Singapore, Feb 4 (IANS): Two-thirds of respondents in 2024 rated Singapore's racial and religious harmony as high or very high, a notable increase from 57.1 per cent in 2018, according to a survey.

Racial minorities were more likely to rate harmony as moderate, while older respondents tended to indicate higher levels of harmony compared to younger ones, noted the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), a think tank at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

The survey also showed a significant rise in trust across racial and religious groups. The proportion of respondents expressing distrust in other racial groups decreased from 42.7 per cent in 2013 to 27.2 per cent in 2024.

As in earlier studies, racial and religious acceptance was highest in public relationships, such as with colleagues or neighbours, compared to personal relationships, such as with in-laws or spouses.

Discrimination in accessing public services remained rare, with about nine in 10 respondents reporting they were treated "about the same" as others across all three survey waves.

At the workplace, reports of discrimination have decreased, with seven per cent of respondents in 2024 saying they experienced discrimination in relation to a job or promotion, compared to 9.3 per cent in 2018. Among those who reported discrimination, the most common forms were exclusion from conversations due to language use (57.7 per cent) and perceptions of exclusion during job promotions, with 47.7 per cent believing others were promoted because of their race, not qualifications.

The survey, based on a nationally representative sample of 4,000 Singaporean residents, also draws on data from 2018 and 2013 for comparison, Xinhua news agency reported.

IPS conducts surveys to study issues of critical national interest across a variety of fields, and to better understand the attitudes and aspirations of Singaporeans and residents. Survey fieldwork is conducted by the IPS Social Lab or by survey research companies. The findings are analysed by IPS researchers, and presented and discussed in IPS publications and conferences. Its flagship studies include Perception of Policies in Singapore (POPS) Survey Series and the Singapore Panel Study on Social Dynamics (SPSSD).