New family pledge emphasises the importance of family values in society

By Joanna Seow, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2013

WE, THE people of Singapore... may sound like the National Pledge. But it is actually the beginning of a new pledge which encourages individuals to strengthen their commitment to family.

The Family Pledge, which was launched yesterday by the National Family Council, urges people to "affirm the commitment of marriage between husband and wife" and "take responsibility to nurture our children, and respect our elders".

Council chairman Lim Soon Hock said it was introduced because research showed that when people make a pledge, they tend to stay more committed.

"In today's avalanche of distractions, conflicting demands, noise, pressure of work... I think it is even more imperative that we go back to the basics," he said.

"The basics refer to the family as our source of values, identity, love, care, concern, enjoyment, celebration and our higher purposes."

More than 250,000 personal family pledges were collected during the Singapore Family Pledge movement in 2010, but this is the first time a nation-wide version has been introduced. It will be distributed by volunteer welfare organisations and through social media platforms.

Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing believes that the pledge is "a very good ground-up initiative".

"We hope that more people will get to know this pledge, read it, reflect upon it and then act upon the pledge," he said.

Earlier, he spoke about the importance of family during an appreciation lunch which he hosted for people involved in the organisation of last month's National Family Celebrations.

The lunch at Sheraton Towers was attended by over 200 members and partners of the National Family Council, including Mr Joshua Yeo, 31, a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic, who was there with his wife and baby daughter.

He thought that the pledge's message was especially relevant in today's world, and hopes there will be an event for young families to come together to say the pledge on a national platform.

"Especially being a young father right now, I realise it's very, very challenging and I think the family pledge reminds me about the importance of marriage and also of showing love and concern."

Other reactions to the pledge were lukewarm. "It feels a bit forced," said Miss Jillian Chim, 23, a graduate associate working in a bank. "It's a concept that should be automatically or naturally instilled within the family, rather than an organisation telling you a family should be a certain way."

Strong ties to family ties in Singapore
By Siok Kuan Tambyah And Tan Soo Jiuan, Published The Straits Times, 3 Aug 2013

THE National Family Council launched its Family Pledge on Tuesday to encourage Singaporeans to "strengthen their commitment to family". The pledge was reportedly introduced because, according to research, people tend to stay more committed when they make a pledge.

The introduction of such an oath might seem to suggest that Singaporeans in recent years have become less family-oriented.

But is this true? And would such a pledge remind them to be more family-oriented?

In a survey of 1,500 Singaporeans in recent years, we found that nearly two decades after the Government's Family Values campaign in 1994, Singaporeans have been increasingly supportive of the core family values promoted. This is an encouraging result.

Our Quality of Life Survey in 2011 examined various value systems that are important to Singaporeans. One of these focused specifically on family values. We also compared the results in 2011 with data collected in 2001, thus providing a longitudinal perspective on how Singaporeans' attitudes towards family values have evolved over a decade.

We looked at the Family Values campaign started in 1994 to promote and uphold family values and ties. The five shared family values deemed to support the well-being of families and underpin the progress of Singapore were identified as: love, care and concern; mutual respect; filial responsibility; commitment; and communication.

Based on these values, we derived seven statements to measure Singaporeans' orientation towards family values. These statements were used in our nationwide representative surveys of Singaporeans in 2001 and 2011.

Respondents were asked to say if they disagreed or agreed with the statements, with a lower score indicating disagreement.

As shown in the chart, the scores improved in 2011 for all seven statements measuring family values. For example, the mean score for the statement "family love makes a person feel appreciated and treasured" was 4.83 in 2001 and rose to 5.20 in 2011.

The composite score, which takes into account responses to all seven statements, went up from 4.69 to 5.15.

The slight differences in rankings could indicate a shift in how family values are now expressed.

In 2011, being family-oriented was about tangible forms of support, especially for elderly family members.

In 2001, being family-oriented was more likely to refer to enjoying the benefits of being appreciated and treasured.

Our survey for 2011 also found that female Singaporeans were slightly more family-oriented than male Singaporeans, with females having a composite mean score of 5.20 and males, 5.09.

Interestingly, as Singaporeans grew older, they tended to become less family-oriented, with those aged 65 years and above being the least family-oriented. For example, our 2011 survey showed that among those aged 45 to 54, the composite score was 5.17, but this went down to 4.99 for those aged 65 and above.

This is in contrast to the results of the 2001 survey, which found that "family values orientation did not vary significantly across age groups, gender, marital status, and income groups, except for educational level".

The 2001 survey also found that "those with tertiary education and above scored marginally lower in terms of overall family value orientation (composite score), than those with secondary school or vocational education and below".

Our 2011 survey, however, found that family value orientation did not vary significantly by education or income levels.

Another survey in 2010, commissioned by the National Family Council, found that Singaporeans still held on to family values, including filial piety. About seven in 10 of the 1,500 people surveyed said that aged parents should be living with them. However, older respondents appeared to have a firmer sense of reality and said they preferred living on their own.

An increased awareness of their children's financial burdens and not wishing to be a liability to them could be reasons why aged parents choose to maintain their independence. This is one possible reason why older Singaporeans may seem less family-oriented in 2011.

A comparison of the survey data from 2001 and 2011 suggests Singaporeans today are more family-oriented now than they were a decade ago.

And with this orientation not varying significantly across most age groups, marital status and educational levels, we may reasonably conclude that with or without the Family Pledge, Singaporeans remain committed to their families.

Siok Kuan Tambyah is senior lecturer in marketing and Tan Soo Jiuan is associate professor in marketing at the National University of Singapore Business School.

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