 95% of the population were generally happy.
This may seem counter-intuitive if we recall the economic climate in 2001/2002. Singapore experienced a recession of -1.2% growth in 2001 – that fateful year when 9-11 shocked and shook the world.
Yet the recession did not dampen our mood, perhaps because Singapore then was also a less crowded, less expensive place to live, and a more equal society.
In 2001, Singapore was ranked 97th in the EIU Worldwide Cost of Living. Our population was a manageable 4.18 million in 2002, including 3.38 million residents.
In a decade, however, Singapore has been drastically transformed. Our population hit the 5 million mark by 2010. The income ratio of the top decile to the bottom decile almost doubled over the last 15 years. In 2011, Singapore leaped to the number 6 spot as one of the world’s most expensive cities – the price of one kilogram of white rice has inflated by nearly 5 times over the past decade.
In 2010, our economy grew by a spectacular 14.8%. But that did not bring us happiness.
Value Change: Less Materialistic, Less Patriotic
A local survey showed that Singaporeans have become less materialistic over the last ten years. That is not a surprising trend.
Way back in 2002, when asked if less emphasis on money and material possessions was a good thing or otherwise, 38% of Singaporeans said it was whereas 46% indicated that they did not mind such a change (see World Values Survey).
Back in 2002, we were also a very patriotic people brimming with national pride. As many as 85.2% of the Singaporeans surveyed said that should a war break out, they would be willing to fight for the country. About 94% declared that they were either “very proud” or “quite proud” to be Singaporeans (see World Values Survey).
Today, sadly, we hear many Singaporeans saying quite the opposite: that Singapore is not worth fighting for, not least because of the diluted Singaporean core.
The disgruntlement and anger at our liberal immigration policy are also foreseeable if policy makers have paid attention to or cared about what Singaporeans think. Even in 2002, before the government opened the floodgates, Singaporeans already preferred a more measured immigration policy.
Responding to the question “How about people from other countries coming here to work. Which one of the following do you think the government should do?”, as high as 70% said the government should impose “strict limits” while 24% welcomed immigrants as long as jobs were available (World Values Survey).
Perceptions and Desired Society
A decade ago, when our society was more equal, more Singaporeans preferred having “larger income differences as incentives” to more equally distributed incomes (see chart below). Rated on a scale of one to ten, the average score was 6.9, indicating that Singaporeans tended to be of the opinion that income disparities were good and/or necessary (World Values Survey).
This squared with Singaporeans’ response to another question: their preference for (1) “an egalitarian society where the gap between the rich and poor is small, regardless of achievement”, or (2) a competitive society where wealth is distributed according to one’s achievement.”
More than 60% said they preferred a society that was closer to a competitive one, whereas only 27% desired to see a society that was closer to an egalitarian one.
This conviction in rewarding individuals based on their efforts or merits may have something to do with our perception of the society then. In 2002, 78% of Singaporeans believed that the country was run for the benefit of all people instead of it being run by a few big interests (see World Values Survey).
What a world of difference, then and now!
* To view the 2002 Singapore survey results at the World Values Survey website, follow these steps: (1) click on “Begin analysis”; (2) click on “Four wave aggregate of the value studies”; (3) scroll down the country list and check the box next to “Singapore”; (4) at the top of the same page, click on “confirm selection” and voila! Unfortunately, the website has yet to publish the results of a more recent survey of Singapore.
Singapore Armchair Critic 
Dear readers,
I will be away from mid March to late April, during which I may still post new articles but less regularly. Apologies.
sac
[…] Today, Singaporeans are the unhappiest people in the world. But according to the World Values Survey (sample size 1,500+), Singaporeans were a very happy lot in 2002. When asked about their feeling of happiness, 28.8% reported that they were “very happy” and 66.2% said they were “quite happy.” In total, 95% of the population were generally happy.In 2001, Singapore was ranked 97th in the EIU Worldwide Cost of Living. Our population was a manageable 4.18 million in 2002, including 3.38 million residents.In a decade, however, Singapore has been drastically transformed. Our population hit the 5 million mark by 2010. The income ratio of the top decile to the bottom decile almost doubled over the last 15 years.In 2012, our economy grew by a spectacular 14.8%. But that did not bring us happiness. […]
Errr… you claim there is a “world of difference” between then and now, but then you fail to give any recent data! (Except your one mention of the Gallup poll at the start, which has different methodology.)
This post would only make sense if you are comparing 2002 World Values Survey data with 2012 World Values Survey data. For all you know, the findings may not have changed much.
