By Tan Kin Lian / Columnist
A RETIRED school teacher, Mr. Ho Cheow Seng, sent me his views about democracy. I posted the article in my website (viewable here) and invited my visitors to participate in a survey. 50 people responded.
The age distribution is:
Below 30: 10%
31 – 50: 38%
Above 50: 52%
This survey does not purport to represent the views of the population. It does represent the views of the 50 people who have responded, which is probably better than any individual person’s views.
The score is computed based on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). An average score of 3 is a neutral position. A score below 3 indicates disagreement with the statement. A score above 3 indicates agreement.
The table showing the results of this survey is shown below.
High scores
The highest scores were given for these two statements:
> Citizens should spend time to learn about democracy as a model of governance (3.84)
> One must be prepared to sacrifice some individual right and freedom for the good of society (3.60)These are encouraging signs and suggest that there is hope for positive change in Singapore. In particular, Singaporeans generally accept the need to give up some individual right and freedom for the good of society.
Low scores
The lowest scores were given for the following statements:
> Singapore practices “a democratic society based on equality and justice (2.10)
> Singapore’s progress towards democracy is satisfactory, as it takes a long time to build (2.04)
> Singapore treats all citizens equally before the laws of the land. (2.04)
These are worrisome signs. They suggest that the current situation in Singapore is less than satisfactory. There is need for positive change to create a more democratic environment in Singapore.
Towards socialism?
I am somewhat surprised by the high score given to this statement:
> A just and caring society should be based on the principles of “from each according to his ability, and to each according to his needs.” (3.48)
This statement is the philosophy of Marxism, which is the basis of Communism. I personally believe that this is a good philosophy, although the lessons of the past decades had shown the failing of this philosophy in several Communist led countries.
A higher proportion of the younger people voted in favour of this statement. It probably suggests that they were not aware that this statement was associated with Marxism. The older people were probably more aware about it. (However, the number of young respondents is too small to draw any useful conclusion).
However, to be fair, we should also recognise that free market capitalism has also failed, as it has led to our current global financial crisis and the state re-capitalisation of the large global banks.
Perhaps, it is time to re-think and consider an economic model that is fairer and socially just.
Freedom
Some people argued that freedom is not a birth right but a privilege that has to be earned.
The majority of the respondents disagree with this statement, as the average score of 2.5 is less than the neutral point of 3. It seems that they perceive that freedom should be given to every person, i.e. the freedom to express their views and to object to policies that they consider to be socially unjust.
I am sure that these respondents were aware about the chaos that has happened in some neighbouring countries, where the protests have disrupted the economic life of the country. Perhaps, they felt that, on balance, it is necessary to preserve freedom, even though it comes with an economic price.
Conclusions
The key message that comes out of this survey is reflected by the three statements that received the lowest scores.
They suggest that the current situation in Singapore is unsatisfactory – that the policies are not socially just and that the law is not being applied fairly to all. This is a perception that should be changed, to strengthen the cohesion and bonds in our society.
Some people may argue that the visitors to my blog, who participated in the survey, represented a higher proportion of the anti-establishment in Singapore. I do not think so.
In my view, they represent a higher proportion of the older people who are more knowledgeable about what Singapore was like in the old days and have more time to know the conditions in other countries.
Here are my views. I invited other readers of TOC to share your analysis of the results.
