Feb 1, 2011
But many surveyed express concern over cost of living
By Rachel Chang
SINGAPOREANS have higher levels of confidence in the country's future and economy, but a new survey found them concerned about issues such as affordability of public housing and employment opportunities for the elderly and needy.
Commissioned by Reach, the Government's feedback arm, the survey last year saw more than 90 per cent of the 2,013 respondents express satisfaction with their overall quality of life, compared to 2009.
When asked if they were satisfied with the way Singapore was being run, 96 per cent of respondents, who were aged 17 and above, said 'yes'.
A high percentage were also satisfied with the Government's economic policies, the quality of the public service, their living environment and issues such as the education system.
But the survey also found that a larger proportion of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with aspects of public transport and housing compared to a year earlier.
The questions put to respondents during face-to-face interviews conducted from October to November last year ranged from whether the Government was succeeding in promoting neighbourliness to its handling of foreign relations.
The highest level of dissatisfaction was registered with government attempts to keep the cost of living affordable: 66 per cent of respondents flagged this as an area of concern.
Inflation has spiked in recent months, with the consumer price index shooting up 4.6 per cent in December last year compared to a year ago.
While almost all respondents were happy with efforts to encourage use of public transport, 63 per cent were satisfied with the affordability of public transport - a six percentage point drop from those who expressed satisfaction in 2009.
And in the area of managing road congestion through car ownership control, 35 per cent were not satisfied - a 10 percentage point rise from the previous year.
MP Lim Wee Kiak, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee on Transport, said there was no panacea for congestion caused by the substantial growth of cars in the past five years.
'For now, we probably have to endure the situation while waiting for the new infrastructure to come up,' he said, citing the new Circle and Downtown MRT lines, and the North-South Expressway.
He suggested looking at how to ease peak-hour traffic on certain roads, for instance, by staggering the start times of schools or factories clustered in one area.
On housing, 76 per cent felt that the supply of flats was adequate. But just over half did not think housing was being kept affordable for most.
Reach chairman Amy Khor noted that the survey was done before the latest round of property cooling measures, which were announced last month.
'Anticipating the challenges that they face in today's economic climate, the Government is also zeroing in on low-income households to ensure they can cope with the rising cost of living and to bridge the income gap,' she said.
As for employment, respondents were most dissatisfied with the provision of job opportunities for elderly workers. Only 46 per cent were satisfied, a 17 percentage point drop from a year earlier.
Labour MP Heng Chee How found this surprising as the employment rate for those aged 55 to 64 actually rose to 59 per cent last year, after staying put at 57.2 per cent over the previous two years.
'The facts show that our efforts to improve employment among older workers are actually producing fruit,' he said.
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