Various incidents in Singapore in contemporary times have highlighted the divisive nature of five key issues: race, religion, immigration, class, and LGBT. Just this year alone, the NETS-Preetipls incident, censure of foreign Christian and Muslim preachers for promulgating inflammatory content, the JP Morgan condominium resident episode, and continued debates on the repeal of 377A have dominated our local media headlines. These challenges are also amplified by their tendency to conflate too.
Against this backdrop, we seek to peruse views of our local population on the implications of mismanaging these five faultlines; as well as on mitigating mechanisms including state intervention and public discourse. Community attitudes towards specific issues associated with key faultlines are also of interest — such as the role of the state; reactions to inflammatory content; and the interplay of religion and LGBT issues.
In our Faultlines in Singapore (FiS) study, we find that the majority of Singaporeans are cognizant of the gravity of managing societal faultlines. Perennial issues of race and religion are perceived to be adequately managed by the state; while a sizeable proportion of the population indicated the need for more state involvement and public discourse on issues of immigration, class and LGBT — contemporary faultlines that have come to the fore amidst a more globalised and open socio-economic landscape.
The authors of this working paper are Head, Social Lab and Senior Research Fellow Mathew Mathews, Research Associate Melvin Tay and Research Assistant Shanthini Selvarajan. Fieldwork for the relevant sections of the FiS was conducted by IPS Social Lab.
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Abstract
Amidst continued spotlight on social cohesion and divisions in Singapore, this Faultlines in Singapore (FiS) paper examines the views of the local population on the implications of mismanaging across five key issue-spheres including 1) race; 2) religion; 3) class; 4) immigration; and 5) LGBT. It subsequently peruses the views of the population on potential mitigating mechanisms including public discourse and state involvement. More in-depth insights are presented on community attitudes towards specific issues associated with key faultlines — such as the role of the state; reactions to inflammatory content; and the interplay of religion and LGBT issues. Survey responses to new questions in the 2018 IPS RRL study were utilised across this study to facilitate social sensing of the broader community’s key concerns and desired approaches.
In general, this study has found that the majority of Singaporeans are cognizant of the gravity of managing societal faultlines. A large majority anticipates some adverse consequence (to varying extents ranging from suspicion or mistrust, to outright violence) to arise, should the mismanagement of faultlines occur. This awareness highlights that the national education methods in Singapore has nurtured a population that does not take social harmony for granted — Singaporeans recognise the potential for undesirable outcomes even amidst relative social harmony and stability. Perennial issues of race and religion are perceived to be adequately managed by the state; while a sizeable proportion of the population indicated the need for more state involvement and public discourse on issues of immigration, class and LGBT — contemporary faultlines that have come to the fore amidst a more globalised and open socio-economic landscape.
A more in-depth review of community attitudes towards various issues associated with the faultlines reveals the need for further study and focus vis-à-vis: 1) equipping the community to deal with inflammatory content circulated across traditional and contemporary channels such as social media; 2) continued efforts to navigate increasing religiosity and preferences for greater religious freedoms; 3) the efficacy of meritocratic ideals in relation to desires for affirmative action; 4) continued management of resident population’s preferences in relation to immigration policies; 5) the need to address perceived difficulties and sustain the positive impact of education in social mixing; and 6) the disaggregation of religion and politics to prevent the “deepening” and “conflation” of faultlines along religious and sexual identities. In addition, it is noted that a significant number of viewpoints expressed would vary, based on age cohorts and education levels. Broad-brush policy directions are presented alongside these findings.
Media Coverage
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