Singapore News Alternative: survey

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People's Association (PA) quietly conducts extensive door-to-door survey to gauge the popularity of Lee Hsien Loong government

Yawningbread.wordpress.com, 28 Sep 2014

I was asked to rate on a scale of ten my “confidence in the Lee Hsien Loong government”, my confidence in “public services” provided by other arms of the governments, in “courts of law”, in the army, the police and so on.
Somewhere down the list, I was asked about my confidence in “mainstream media” and “online media”.
After going through the “confidence in” questions, I was asked for my opinion as to the “competence” of these bodies or sectors, then about the “integrity of public services”, their “sincerity”, and whether they “understand the concerns of the general public”.
When the survey-taker left, I went to the People’s Association website to see if there is any information about this survey they are conducting. I could not find any.
The question on readers’ minds will surely be this: Assuming the People’s Association (PA) is paying for this survey, why it is paying for a survey loaded with questions unrelated to itself? What purpose are those questions intended to serve? Who else will have access to the results?
In fact, since the PA is funded with taxpayers’ money, shouldn’t the results be publicly available?
Full story

4 Asian cities put Singapore to shame in 2014 livability survey

Singapore Business Review, 1 Jul 2014
We slip down from a consistent 15th.
Since 2006, lifestyle magazine Monocle has published an annual list of livable cities and presented 25 top locations for quality of life, where Singapore has continuously ranked.
The survey assigns ranks in terms of safety/crime, international connectivity, climate, quality of architecture, public transportation, tolerance, environmental issues and access to nature, urban design, business conditions, pro-active policy developments and medical care.
Japan bagged 3 in the top 10 this year, with Tokyo, Kyoto, and Fukuoka ranking 2nd, 9th and 10th respectively, while Hong Kong snatched 13th place. Link

Public opinion on Filipinos sinks to new low in HK university poll

GMA News Online, 4 Dec 2013
Opinion on the Philippine government and people has reached an all-time low among the Hong Kong populace, based on an annual survey by a university there.
The Philippine government posted the lowest percentages on Hong Kong University's Public Opinion Program (POP), receiving a -89 percent net value, trailing Japan's -51 percent.
On the other hand, only the people of Mainland China and the Philippines received negative net values, with China receiving -5 percent compared to the Philippines' -11 percent. [Click here for the results.]
“Moreover, compared to 6 months ago, Hong Kong people’s positive feelings towards the governments of Singapore, Canada and Australia, and their negative feelings towards the governments of Japan and the Phlippines, in terms of net values, are all at their new highs since 1997,” according to the survey's abstract. Full story

Poll: Overwhelming majority of Singapore finance workers wants tighter restrictions on foreign workers

Yahoo! Finance Singapore, 7 Nov 2013
The Singapore government’s new plan to put its citizens at the front of the line when it comes to hiring in certain job categories has received resounding approval from financial services workers, with an overwhelming majority of those polled in a new eFinancialCareers survey supporting the Fair Consideration Framework.
eFinancialCareers conducted the research among 956 Singapore-based financial services professionals at the end of October. More than 75% of the respondents said they were in favour of the move, with most expecting that more nationals would be hired as a result. Full story

Related:
Singaporeans still ignorant of being screwed by S'pore's CECA deal with India - TR Emeritus

Philippine's Ninoy Aquino International Airport rated world's worst airport for 2013

Philstar.com, 17 Oct 2013
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 is the worst airport in the world for 2013 after getting the same distinction two years ago.
Travel website Sleeping In Airports has released the results of its Best and Worst Airports for 2013, and the Philippines' main gateway was once again voted as the world's most notorious airport.
NAIA 1 was first named as the world's worst airport in 2011 and the worst in Asia in 2012.
The website's list of best and worst airports in the world is based on the votes of travelers who were asked to consider comfort, conveniences, cleanliness and customer service. Full story

"Working poor" in Singapore can't make ends meet: NUS survey

XIN MSN News, 25 Sep 2013
SINGAPORE: A new study has shown that the working poor in Singapore are not getting enough pay to make ends meet. "Working poor" is defined as someone earning less than half of the average monthly income of a Singaporean, which now stands at S$3,000.
Associate Professor Hui Weng Tat of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy said: "We do have a problem, because we do have a large number of households who are earning income in the lower end, not having enough to cover their household expenditure, especially at the lower 20 per cent.
"If you look at the household expenditure survey data, there has been an increasing gap between what they receive and what they spend."
The study released on Tuesday showed that 66.4 per cent of respondents said there are jobs available for aid recipients who want to work. However, 85 per cent said these jobs are not paying enough for them to support a family. Full story

