January 31, 2018

In Today, Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser, Assistant Professor Vincent Chua (both from the NUS Department of Sociology), and Dr Gillian Koh (Institute of Policy Studies), elaborate on the findings of their recent study on social capital in Singapore and discuss how this social class divide can potentially be bridged. They found that the personal networks of Singaporeans include friends, colleagues, and other individuals they had met through participation in communal activities. While indices such as age, gender, race, nationality, education, and religion were markedly diverse among the people an individual associates with, there was comparably lower diversity for class.

The authors believe that although the results do not mean that Singapore is divided, it remains crucial to focus on addressing issues such as unequal class origins and unequal chances of upward social mobility. In addition to bringing together people of diverse backgrounds and equalizing opportunities, the authors propose that “we must facilitate and nudge our people to work together, play together and support one another, such as through involvement in community organisations or serving in community projects aimed at helping low-income families, seniors, or children.”

Read the article here.