Survey: Level of prejudice
unchanged
Comfort levels
across race, age and religion have largely stayed the same,
according to a large-scale study by the Institute of Policy Studies
(IPS).
But 32.1 per cent of those surveyed felt that prejudice based on
nationality has become more widespread now compared to five years
ago.
The study surveyed more than 4,000 Singapore
residents between December 2012 and April last year.
The findings were presented at the IPS Singapore
Perspectives 2014 conference yesterday.
More than 40 per cent of respondents felt that
prejudice levels in the categories of race, religion, language,
gender, age and nationality have remained the same.
Almost half felt that the levels of racial
prejudice has not changed, while 16 per cent felt that it has
grown.
For the religion and gender categories, the
percentage of those who felt there was no change in the levels of
prejudice was slightly higher - 50.7 per cent and 50 per cent
respectively.
Less than half said there was less gender
prejudice, while 39.2 per cent felt the same for religion.
About 70 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with
the statement that the Government is responsible for racial and
religious harmony to Singapore.
Less than half felt that the Government has
done well to improve the integration of new immigrants here.
The data also showed that respondents were very
comfortable with different local -born racial groups in public and
private settings, but less so with those who were foreign-born.
News, The New Paper, Wednesday, January 29 2014, Pg 4
