By Priscilla Goy And Cheng Jingjie, The Straits Times, 10 Apr 2013
PEOPLE in Singapore are less gracious than they have ever been in the last five years.
Blame that on "angst" after a "challenging" past year, said Dr William Wan, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM).
The latest Graciousness Index released yesterday gave Singapore a score of 53, the worst in the five years of the index.
It also meant an eight-point fall from last year's 61.
The higher the index, the more gracious the society is.
Dr Wan admitted the size of the drop was "disappointing".
But Singaporeans whom The Straits Times spoke to said they were not surprised.
"I see that people are always in a hurry. When people are frustrated, they lose the caring spirit," said chauffeur Eddy Koh, 50.
Student Hidhir Nasir agreed.
"I feel that our society doesn't have much room for kindness, because we are always rushing," said the 18-year-old.
Some begged to differ, questioning the accuracy of the index.
Mr Adrian Phoon, a 25-year- old student who is behind a movement in which joggers greet the strangers they meet, said: "It's hard to measure kindness. It means different things to different people. We may also not be counting simple kind acts."
Since 2009, the SKM has been trying to measure graciousness with the index, which surveyed 1,201 Singaporeans, permanent residents and foreigners in its latest instalment.
The survey found that more than anything else, fewer people were experiencing acts of graciousness, whether it was being at the receiving end of them, or simply witnessing a kind act.
For instance, 41 per cent said they had been a "recipient of a random act of graciousness", down from 65 per cent in last year's study.
Dr Wan believes this could be due to how people are "preoccupied with rising costs of living", in particular housing and car prices. "When they are more preoccupied, they are less sensitive to acts of graciousness. They may have actually received an act of graciousness but said they did not," he said.
Fewer also thought that Singapore was getting more gracious.
When asked if they saw an improvement in the past year, 22 per cent said "yes" this time, down from 27 per cent.
At least, a few things have changed for the better.
Behaviour on public transport was among those areas that improved the most.
The index gave a score of 6.0, up 0.4 points, when it came to people giving up their seats to those who need them more.
Teacher Wincy Tsang, 33, who has a two-year-old child, said: "Most Singaporeans are kind, I usually get a seat in the morning on the bus."
Those surveyed also rated Singapore 5.6 out of 10, a rise of 0.5 points, for making space for passengers by moving to the rear.
Singaporeans divided on need for gracious behaviour online
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 10 Apr 2013
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 10 Apr 2013
SINGAPOREANS are generally more willing to speak out on social media. But they are split when it comes to whether gracious behaviour should be extended to cyberspace.
The findings, which were released yesterday, came after a new social media component was added to the Singapore Kindness Movement's annual Graciousness Index study.
Singapore Kindness Movement general secretary William Wan said the inclusion was because "social media is here to stay". It also comes in the wake of anti-foreigner and racist postings online.
The study asked 1,201 people to rate from 0 to 10 how far they agreed with given statements, with 0 listed as "strongly disagree".
They agreed the "Internet allows people to talk about things they normally would not talk about", giving an average rating of 6.7. But when asked if "gracious behaviours are not applicable in a digital world (the Internet)", respondents gave an average rating of 4.4.
This is close to middle ground, Dr Wan noted, and shows Singaporeans are divided on whether graciousness is important online.
He hopes to get more people savvy with social media to encourage others to be gracious online. "For face-to-face interaction, people think they have to be nice. But with anonymity, they think they can be ungracious to each other. We think that's not correct."