SINGAPORE: Singaporeans have become more open to the idea of electing top leaders that are non-Chinese, based on a survey conducted by CNA and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).
In the second edition of the CNA-IPS survey on race relations, which was conducted last year, a bigger proportion of respondents said they could accept a Singaporean-Malay (69.6 per cent) or Singaporean-Indian (70.5 per cent) as the prime minister.
Researchers said the figures are a significant increase from the previous study in 2016, where 60.8 per cent said they were comfortable with a Malay as prime minister and 64.3 per cent with an Indian as prime minister.
Almost all respondents, or 96.8 per cent, could accept a Singaporean-Chinese as prime minister, slightly higher than the 95.6 per cent in 2016.
Researchers also found that respondents from the three major races showed the highest preference for someone of their own race as prime minister.
Among Chinese respondents, virtually all said they were comfortable with a Singaporean-Chinese as prime minister (98.9 per cent), while 63.9 per cent said they would accept a Malay prime minister and 65.8 per cent an Indian one.
Comparatively, 92.6 per cent of Malay respondents said they would accept a Singaporean-Malay prime minister, but 87.5 per cent would be comfortable with a Chinese one and 80.4 per cent with an Indian one.
Among Indian respondents, 91.9 per cent would accept a Singaporean-Indian as prime minister but 90.3 per cent would be comfortable with a Chinese one and 80.8 per cent with a Malay one.
Source: Channel News Asia