| Age: | All | <30 | 31-50 | >50 |
|
Number of responses: |
50 |
5 |
19 |
26 |
|
Citizens should spend time to learn about democracy as a model of governance |
3.84 |
4.00 |
3.89 |
3.77 |
|
One must be prepared to sacrifice some individual right and freedom for the good of society |
3.60 |
3.80 |
3.47 |
3.65 |
|
Capital punishment (i.e. death penalty) can be allowed in a democratic country (like in the USA |
3.48 |
4.00 |
3.32 |
3.50 |
|
A just and caring society should be based on the principles of “from each according to his ability, and to each according to his needs.” |
3.48 |
4.20 |
3.53 |
3.31 |
|
Singapore can elect a non-Chinese as Prime Minister (as America now has a black President |
3.40 |
3.60 |
3.63 |
3.19 |
|
Democracy should be modified according to the situation in each country (i.e. no universal values in democracy) |
3.32 |
4.40 |
3.32 |
3.12 |
|
The economic situation in Singapore is satisfactory (i.e. we are relatively well off compared to other countries |
2.90 |
3.60 |
2.68 |
2.92 |
|
The political situation in Singapore is satisfactory (e.g. orderly, peaceful, lack of protest |
2.76 |
3.80 |
2.58 |
2.69 |
|
Freedom is not a birth right but is a privilege to be earned |
2.50 |
2.20 |
2.32 |
2.69 |
|
Singapore practices “a democratic society based on equality and justice |
2.10 |
2.80 |
2.00 |
2.04 |
|
Singapore’s progress towards democracy is satisfactory (as it takes a long time to build) |
Top of Form 2.04 Bottom of Form |
2.60 |
1.95 |
2.00 |
|
Singapore treats all citizens equally before the laws of the land. |
2.04 |
2.40 |
1.89 |
2.08 |
|
Overall |
2.96 |
3.45 |
2.88 |
2.91 |
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not much point analysing the data imho. first, sample size too small, as pointed out by author himself. second, the people who visit the site to share their views are probably of roughly the same ideological persuasion, so not a random sample.
Should get PAP to participate in the survey and see what results you’ll get.
“This survey does not purport to represent the views of the population. It does represent the views of the 50 people who have responded, which is probably better than any individual person’s views.”
If it’s not intended to represent the views of the population then what was it representative of? that 50 people? why is the view of 50 non-random people “better” than an individual’s view?
The views probably represent the views of the writer more than the views of the population, since obviously the people drawn to answer the survey are like-minded people.
50 people is also an absurdly small sample size, especially with so little young people involved.
This is an exercise in futility.
As those above said so, I fully agree that the sample size is too small for any purposeful analysis.
Secondly, the spread of the sample is confined to internet savvy, especially blog-surfers only. Therefore, it is not wide enough.
That means your survey has no depth nor width.
50 swallows do not make a summer out of a population of 4.6 million (or 3.2 million residents/citizens).
If you can ask for 100,000 supporters in order to decide whether or not to stand for election, why are you not basing your survey and analysis on 100,000 people’s opinions?
Either we choose Democracy or not.
Once chosen it, lets stick to it and mature it.
The quick and … way:
democracy has proven to work and besides, we chose democracy long time ago.
political discourse can be easily manipulated by the elites so democracy is actually a myth.
maybe we should rename it to demons-cracy? haa
> This survey does not purport to represent the views of the population. It does represent the views of the 50 people who have responded, which is probably better than any individual person’s views.
This is better than any individual person’s views, but results from a response rate of 50 is not conclusive too.
The sample size might be too small for it to be a meaningful indicator of the population’s response, but it’s still worthwhile. Surveys like these — even a close reading of the TOC message boards — show that some Singaporeans do feel they’re ‘ready’ for democracy, quite counter to what the government is often keen to put across.
Socialism is Democratic.
Long Live Socialism..
This so-called Democratic elected goverment is autocratic.
So it is SINGAPOREANS that choose to vote in a FACIST..
Please let me comment a bit….
I have heard people saying the majority are apathetic and from the low number of poll takers, I suspect there is some truth in the saying.
Nevertheless, I applaud Mr TKL’s effort to help people know how some people feel about certain things.
cheers!
I have carried out many similar surveys. The results fro 50 people are quite close to the results for 200 people. I belive that even if we have 1000 people, the results will be quite similar.
I believe that the views for the two gropus (people between 31 to 50 and above 50) are quire reliable, as the sample size is sufficiently large. For the group of respondents below 30, the sample size is too small.
This survey reflect the views of the internet savvy people. This is a sufficiently large segment of the population. These people are influenced by the same social and economic conditions as the rest of the population. I believe that their thinking does reflect a larger segment of the population, including those who are not internet savvy.
