People here have been interacting with their neighbours
less often, such as greeting them, even as fewer of them want to
have greater neighbourliness and more want to maintain their
privacy.
The findings are from the latest Graciousness Survey
commissioned by the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), which tracks
experiences and perceptions of kindness and graciousness, released
on Tuesday (June 27).
The study polled 3,066 people - including Singaporeans,
permanent residents and foreigners - via face-to-face interviews
over two phases, from July to August 2016 and from December 2016 to
January 2017.
It showed that only 23 per cent of respondents
exchanged greetings with their neighbours more than thrice a week,
as compared to 29 per cent in last year's survey. In terms of
striking of casual conversations, only 11 per cent did so over
thrice a week, down from 17 per cent last year.
When asked if they wanted to have greater
neighbourliness, 26 per cent said they did - lower than the 29 per
cent in the previous year. About half (57 per cent) said they think
the "current situation is good enough now", 15 per cent (up from 11
per cent last year) said they preferred to maintain their privacy,
while the rest said it was unnecessary to socialise with their
neighbours.
The annual survey used to have a Graciousness Index,
with Singapore scoring 61 out of 100 in 2015, the last time when
such figures were released. But organisers said the score had not
changed significantly in recent years, and decided to do away with
putting a quantitative score on graciousness.
The latest survey showed that over the last year, more
people deemed that there were no clearly evident improvements or
declines in overall graciousness perceptions. It found that
Singapore residents remain generally positive about the state of
graciousness and kindness here. More Singaporeans also agree that
they can and should take more ownership in promoting positive
social values.
ST