humanist j Page 6

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/

Uncategorized

Quantitative Data (Research)

13 March 2022 by humanist j

(Click here to return to Research Portal)

Sources:

Humanist Society (Impact)

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.

Uncategorized

Discussing race and religion; An illustrative guide

15 February 2022 by humanist j

Every year on 15 Feb, Singapore commemorates Total Defence Day, the day colonial Singapore surrendered to Japan in 1942 in World War II. The concept of Total Defence was introduced in 1984 as a whole-of-society national defence concept. It has six types of defenses today – military, civil, economic, social, digital and psychological defence. (You can read about the various defences here.)

This year, the Humanist Society (Singapore) wants to contribute to Social Defence – where everyone makes an effort to trust one another and to strengthen the bonds across the different ethnic groups.

In multiracial, multi-religious Singapore, discussing racial and religious issues can be challenging, even when discussion is well intended. Sometimes, we end up self-censoring even though dialogue is still needed to lower tensions and build understanding.

On this day, we release 8 beautiful hand-drawn illustrations to show 8 tips for discussing race and religion in Singapore.

1) Find your common ground

Common ground can always be found between any two people in the world no matter how wide the gulf is. You can start by sharing universally accepted principles (fairness, honesty and charity) and shared life experiences (same school, neighbourhoods).

2) Say something positive

From the common grounds that you have established, say something positive about the other community. This can include achievements by the community, the beauty of their arts and culture, and their efforts to reach out to others. You will be surprised by how much affirmation can achieve.

3) Seek spaces for frank dialogue

If you wish to speak your mind, there are spaces for frank dialogue in Singapore. Many dialogues are facilitated by Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC), OnePeople.SG, Harmony Centre, Centre for Interfaith Understanding (CIFU), Humanity Matters, and hash.peace, to name a few. Follow them on social media to get notifications of such events.

4) Acknowledge self-reflections in the community

People know they are not perfect, and there are existing self-reflections in every community. Look out for speeches by community leaders who are in a position to discuss imperfections within their communities. Acknowledge and celebrate all courageous efforts at self-improvement, however small.

5) Acknowledge imperfections on your side

In the process of acknowledging existing self-reflections of the other side, acknowledge blind spots on your side too. Far from appearing weak, you will be respected for your honesty and moral courage. You might even get a helping hand!

6) Solve one difference at a time

Should relations between communities turn sour, it cannot be fixed overnight. If differences over an issue are too numerous, it is better to address one difference at a time. With patience and consistent effort, walls between communities can be removed.

7) Removing emotional tones

When discussing the most sensitive disagreements, avoid emotionally-charged dialogue that obscure the facts. If you feel that tensions are rising, postpone dialogue and go for a walk.

8) Agreeing to disagree

For differences that cannot be resolved, agree to disagree. Just as any two individuals in the world have common grounds, no two individuals are the same. Keep the door open for future dialogue, and you will be surprised by how much you can learn. Diversity makes Singapore unique and it should be celebrated.