Archives for March 2022
A Humanist’s Personal Journey
Qualitative data (Research)
(Click here to return to Research Portal)
Sources
- Research Papers (Google Drive) (5 papers on the non-religious)
- Humanist Society (Stories)
- Humanist Society (Newsroom)
- HSS best FB posts (II)
- HSS best FB posts (I)
Highlights
Please contact us (info@humanist.org.sg) if you are looking to read any of these papers for research purposes.
[Peer reviewed paper 2022] – The issues of social inclusion of ex-Muslims
- This paper by Ichioka Takashi analyses the difficulties which are experienced by ex-Muslims in Singapore with regards to their social relationship. The authors’ interviews with ex-Muslims in Singapore revealed that they experience serious difficulties in terms of their relationship with their family as well as the members of the Muslim community.
- Some ex-Muslims cannot avoid stigmatisation and exclusion by some members of the community because of their appearance of Malays, most of whom are Muslims. The paper concludes that the difficulties experienced by ex-Muslims stem from not only religious belief of Muslims but also Singapore society’s belief that all the Malays should be Muslims.
[RSIS paper 2022] The Construction of Nonreligious Identities among Chinese Millennials
- This paper by Oliver Zikai Lim investigates the lived experiences of Singaporean Chinese millennials who adopt a nonreligious identity following the recent increase in the percentage of people who identify as having no religious affiliation in the country.
[Student paper 2021] Religious Disaffiliation in Singapore: Evaluating the Influence of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors For Youths Leaving Christianity
- Reasons for leaving Christianity: Questioning of faith, lack of spiritual experience, lack of sense of community, emotional conflicts, unsatisfactory responses from leaders
[Student paper 2021] Diversity and Community of the Non-Religious in Singapore
- The non-religious are diverse in their makeup, with a spectrum of values, openness to expressing their non-religiousness and opinions on issues. The non-religious disagree on the 1) extent to which they practice traditions, what is worth preserving 2) expectations of the non-religious community to be more outspoken or to be more conciliary.
[Student paper 2017] Rites of Passage of Ex-Muslims in Singapore
- The deconversion process undergoes 3 stages, rites of separation (still operating within religious framework), rites of transition (where avenues of leaving the faith is opened up) and finally incorporation (forming new identity).
[Student paper 2012] The rise of humanist interest groups
- The humanist groups represent a growing non-religious population that strongly affirms and defends their position of non-belief. Their desire to seek legitimacy and for teh active ones, representation, is part of a larger attempt to renegotiate the strict boundaries of the religious and secular, public and private discourses in the public sphere.
The most popular FB posts in the HSS Facebook page tend to be about:
- Personal stories with good narratives on overcoming adversity and leaving religion
- Psychology of persuasion, happiness and bias.
- Evolved morality, on how we can be good without religion. This can include studies on brain activity and predispositions towards superstition and morality
- Useful tips to cope with stress, toxic social media, thoughts of death
- Matters of life and death – Eg. disease outbreaks and terrorism.
- Defending secularism in the country
- Defending the morality of the non-religious.
- New statistics about the non-religious in Singapore and their characteristics
- Funny topics, eg. jokes and parody, pastafarianism
- Birthdays and famous quotes of famous thinkers
Source: https://humanist.org.sg/humanistsg-most-viewed-facebook-posts/
Quantitative Data (Research)
(Click here to return to Research Portal)
Sources:
Highlighted findings
In Singapore resident population (2020)
- Number of non-religious individuals: 692,528
- Gender ratio: 51.41% male, 48.58% female
- Proportion of resident population: 20.0%
(Click here to access Singstats table generator)
% of non-religious per age group
- 15-19 — 23.8
- 20-24 — 24.5
- 25-29 — 26.0
- 30-34 — 26.3
- 35-39 — 23.4
- 40-44 — 21.3
- 45-49 — 19.2
- 50-54 — 17.5
- 55-59 — 15.6
- 60-64 — 14.9
- 65-69 — 15.7
- 70-74 — 15.7
- 75-79 — 16.1
- 80-84 — 13.7
- 85< –11.2
Country of origin
- Singapore 499,331
- Mainland China 96,481
- Malaysia 61,291
- Europe 5,611
- Indonesia 4,912
- India 1,957
- USA and Canada 1,782
- Australia and New Zealand 1,333
- Other Asian Countries / Regions 19,354
- Others 476
Humanist Society (Singapore) in numbers
- Organized 238 events, both online and in-person
- Engaged about 7,000 participants [1]
- Secured 57 mentions in the media
- Built a combined online following of 10,718 [2]
- Attracted 161,000 views for our humanism YouTube video
- Attended about 30 major interfaith events [3]
- Documented 38 personal stories
- Published 307 articles on various topics
- Sent 240 newsletters to our members
- Shot 3600 photos of the humanist movement
(Last updated Dec 2021 / Next update is Dec 2022)
Key figures inside IPS Working Papers
[IPS] – The non-religious on religion in the public sphere
- Pg 25, on the religiousity of the non-religious
16.8% — Very non-religious
23.9% — Somewhat non-religious
19.3% — Neither religious or non-religious
30.1% — Somewhat religious
8.4% — Very religious
1.6% –Extremely religious
- Pg 26, spirituality
65% — I don’t follow a religion, I am not a spiritual person
27.1% — I don’t follow a religion, I am a spiritual person
6.6% — I follow a religion, I am not a spiritual person
1.3% — I follow a religion, I am not a spiritual person
- Pg 34, the non-religious and belief in God
49.6% — I don’t believe in God now and I never have
18.5% — I don’t believe in God now, but I used to
12.5% — I believe in God now, but I didn’t use to
19.5% — I believe in God now and I always have
Pg 36, Non-religious and belief in afterlife
24.1% — No, definitely not
23.8% — No, probably not
35.9% — Yes, probably
16.1% — Yes, definitely
[IPS] – The non-religious and religiosity
- Pg 21, on reasons for people to switch religion. Friends/family persuasion and greater meaning in life are the top two factors.
