London,Febrauary10,2012:Singaporean's trust in the Government remains among the highest in the world, even as there is an unprecedented global decline in people's trust in their countries' governments.
A recent survey showed that 73 per cent of 1,200 Singaporeans polled last year said they trust government leaders here to tell the public the truth, no matter how unpopular or complex an issue may be. While this is down slightly from the 77 per cent recorded in 2010, the high level of trust has helped to push Singapore up to become the third-most- trusting nation overall. Singapore ranks behind only Brazil and the United Arab Emirates in the survey of 25 markets conducted by independent public-relations firm Edelman from October to November last year. Besides governments, the annual survey also looked at the public's trust in businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the media. Trust among people here in businesses inched down from 67 per cent in 2010 to 66 per cent last year, while that for NGOs stayed at 64 per cent. Trust in the media rose by 6 percentage points to 65 per cent last year. Trust in the mainstream media increased 12 percentage points to 38 per cent, while that for social media rose by 7 percentage points to 15 per cent last year. Associate Professor Alan Chong, of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that the dip in trust in the Government must be looked at in the context of last year's General and Presidential elections. While he believed that the survey findings were reflective of sentiments on the ground, there might have been some "spillover effects" of the elections which affected respondents' views. "I think the drop from the previous year's figures is not particularly significant, especially since the arguments put forth by opposition parties thus far have not been overwhelming," he said. Dr Derek da Cunha, an independent political analyst, said he was not surprised that trust in the media has improved. "The mainstream media's coverage of political developments up to and including both elections was far more balanced than had ever been seen in Singapore," he said.
A recent survey showed that 73 per cent of 1,200 Singaporeans polled last year said they trust government leaders here to tell the public the truth, no matter how unpopular or complex an issue may be. While this is down slightly from the 77 per cent recorded in 2010, the high level of trust has helped to push Singapore up to become the third-most- trusting nation overall. Singapore ranks behind only Brazil and the United Arab Emirates in the survey of 25 markets conducted by independent public-relations firm Edelman from October to November last year. Besides governments, the annual survey also looked at the public's trust in businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the media. Trust among people here in businesses inched down from 67 per cent in 2010 to 66 per cent last year, while that for NGOs stayed at 64 per cent. Trust in the media rose by 6 percentage points to 65 per cent last year. Trust in the mainstream media increased 12 percentage points to 38 per cent, while that for social media rose by 7 percentage points to 15 per cent last year. Associate Professor Alan Chong, of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that the dip in trust in the Government must be looked at in the context of last year's General and Presidential elections. While he believed that the survey findings were reflective of sentiments on the ground, there might have been some "spillover effects" of the elections which affected respondents' views. "I think the drop from the previous year's figures is not particularly significant, especially since the arguments put forth by opposition parties thus far have not been overwhelming," he said. Dr Derek da Cunha, an independent political analyst, said he was not surprised that trust in the media has improved. "The mainstream media's coverage of political developments up to and including both elections was far more balanced than had ever been seen in Singapore," he said.
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