Expats prefer Brunei to Malaysia, Singapore, survey finds

Yahoo! News Malaysia, 20 Aug 2013
Malaysia’s graft and unattractive tax structure may have pulled down the country’s popularity among foreign professionals, who rated it Southeast Asia’s second best country behind tiny Brunei, according to a revent survey of expatriates.
Malaysia scored 94 per cent satisfaction marks in a survey by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) of 475 senior executives working for US companies operating in ASEAN countries, and tied with Singapore and Laos to take the second place.
Brunei was the only country in the region to score the full 100 marks for expat satisfaction. Full story

Survey reveals 3 in 5 Singaporeans most worried about inflation, jobs, healthcare cost - the highest in Asia

Yahoo! Finance Singapore, 16 Aug 2013
In a recent online survey conducted by GfK, 65 percent of respondents in Singapore, the highest level across all the Asia Pacific countries surveyed said that inflation and high prices are among their top 3 concerns. Recession and unemployment (43%), followed by cost of healthcare (42%) trail as the next two greatest worries among locals. Full story

Hong Kong takes top spot in internet connection speed, Singapore ranked 10th : Survey

Yahoo! Finance Singapore, 12 Feb 2013
According to an article by Pingdom, an internet monitoring service provider, Hong Kong offers the fastest internet connection in the world with an impressive 54.1 Mbps.
The data, obtained from Akamai, a global cloud platform also showed that Iran offers the slowest internet connection. Singapore is ranked 10th at 30.7 mbps. Full story

Cost of living was No.1 factor for Punggol East vote swing: survey

Yahoo! News Singapore, 8 Feb 2013
Nearly 4 in 10 voters who cast their ballot at the recent Punggol East by-election said the cost of living was the top reason that determined their choice, says a new survey.
Conducted by independent local agency Blackbox Research, the survey also found the second most important reason for vote swing was attributed to “the government not listening to ordinary Singaporeans”.
Some 21 per cent swing voters aged under 40 identified this as the top factor in deciding their vote. Full story

Smartphones outpacing tablets in data consumption

ZDNet.com, 14 Jan 2013
A recent study has shown smartphones overtaking tablets amid increasing data consumption among users, which mobile operators should note to more intelligently and cost-effectively manage their network and subscriber base.
The study released Monday by Arieso, which specializes in mobile network optimization, found that for the first time, smartphones consistently surpassed tablets in consumption of mobile data. The top three mobile devices that were the "hungriest" data consumers of 2012 were all smartphones--Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3, and HTC Sensation XL. Full story

Singapore 6th, Malaysia 36th best nation to be born in 2013, survey shows

The Malaysian Insider, 3 Jan 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Singapore jumped to the sixth best place to be born in the world this year while Malaysia was 36th, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) index of 80 nations that attempts to measure which country provides the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life.
Southeast Asia’s third biggest economy hopped up two rungs from the 38th spot it occupied 25 years ago, when the EIU —- a sister company to the influential Economist business and current affairs magazine — first ran its “Where-to-be-born” index in 1988, edging out other nations in the region except for Singapore. Full story

Singaporean most unhappiy in survey by Gallup - report

KSPR.com, 20 Dec 2012Singapore sits 32 places higher than Panama on the Human Development Index, but at the opposite end of the happiness list. And things weren't looking good to Richard Low, a 33-year-old businessman in the prosperous Asian metropolis.
"We work like dogs and get paid peanuts. There's hardly any time for holidays or just to relax in general because you're always thinking ahead: when the next deadline or meeting is. There is hardly a fair sense of work-life balance here," he said. Full story

The Malaysian Insider, 17 Dec 2012
SINGAPORE, Dec 17 – Almost every Malaysian employee expects to get a pay rise next year, according to Randstad’s latest Workmonitor Report for fourth quarter released today.
This figure is among the highest from a global survey of 14,780 employees from 32 countries, with respondents across the region less confident about their prospects of a pay rise in China (82 per cent), Singapore (76 per cent), Australia (75 per cent), New Zealand (69 per cent) and Japan (42 per cent).
Randstad Malaysia Director Jasmin Kaur said this sentiment was in line with the solid financial performance of businesses across Malaysia, with four in five (82 per cent) of employees surveyed indicating their company performed well this year despite the global economic challenges. Full story

Related:
Randstad Workmonitor "Employee expectations for 2013" (Dec 2012) - Randstad.com