[IPS] – The non-religious and attitudes towards moral issues]
- Pg 91, on adapting religion and religious customs to changing secular realities (A) vs keeping religion as pure/traditional as possible (B). About 20% of non-religious prefer to keep B.
- Pg 76, attitudes towards speaking about sensitive topics
- Pg 84, on govt leading change in society
[IPS] – Faultlines in Singapore: Public Opinion and their realities]
Pg. 20, perceived threats of religious groups. 95% of Singaporeans do not see atheists as somewhat/very threatening. There is a small fringe who will find atheists threatening, but this must be balanced with the fact that every religion will experience a small fringe that find them threatening.
Old 2015 statistics (from April 2015)
Total Resident population
3,105,748
Total religious: 2,578,196, or 83%
Total non-religious: 527,553, or 17%
Source: Department of Statistics, Singapore
NOTE:
The non-religious form a significant minority in Singapore. From 1980 to 2010, their proportion of the total population has increased from 13 to 17 per cent. Singapore’s non-religious tend to be atheists, agnostics, humanists, theists and skeptics. Some of them are culturally religious as well. There are also some residents who are not affiliated with any religion, but still choose to practice traditional rituals such as ancestor worship.
Total non-religious population:
527,553
Male: 278,683, or 52.8% (National average: 48.9%)
Female: 248,870, or 47.2% (National average: 51.1%)
Source: Department of Statistics, Singapore
NOTE:
Among non-religious residents, there are slightly more men than women. However, this difference is negligable. In general, men are more willing to express their humanist and atheist thoughts, and are more likely to join humanist organisations.
Citizens: 441,453, or 83.7% (National average: 85.5%)
PRs: 86,100, or 16.3% (National average: 14.5%)
Source: Department of Statistics, Singapore
NOTE:
The proportion of citizens and permanent residents (PRs) within Singapore’s non-religious resident population roughly mirrors the situation across the whole country. Permanent residents form a slightly higher proportion within the non-religious segment, relative to the rest of the resident population. Our Humanist Society itself, however, is much more cosmopolitan. Our gatherings attract participants not from ASEAN countries, but also countries as far as Pakistan, Iran, South Africa and Australia. We have also hosted reowned authors and speakers when they drop by in Singapore.
Where the non-religious stay in Singapore:
HDB: 397,724 or 75.4% (National average: 82.5%)
Condominiums and Private Flats: 787,49 or 14.9% (National average: 10.1%)
Landed: 47,223 or 9.0 % (National average: 6.7%)
Others 3,857 or 0.7% (National average: 0.7%)
Source: Department of Statistics, Singapore
NOTE:
The non-religious population in Singapore, on average, is slightly better off than the average citizen. While a clear majority – about three in four non-religious residents – reside in the government subsidised private housing, the proportion of non-religious residents living in condomiums, private flats and landed propertities are higher than the national average.
Total number of graduates:
634,098
Non-religious: 153,275, or 24.2% of graduates
Religious: 480822, 75.8% of graduates
Source: Department of Statistics, Singapore
NOTE:
The non-religious residents, in general, are slightly better educated than the average resident. Although non-religious residents comprise 17% of the total population, they make up 24.2% of all graduates. However, the non-religious is not the largest group within the graduate and undergraduate population. Statistics from the 2010 census show that Christianity and Buddhism are among the most popular religions for university graduates and undergraduates. For more information on this, please refer to the Department of Statistics website.
Highest qualfication attained by non-religious residents
No qualification: 36,318, or 8% (National average: 15.3%)
Primary: 17,810, or 3.9% (National average: 7.0%)
Lower Secondary: 35,309, or 7.8% (National average: 10.2%)
Secondary: 77,852, or 17.1% (National average: 18.9%)
Post-Secondary (Non-tertiary): 50,730, or 11.1% (National average: 11.1%)
Polytechnic: 53,657, or 11.8% (National average: 9%)
Professional Qualification and Other Diploma 30,146, or 6.6% (National average: 5.8%)
University 153,275, or 33.7% (National average: 22.8%)
Source: Department of Statistics, Singapore
NOTE:
The varying educational levels attained by non-religious residents show that freethinkers here come from all walks of life and academic backgrounds. About one in three non-religious residents are college graduates. The number of polytechnic graduates and those with professional qualifications or other diplomas, are also higher than the national average. At the same time, a significant number of non-religious residents (8%) do not have any qualifications. Close to one in four non-religious residents attained up to secondary or lower secondary education.
