Last updated: 25 August 2003
 SAS 2001

In September 2002, the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) released the first monograph from its survey project, Social Attitudes of Singaporeans (SAS).

To read the monograph in pdf format, go to http://www.mcds.gov.sg/

SAS 2001 was the first survey of a longitudinal project to examine changes in social attitudes over time. SAS 2001, for which fieldwork was done in January - June 2001, would serve as the baseline for future surveys.

Question no. 14 of the 18 questions in the survey was based on the statement, "I find homosexual behaviour unacceptable." Respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement. This questionnaire was administered face-to-face by trained interviewers.

The survey sampled Singapore citizens aged 15 and above. MCDS reported that a high response rate of 80% was achieved, resulting in a useable sample of 1481 Singaporeans. Their responses were reweighted in accordance with the demographic profile of Singaporeans, based on the census of 2000.

The monograph analysed the responses to the homosexuality question against a number of other factors:  marital status, age group, education and race. 

 
Our comments:

Given that almost everybody knows what the political orthodoxy is in Singapore with reference to homosexuality, to what extent was a bias created when the questionnaire was administered face to face? Did some respondents feel they had to give the "correct" answer?

The statement posed can be understood in different ways: some might understand "homosexual behaviour" to mean sex; others might take it to mean non-normative outward gender behaviour, e.g. females dressing in a masculine way, or males sashaying around. This ambiguity calls into question what exactly the survey has measured.

The statement also objectifies homosexuality, when in real life the situation is one of how one gets along with homosexual persons. Posing a question about attitudes to an abstracted condition, is less meaningful compared to how people might negotiate their relationships with homosexual persons. 

      
"I find homosexual behaviour unacceptable."
Percent agreeing with
 the above statement

All respondents n = 1481 85%
By marital status
   single
   married		  
75%
89%
By age group
   under 30 years old
   30 and above		  
71%
88%
By education
   post secondary
   secondary & below		  
74%
90%
By race
   Chinese
   Malay
   Indian		  
83%
94%
88%

 

In this respect, we believe the questions posed in the People Like Us survey (May 2000) were more pertinent, asking people how they might react if their child, sibling or co-worker were gay.

We found that when the doctrinal element was removed from the question, and an inter-personal element inserted, Singaporeans showed themselves more tolerant.

Despite the above-mentioned weaknesses of the MCDS survey, it is noteworthy that SAS 2001 had these findings:

  • nearly one in three Singaporeans under 30 thought homosexuality acceptable;
  • one in four Singaporeans with post-secondary education thought homosexuality acceptable

 

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