S'POREANS ARE OK WITH COLLEAGUES OF ANOTHER RACE, BUT NOT SPOUSES: SURVEY

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A recent survey revealed that more than nine in 10 Singaporeans accept colleagues and neighbours of a different race, but fewer are willing to marry or welcome an in-law of another race.

For instance, among non-Malay respondents, just over three in 10 said they would be comfortable with a Malay spouse.

The numbers were similar when non- Indian respondents were asked about marrying an Indian person, and just slightly higher - five in 10 - for a parallel question on Eurasians.

The Straits Times reports that this survey was conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and racial harmony advocacy group OnePeople.sg and involved more than 4,000 Singaporeans.

Other questions in the survey explored race relations at the workplace.

For example, those born here were much less comfortable with workmates who are new citizens of a different race.

While 94 per cent of non-Chinese accept a local-born Chinese as their boss, that share falls to 74 per cent for a boss who is a new citizen originally from China.

There was also a significant number who said that minorities are disadvantaged at work.

Some 36 per cent of respondents felt Malays had to work harder or much harder than someone of another race to reach the top spot in their company. For Indians, the figure was 31 per cent.

This survey is the first to create 10 indicators to measure inter-racial and inter-religious trust. The aim is to pose the questions again in future to gauge shifts in attitudes.