Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) how regularly is the Social Attitudes of Singaporeans (SAS) Survey conducted; (b) whether the Ministry will make public the Survey findings as was done for the 2001 and 2002 Surveys; and (c) what are the reasons for not making the Survey findings public since 2002.

Mr Chan Chun Sing: The Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans was conducted annually from 2001 to 2003. The findings revealed that Singaporeans' social attitudes, by and large, do not change significantly year-on-year. For this reason, from 2003 onwards, MCYS conducted the survey once every three years.

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Since 2004, MCYS has released some of the key findings covered in the survey. For example, the State of the Family Report in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2011 included the findings on Singaporeans' attitudes towards marriage, family bonds, extended family ties, and financial and emotional support from the family. The Singapore Public Sector Outcomes Review in 2010 included indices on racial and religious cohesion and attitudes towards foreigners, which were developed using the survey data.

Moving forward, MCYS will continue to share relevant findings from the survey.

Annexes

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Annex to Oral Answer to Question Nos. 5-8 (Handout)