Graciousness Index shows marked rise in awareness on graciousness from under 30s
Singapore, 28th March 2012 – ‘Gen Y’ Singaporeans are among the most improved in graciousness, according to the results of the Singapore Kindness Movement’s 2012 Graciousness Index, released today.
The Index, which measures how gracious a society Singapore is, has been conducted by the SKM for the past four years. The study polled 1,400 residents about their own behaviour, and those of others, with respect to social etiquette and standards in Singapore.
Based on the annual survey done by the SKM, those aged 16-29 have significantly outdone the generations before them in terms of increasing their sensitivity to graciousness. While Gen X (aged 30-50) and Babyboomers (older than 50) remained relatively stable in their mean graciousness ratings, Gen Y ratings jumped up 0.4 from 5.9 to a mean of 6.3.
Older babyboomers, aged above 50, still scored the highest overall, but their mean rating is unchanged from last year at 6.7.
“Gen Y has shown a positive mind shift in their attitudes towards graciousness in Singapore. They are certainly more attuned to their surroundings and are more cognizant to the changes happening around them. This could be due to greater awareness as they are more informed in this digital age,” observed Ms Doreen Loh, teacher-mentor for the Friend Of Singa project team at Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary).
In recent years, SKM has recorded a stable level of graciousness in Singapore, with the Index for 2012 standing at 61, which is a slight rise from the previous year’s Index of 60.
Emphasizing his delight with the Gen Y finding, Dr Wan, General Secretary, Singapore Kindness Movement shared, “It is definitely heartening to know that the younger Singaporeans recognize the intrinsic need for us to be gracious to one another. Society’s perception of that generation may change now, knowing that the youths are not as selfish or spoiled as they’re often made out to be, and more than capable of consideration and thoughtfulness.”
Other findings from the survey highlighted that people in middle income households, which comprise a significant proportion of all households, now see Singapore as a more gracious society than those from the income brackets below and above them. This partly reflects what is typically termed ‘middle class values’ seen in other developed societies. Findings suggest that Singapore’s growing middle class do place considerable importance on graciousness whether they are working, shopping, dining, or simply going about their everyday lives and interactions with each other.
Transport woes continue to be a graciousness bugbear for many Singaporeans, with public transport and driving behaviour remaining the lowest ranked areas in 2012.
“To achieve our vision of a kind and gracious society, we need to have a realistic view of where we are today. The Graciousness Index lets us know where Singaporeans have done well, and also identify areas that we can improve on. This will help us better address emerging issues, and enable us to better support the encouragement of kindness and graciousness in Singapore,” concluded Dr Wan.
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Youths in Singapore are more sensitive to graciousness – Survey group too small to reflect the real answers. Some are still blocking the walkway by walking slowly while playing games/ watching video on their mobile phone. Some are still rushing to take the Priority seat & act blur then. Some are still not saying Thank You when they rush through the open door by someone else….just to quote some examples.
Hi Kok Kin,
Thank you for your feedback. While you are not wrong, it is easy to highlight the handful of negative examples of youths in Singapore. Let us not forget though, those among us who have contributed to the good of our society. Let’s give them some credit too.
I agree with Kok Kin.
What a joke that the survey concluded that Singapore Youths are becoming more sensitive towards graciousness?
From from it; they have become worse!
I invite Dr Wan and the Movement menbers to join me on weekday mornings to walk towards BV MRT, and experience for themselves walking against the stream of ACJC students.
To continue my right of way, I have to put my arm across my chest as I will get “bumped” by them. Not once have I hear a “Sorry” from them.
They walk 3 or 4 across the pathway and do not “filter” into 2 or 3 to make a smooth pass with opposing pedestrains.
To be fair, I am not talking about ACJC students only as this profile of students is representative of Singapore Youths in general as I have the same experience on pathways nearby other learning institutions, too.
They are totally oblivious to their surroundings, contrary to the survey results.
We are infact moving further away from being a gracious society; sad to say.
Yes, it’s true!I experienced it before and i was almost knocked down!They did not even bother to say ‘sorry’.I hope this would change to become a more gracious society where everyone is considerate and happy.
Oh please, the batch of youths you’re talking about is around the age of 16 – 18. The youths in the survey includes those above 20 – 29! Dont defame us Gen Y!
And i wonder why the baby boomers didnt improve at all in the survey..
Improvement is a constant process. Giving up seats and saying thanks is not only an issue among Gen Y alone. I have had my fair share of experiences whereby the older generation seem to lack graciousness in similar situations that Kok Kin has mentioned.
While I do agree that youths in Singapore could do better, it’s nice to see the survey has reflected well on them. 1400 might be a small group, nevertheless, it still reflects the perception these respondents feel towards the graciousness of youths.
Why dont the goverment also hire foreign talent toi teach us to be courteous and how to behave as well .This website is a sheer product of hypocrisy thats all
Interesting, I have always mostly seen fully compassionate youths, made beautifully timid by their kindness. I always found them so well mannered – full models to other countries. Not like the baby boomers – who openly complain about Everything, try to bamboozle free things out of businesses at any opportunity – shamelessly, and then openly and callously complain about how they are significantly and deeply disadvantaged by their maids having a day off “Do you mean I will have to clean my house and manage my children for one day?’ or ‘what happens if they get sick/injured/die from a day off? Who has to cover that?’.
Kindness is an international movement that remains a phenomenon for some that feel that the world owes them something. So little feeling of responsibility. You are responsible for people being kind to you. If you are kind to someone they have little choice but to be kind in return. The kindness starts with you. It ends in the future.
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