Thanks and point taken. I also cited a local survey on how Singaporeans have become less materialistic over the last ten years.
Yes, I agree that the ideal comparison would be between the results of a 2002 WVS survey and a 2012 WVS survey but unfortunately, we do not have the latter yet.
The findings of the National Conversation, though not as representative as a random survey, may offer some glimpses into how attitudes of Singaporeans have changed:
For example, on the limitations of “meritocracy”: “some felt that meritocracy no longer served Singapore as well as before, arguing that extreme meritocracy and competition could lead to a winner-takes-all society, with winners thinking little of others” (p.1);
Concerns about the underclass: “The widening income gap and growing social stratification had prompted many Singaporeans to express concerns about those who had been “left behind” or “fallen through the cracks”. Some Singaporeans shared that as we reaped the fruits of economic growth, more could be done to achieve “social growth” so that the bottom 10% might also benefit from this growth.” (p. 13)
(https://www.oursgconversation.sg/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/OSC_newsletter.pdf)
There is also another survey that indicates how Singaporeans define their desired society: “compassion”, “caring for the disadvantaged”, “equal opportunities”, “social responsibility” etc.
(http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/ips/docs/events/aAdvantage%20RT_Media%20Release_230812.pdf)
Yes… but you’re still not comparing like to like. Who’s to say that concerns about meritocracy weren’t around ten years ago? Or concerns about poorer Singaporeans? What are you comparing the National Conversation stuff to?
This is just a really misleading post. You can write about the attitudes of Singaporeans 10 years ago, as backed up by the data — or you can write about what the National Conversation suggests about present views. But to write about data from 10 years ago and then make unsubstantiated claims about attitudes today, and present all this as though it’s backed up by evidence… that’s just disingenuous.
Again, like I said, if the WVS has published more recent survey results I would gladly do the comparison. But barring that we can still make reasonable arguments premised on observations and other sources such as the National Conversation and the Barrett survey.
The National Conversation and the Barrett survey suggest that a broad segment of our society has begun to reflect on the limitations of meritocracy and the necessity for redistribution to create a fairer, more equitable society. This contrasts with the predominant attitude ten years ago, that individuals should be rewarded based on their merits:
‘A decade ago, when our society was more equal, more Singaporeans preferred having “larger income differences as incentives” to more equally distributed incomes (see chart below). Rated on a scale of one to ten, the average score was 6.9, indicating that Singaporeans tended to be of the opinion that income disparities were good and/or necessary.’
‘More than 60% said they preferred a society that was closer to a competitive one, whereas only 27% desired to see a society that was closer to an egalitarian one.’
Having witnessed for ourselves how drastic Singapore’s transformation was over the past decade, we would be kidding ourselves if we believe social attitudes have not changed from ten years ago.
SAC dude, great work! Please keep writing, it is very much appreciated! Wish I had these nice graphics to use when I was still teaching development geography in secondary school.
And your work reminds me of the guys who have been repackaging Norton and Ariely’s surveys about wealth distribution in America (great graphics and videos from those guys). It’s much more accessible to ordinary people, and the impact is greater and more visceral (I mean – just look at the video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM).
Art teachers, media teachers should get their students doing these – to engage with and shape society.
Thanks for the encouragement and wow, what great graphics at the link your provided – I wish I have the know-how to produce something clear and impactful as that. The graphics in my blogpost were just created with Excel and it’s really easy. 🙂
In 2000, the top 10% income households earn 11x the bottom 10%. By 2012, this gap almost doubled to 20x! From 2000 – 2012, the bottom 10% income households gained only a meagre $233 but the top 10% more than doubled their household income from 14K to 29K! http://sgratrace.appspot.com/household.html
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Thanks for pointing out the obvious, that the emperor has no clothes.
Obviously, some people are not seeing it!
[…] Today, Singaporeans are the unhappiest people in the world. But according to the World Values Survey (sample size 1,500+), Singaporeans were a very happy lot in 2002. When asked about their feeling of happiness, 28.8% reported that they were “very happy” and 66.2% said they were “quite happy.” In total, 95% of the population were generally happy.In 2001, Singapore was ranked 97th in the EIU Worldwide Cost of Living. Our population was a manageable 4.18 million in 2002, including 3.38 million residents.In a decade, however, Singapore has been drastically transformed. Our population hit the 5 million mark by 2010. The income ratio of the top decile to the bottom decile almost doubled over the last 15 years.In 2012, our economy grew by a spectacular 14.8%. But that did not bring us happiness. […]
Quite insightful, thanks for writing up and sharing.