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Bread-and-butter issues remain top concerns: REACH survey
By Mustafa Shafawi | Posted: 31 January 2011 1604 hrs
SINGAPORE : A survey commissioned by government feedback portal, REACH, has found that Singaporeans were generally more satisfied with the quality of life.
Over 90% of the survey respondents expressed great satisfaction with their overall quality and standard of living across factors such as their relationship with family members and friends, housing type, quality of the living environment, the standard of education system and how the government is promoting the family, arts and culture, volunteerism and charity.
There is also a high level of satisfaction with the sense of community and nationhood (83% to 99%), and in matters relating to security and foreign relations (98% to 99%).
They also have greater confidence in Singapore's future and economy, compared to 2009.
Singaporeans also remain satisfied with the way that Singapore is being governed, as indicated by high levels of confidence in our public administration (93% to 97%), the quality of our public service (73% to 97%), and satisfaction with the way Singapore is run (96%).
They also showed strong confidence in Singapore's economic future, with 98% of the respondents endorsing the strategy in maintaining and improving economic competitiveness, attracting foreign investments, investing in R&D and encouraging innovation.
Most of these indicators under the various categories were also surveyed in 2009, and largely recorded statistically significant increases in satisfaction levels of between 1% and 12% in 2010.
They have however expressed lower levels of satisfaction on bread-and-butter issues such as the cost of living and employment opportunities for older workers.
The survey found that Singaporeans are least satisfied with "Keeping the cost of living affordable" (34%).
They also display lower levels of satisfaction in the affordability of housing, adequacy of retirement savings (53%) and affordability of healthcare (55%).
They are less happy with the provision of job opportunities for older workers and retrenched workers (46% and 57% respectively) and with transport issues, particularly the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system (55%) and provision of affordable public transport (63%).
The satisfaction level of these attributes registered significant declines of between 4% for the implementation of the ERP system, and 27% for affordability of public housing for the needy, compared to those in the 2009 survey.
Commenting on the findings, REACH Chairman, Dr Amy Khor said the relatively lower satisfaction level for bread-and-butter issues, and principally that of cost of living and affordability of housing, is not surprising.
However, she pointed out that the survey was conducted in 2010, before the introduction of the most recent set of cooling measures for the property market.
Anticipating the challenges that Singaporeans face in today's economic climate, she noted that the government is also zeroing in on low-income households to ensure they can cope with the rising cost of living and to bridge the income gap.
A representative sample of some 2,000 Singapore citizens aged 17 and above was interviewed face-to-face between October and November last year.
By Mustafa Shafawi | Posted: 31 January 2011 1604 hrs
SINGAPORE : A survey commissioned by government feedback portal, REACH, has found that Singaporeans were generally more satisfied with the quality of life.
Over 90% of the survey respondents expressed great satisfaction with their overall quality and standard of living across factors such as their relationship with family members and friends, housing type, quality of the living environment, the standard of education system and how the government is promoting the family, arts and culture, volunteerism and charity.
There is also a high level of satisfaction with the sense of community and nationhood (83% to 99%), and in matters relating to security and foreign relations (98% to 99%).
They also have greater confidence in Singapore's future and economy, compared to 2009.
Singaporeans also remain satisfied with the way that Singapore is being governed, as indicated by high levels of confidence in our public administration (93% to 97%), the quality of our public service (73% to 97%), and satisfaction with the way Singapore is run (96%).
They also showed strong confidence in Singapore's economic future, with 98% of the respondents endorsing the strategy in maintaining and improving economic competitiveness, attracting foreign investments, investing in R&D and encouraging innovation.
Most of these indicators under the various categories were also surveyed in 2009, and largely recorded statistically significant increases in satisfaction levels of between 1% and 12% in 2010.
They have however expressed lower levels of satisfaction on bread-and-butter issues such as the cost of living and employment opportunities for older workers.
The survey found that Singaporeans are least satisfied with "Keeping the cost of living affordable" (34%).
They also display lower levels of satisfaction in the affordability of housing, adequacy of retirement savings (53%) and affordability of healthcare (55%).
They are less happy with the provision of job opportunities for older workers and retrenched workers (46% and 57% respectively) and with transport issues, particularly the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system (55%) and provision of affordable public transport (63%).
The satisfaction level of these attributes registered significant declines of between 4% for the implementation of the ERP system, and 27% for affordability of public housing for the needy, compared to those in the 2009 survey.
Commenting on the findings, REACH Chairman, Dr Amy Khor said the relatively lower satisfaction level for bread-and-butter issues, and principally that of cost of living and affordability of housing, is not surprising.
However, she pointed out that the survey was conducted in 2010, before the introduction of the most recent set of cooling measures for the property market.
Anticipating the challenges that Singaporeans face in today's economic climate, she noted that the government is also zeroing in on low-income households to ensure they can cope with the rising cost of living and to bridge the income gap.
A representative sample of some 2,000 Singapore citizens aged 17 and above was interviewed face-to-face between October and November last year.