84% oppose bus fare hikes for higher driver wages: Poll

Yahoo! News Singapore, 11 Dec 2012
Would you pay more in bus fares so that transport operators can pay their bus drivers higher salaries?
An overwhelming 84 per cent of more than 3,000 Yahoo! Singapore readers who participated in its poll on the topic said they would not, believing that transport companies should absorb the resulting increase in costs.
A significant majority of more than 120 comments posted on Yahoo! Singapore’s Facebook page also clamoured for bus operators SMRT and SBS Transit to restructure their organisations, or cut the pay of their senior executives in order to compensate the increase in their bus drivers’ salaries.
“Cut management bonuses and shareholders’ dividends,” wrote Facebook user Mark Chan. “Why should a small minority benefit at the expense of the public and the hundreds of drivers who perform an essential public service?”
Still others pointed out that the provision of public transport should not yield the levels of profit that SBS Transit and SMRT currently enjoy. The former earned a full-year net profit of S$235.6 million last year, while the latter’s was S$119.9 million. Full story

Related:
A “fair” hike to increase SMRT bus drivers’ wages? - The Online Citizen

Singapore ranks highest for mobile social media use in the world

MIS Asia, 6 Dec 2012
Seven in 10 Singaporean consumers interact with social media via their mobile phone according to the latest social media report by Nielsen. This puts Singapore 23 points above the global average of 47 percent.
"Connected mobile devices are embedded in the everyday lives of many in Singapore," said Joan Koh, managing director for Nielsen Singapore and Malaysia.
The speed of technological development and the penetration rates of smartphones and tablets have resulted in social media having increased influence over purchase decisions, according to the survey. Full story

Singapore ranked 5th in TI's 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index

How did the govts of Denmark, Finland and New Zealand manage to top the least corrupted index with their humble salaries?

Insurance Journal, 5 Dec 2012
In Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for first place out of 176 countries – meaning they were perceived to have the lowest levels of state sector corruption.
Sweden was fourth with Singapore ranked as fifth. Germany came in at 13th, one notch better than 2011 and Japan remained at 17. The United States ranked 19th in 2012, up from 24th out of 183 countries in 2011. China ranked 80th after 75th in 2011. Full story

Related:

Singaporeans need US$227k to feel happy, US$2.91mil to feel wealthy: Survey

Globalpost.com, 4 Dec 2012
The latest to weigh in on the issue is Skandia International's Wealth Sentiment Monitor. It found that the global average "happiness income" is around $161,000 for 13 countries surveyed. The United States wasn't specifically measured. (Read more: Why Millionaires Prefer Dogs)
But there was a wide range of answers depending on the country. Dubai residents need the most to feel wealthy. They said they needed $276,150 to be happy. Singapore came in second place, with $227,553, followed by Hong Kong, with $197,702.
Singaporeans took the lead on the "wealth" needs, with $2.91 million needed to feel wealthy. Dubai ranked second with $2.5 million, followed by Hong Kong with $2.46 million. Full story

Gallup poll ranks Singapore most emotionless society in the world

BusinessWeek, 20 Nov 2012
U.S. pollster Gallup conducts surveys in over 140 countries to compare how people feel about their lives. Singapore ranks as the most emotionless society in the world, behind Georgia, Lithuania, and Russia. Singaporeans are unlikely to report feelings of anger, physical pain, or other negative emotions. They’re not laughing a lot, either. “If you measure Singapore by the traditional indicators, they look like one of the best-run countries in the world,” says Jon Clifton, a Gallup partner in Washington. “But if you look at everything that makes life worth living, they’re not doing so well.” Full story

Related:

NUS study reveals shocking findings on public housing affordability

Singapore Democrats, 19 Nov 2012
A study conducted by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) showed that a Singaporean household earning $5,000 in 2017 would be able to buy only a three-room flat.
Associate Professors Chia Ngee Choon and Albert Tsui made this projection in their study commissioned by the Ministry of Manpower.
The researchers made the following calculations for younger Singaporeans entering the workforce today and looking to buy an HDB flat in 2017 when they are about 30 years old:

Lower-middle income households at the 30th income percentile (combined monthly income of $5,100) would be able to afford a three-room flat.
Median-income households at the 50th income percentile (combined monthly income of $7,100) would be able to afford a four-room flat.
Upper-middle-income households at the 70th income percentile (combined monthly income of $9,200) would be able to afford a five-room flat.

This shocking finding tells the story of a Singapore in reverse gear. In the early 1990s a household earning $5,000 was able to buy a condominium or even a terrace house. By 2017, according to the NUS researchers, households with twice that income will only be able to afford a five-room flat. Full story

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