Dear reader,
“Singapore This Week”. In our weekly digest, we discuss Raeesah Khan’s testimony at Pritam Singh’s trial; the problematic Allianz-Income deal; that (yawn) house at Oxley Road; proposed archaeological laws to protect Singapore’s “cultural patrimony”; the passing of Shahid Nasheer, prodigious theatre talent; the floundering “30 by 30” drive; and more.
Our “essay” of the week has a rather bland title, “Singaporeans’ political interests and imperatives: Jom’s first voter sentiment survey”. It was quite intentional to frame a quantitative analysis of our society in relatively dispassionate terms. Though I hope it doesn’t downplay the efforts of numerous people within and outside our organisation.
A year ago, when our team was discussing Jom’s pre-election coverage, we decided on a few special projects, one of which was a proper voter sentiment survey. To understand why, consider these questions: what’s Lee Hsien Loong’s leadership approval rating? How likeable is Pritam Singh? What are the real concerns of Singaporeans, and how confident are we in our government’s ability to address them?
In many other democracies, these would appear in run-of-the-mill reports every quarter or so. Such surveys are essential guides to our civic and political lives. What does your fellow citizen, part of your imagined community, think about life here?
I asked around, and realised that there’s no real reason they’re not conducted regularly in Singapore. Some told me that mainstream media channels may be afraid to publish any results that, say, make our leaders look bad. Well, not Jom. So we gathered a bunch of policy wonks, assessed similar surveys overseas, including those conducted by Gallup and Pew, and formulated a set of questions, in consultation with Milieu, which then conducted the fieldwork. (Our full methodology note is at the end of the piece.)
On a related note, we also feel that when other surveys are conducted here, usually by government-controlled or -funded institutions, there’s insufficient transparency. In the interest of openness, Jom will also share the raw data that Milieu sent us, when we publish the second of this two-parter next week. Play with it; tell us what we’ve missed.
You are with us on what I hope is the first step of a long, collaborative journey. Where will it take us? I’m unsure, but we’ve wondered whether we can eventually do this every quarter or, at least, half a year. For the foreseeable future, I hope we can repeat it every year. Indeed, some of the barometer questions—for example: how satisfied are you with life?—will gather salience over time, as we perceive sentiment shifting in either direction.
Next week, we’ll give you the full ranking of politicians in terms of likeability. (Oddly enough, there’s a lot that should please both the ruling party and the opposition.) This week, we focus on Singaporeans’ political interests and imperatives. Is “cost of living” or “immigration” a bigger concern for Singaporeans? Which generation is most concerned about Israel and Palestine? How certain are PAP supporters of their vote at the next election?
You’ll find answers to all this and more here. The survey results will always be outside the paywall. Share it, get your friends to subscribe to support such work.
Finally, a big thanks to the numerous contributors, some of whom are named, for their help over many months. We’re deeply grateful.
Jom fikir,
Sudhir Vadaketh
Editor-in-chief, Jom
p.s. See you at the Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF) next weekend! Tickets here.
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