SINGAPORE, May 5 — Despite a fall in the number of people directly receiving kind acts, more people believe that Singapore is becoming a more gracious society, an annual study commissioned by the Singapore Kindness Movement shows.
The latest Graciousness Index improved for the second straight year, from 55 to 61 this year, as more Singaporeans rated themselves and others higher when it comes to being considerate, courteous and showing appreciation.
For instance, although only about two in five received gracious acts this year — down from more than half last year — 44 per cent of respondents felt graciousness had improved, up from 28 per cent last year.
This stemmed from their perception of improved behaviour in various areas, such as more people offering help to others, cleaning up after themselves at meals in public areas, smiling to show acknowledgement and as a greeting, and allowing others to alight or board public transport first. Eight in 10 respondents also rated their own gracious behaviour as either good or excellent, and 69 per cent felt the same about society overall.
Areas that they felt needed improvement include refraining from making personal attacks online and not posting or sharing private or malicious information about others online.
The annual study, started in 2009, polled 1,850 respondents between December last year and February this year. — TODAY