Some people are positive and view this survey findings as giving useful information. Other people are negative and will fault the findings for reasons such as small sample size or biased sample. If you do not accept the findings, you can ignore them. You do not need to attack them.
If we are to make good decisions, we need a way of collecting the “wisdom of the crowds”. I find my survey methodology to be quite useful, although it is not perfect. I believe that the views of 50 people are better than the views of 1 person.
Some people believe so strongly in their personal opinion that they are willing to attack other views. I hope that they are more considerate and express their views more humbly.
Dear Mr Tan Kin Lian,
Please do not be discouraged by some of the skeptical comments by netizens above. A sample size of 50 is obviously too small for any valid interpretations to be made. But this is immaterial.
What I’m objecting is your reliance on the majority view as the key to truth and wisdom. You do not need to do surveys to find out about the state of health of our society and its politics. I believe that the propositions contained in your survey questionaire can be addressed using objective facts and logical analysis. if you are perplexed by the above issues, acquiring more political knowledge and applying more critical thinking will enable you to arrive at a coherent position. Or else, you will become another common victim of the democratic fallacy.
Dear smallvoice585 (#15)
Some people decide by “logical analysis”. I prefer to be guided by the “wisdom of the crowd”. There is no need for one school of thought to criticize or attack the other school. We have to learn to respect the views of other people.
I am from the 31-50 demographic. I agree with the low score for “Singapore treats all citizens equally before the laws of the land”.
Our national pledge goes:
We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve progress and prosperity for our nation.
Without “justice” and “equality”, the rest of our national pledge is meaningless.
Dear TKL,
I think that your survey (although small in sample size etc.) was a rather decent reflection on the situation of ‘democracy’ in Singapore. I’d like to point out to the many netizens who commented that this survey a dud that Singaporeans in general are not interested in local politics. Try doing a survey during rush hour in Raffles Place or Orchard Road on a weekend where I am sure you will be able to find your ‘diverse’ crowd and ‘varied’ opinion. I would be surprised if you even get a decent response to the survey.
I’m sorry to say this, but let’s be honest, democracy as practiced in the US will never be practiced as such here at home. For one, they have had a long tradition of freedom of speech and assembly to begin with (even if only for the majority of whites for a long period of their history) and they do believe in their system. Ask a Singaporean what he/she thinks of the situation of our government and the default response is usually ‘I don’t really keep track of our politics’. The only periods of real activity is during the budget and the national day rally. I think more Singaporeans tuned in to the US Presidential Election as compared to our own General Elections, why do you think that is so?
The body politic in Singapore has reached a point of saturation. Obama won the Presidency because he got a large group of undecideds to vote his way – the young people. Try and get us, the young people in Singapore to vote, most of them don’t even know who our ex-presidents are, and don’t know who their own MPs are. So tell me, how does a country advance, both socially and politically if the next generation don’t give a damn?
I am dismayed by my peers’ and their disinterest in local politics. However it cannot be blamed on us alone, we have been conditioned by our parents not to care about politics. Every time there is a hike tax or utilities, all we ever do is complain, but have we ever thought of changing anything? Can we do anything about it, should be the appropriate question.
Perhaps instead of arguing about this survey and it’s validity, one should think about how whether or not Singaporeans are receptive to change, or even want a change. Because by god, other nations are forging ahead whether we do or not. The protests in our neighboring countries might seem destructive and harmful to their societies and peoples, but I feel they will emerge from it better as a society. I hate to use this as an example because I think it has been overused, but up to 40 years ago blacks were segregated from white in the States, the 44th President of the United States is Barrack Hussien Obama, is a half-black African-American. Do you think that in 40 years time, we will have the same kind of social and political advancement, not in the sense of a Black or Brown Prime Minister, but freedom of speech and assembly, freedom to choose and pursue a lifestyle of choice, be it gay, straight, transsexual or bisexual. Think about that.
Dear Mr Tan Kin Lian #16,
I acknowledge that you have a right to your own view of things and do respect it, but that does not mean that I agree with it nor give it much credit.
