Singaporeans see society as 'kiasu, competitive, self-centred': survey

6 in 10 included 'kiasu' in their top 10 perception of Singapore society.

According to a joint survey by aAdvantage Consulting Group & Barrett Values Centre, 57.7% out of 2000 Singaporean respondents  have chosen Kiasu within their top 10 perceptions of Singapore society. 41.15% included the characteristic 'competitive,' while 32.65% included 'self-centred.'

Here's more from aAdvantage and Barrett Values:

When asked what Singapore residents consider as values and behaviours that best describe themselves, 46.8% chose to include in their top 10 list the value of 'family.' 35.4% said that they are the likes who value friendship while 32.4% chose to include 'health' in their list.

The purpose of the survey is really to generate discussions and dialogues as opposed to being conclusive. That is the basis of the Barrett Values model. The choice of values are based on the respondents’ perceptions. We need to understand these perceptions in terms of what they mean and what drives these perceptions.

Some possible observations and questions for reflection that can be drawn are:

1) Singapore Residents are honest about how they feel

2) How people perceive success (e.g. Academic excellence; top jobs, top pay) may influence how people behave and hence the “need” to be kiasu, competitive and self-centered

3) There could possibly be some stress experienced by the Singapore Residents today as what they value are relationships, i.e. family, friends, whereas what they experience is that of self-centeredness, “kiasuism” and competition

4) Taken to an extreme, would “kiasu”, “kiasi” and the other behaviours limit innovation and creativity; also will they expect the government to lead and drive the change towards desired whilst they take a backseat