Applying logical analysis to any issue is the ONLY way to go! If not, – anything goes – and there’ll be no common platform for discussion or human understanding. The alternative is dire – all forms of illogic, irrationality, whims, unsubstantiated assertions or nonsense will be acceptable as alternative schools of thought.
Please do not buy into the pseudo-sophisticate’s position of “agreeing to disagree”, “you have your way of looking at it, I have mine”, “everything is relative”, etc. It can only lead to a fruitless state of dialectic paralysis.
A majority view is merely that – the view held by most people. That, in itself, does not make it logical or coherent. Only, by a careful distillation of the facts and the application of critical thinking can we arrive at the truth.
The 50 respondents disagree with the following statements:
> Singapore practices “a democratic society based on equality and justice (2.10)
> Singapore’s progress towards democracy is satisfactory, as it takes a long time to build (2.04)
> Singapore treats all citizens equally before the laws of the land. (2.04)
The score is: 2.0=disagree, 3.0=neutral, 4.0=agree
This is the view of 50 people. Is this a biased group? I think not. They probably reflect the general views of the population. (To smallvoice585 #19: I do not know how you can get this type of answer by logical analysis).
The people of Singapore must be concerned about this type of finding. It shows a high level of discontent with the current situation. One can argue that the score is not precise, and that there is some statistical inaccuracy. But the actual score (if it can be obtained) will not be far off from this sample.
Some people may not like the finding …. so they will find some excuse to disregard it. They can ignore the finding if they wish. But there is no need to attack it (unless they have ulterior motives).
Does Singaporeans really wish to have “A just and caring society should be based on the principles of “from each according to his ability, and to each according to his needs” ?
The average score of 3.48 indicates midway between “neutral” and “agree”. Generally, the ordinary people prefer this type of economic system, while the higher income prefers a free market system that gives them the opportunity to work hard and accumulate a lot of money.
We need something in between. The ordinary people should be taken care of, treated fairly and given a fair wage for their effort, while a few who wish to make a lot of money can still do so (but not at the expense of cheating).
I hope that the new global economic order is a mix of socialism with a moderate (and not excessive) level of free market enterprise.
Dear Mr Tan Kin Lian,
Please do not misconstrue that I’m attacking you or your findings. Anyway, I’m a little puzzled by your fear of being attacked (not just here, but from your past postings). We should all know that receiving contrarian views is in the nature of internet discourse.
Actually, my main point is that the opinion of the majority is not as important as what the reality is. We should not worry if 50 people think that Singapore is not democratic enough; or that Singapore society is not egalitarian enough; or that Marxist principles are preferred. These are mere perceptions of the public. Whether 50 people is representative enough of the public at-large – this, I do not wish to comment now. I do not believe that such perceptions should form the basis of your worry and determine your future course of action.
What’s important is that if you’re interested in whether our society has progressed or not, you can actually find objective evidence for it. You should do the diligent research for it, think about it and present your arguments for all to see. Doing mini-surveys and raising alarm over their findings is not professional.
I am surprised by several posts that say the view of 50 people is too small and unrepresentative and pointless.
Then why are the majority of sillyporeans so willing to listen and be ruled by the view of just one leendividual???
Dear Amy #23,
To your question: “Then why are the majority of sillyporeans so willing to listen and be ruled by the view of just one leendividual???”
Answer: That’s because -
(1) Singapore’s political problems are structural and its predicament has become concretized.
(2) Singaporeans are too clueless and dispassionate in political matters to knock down those walls. Continuing to listen to a familiar old politician is the path of least resistance.
“Freedom is not a birth right but is a privilege to be earned”
I find the low scores for this question quite ironic. The same people who think freedom is a birth right will never get freedom, because they will never get around to fighting for it.
Think you don’t have enough freedom in Singapore? What are you doing about it?
Thinking box:
Should the PAP decide on the upgrading (i.e using our taxpayer money) or they should upgrade as it’s every citizen entitlement