10 surveys we desperately need the national family council to conduct for us

The national family council, Families for Life, recently released a survey that found that long working hours were an obstacle to family life.

Some prominent netizens couldn’t help but agree with the findings.

The survey with 700 people was conducted over three months. The time and resources expanded were both fully justified.

We would like to see more surveys like this — surveys that really shed light on lesser known aspects of Singapore society.

So, here are 10 pressing issues we desperately need national councils to conduct surveys on.

 

1. Are people who constantly cry at their work desk unhappy?

Conducting the survey: For this survey, there has to be a control group of people who do not cry at their desk. Their answers will be compared to those who are constantly breaking down in tears at the office, the challenging part of the survey will be trying to decipher what the sobbing people are saying.

 

2. Does standing in the rain make you more or less wet?

Conducting the survey: The survey will be extremely thorough, with 700 respondents being placed outdoors for three months. The surveyors will take note of what time rain falls, and judge if the participants were relatively more or less dry after the rainfall.

 

3. Do lifts take a longer time to get to higher floors?

Conducting the survey: The survey requires the presence of invigilators at every level of the 300 HDB blocks that will be tested on. They will each carry a stopwatch and time how long the lift takes to get to every level. The whole process will most likely take 10 months.

4. Do Singaporeans like increased GST?

Conducting the survey: This survey will probably be the most comprehensive of the lot, as the entire nation will be a part of the experiment. GST will be increased by 50%, and the effects of the increased tax on the mood of Singaporeans will be studied. To ensure the validity of the findings, the GST hike will be permanent.

 

5. Do you know who Rui En is?

Conducting the survey: Every Singaporean citizen and PR will be given a picture of Rui En to see if they recognise her, they will signal “yes” (with a vertical movement of their head) or “no” (a more horizontal motion), and the results will be sent to Rui En.

 

6. Are your grandparents related to your parents?

Conducting the survey: A pool of 942 families will be gathered to trace the genealogy of these individual families. The family tree will also be reversed so the tracking will begin from the ancestors and work its way down to more recent generations.

 

7. Does the haze make it harder or easier to breathe?

Conducting the survey: The respondents will participate in a 24km marathon twice, once during a haze-free period, and once during the haze. They will be given a survey at the end of the marathon to signal their comfort level. Those that collapse during the haze marathon will be placed under the “harder to breathe” camp.

8. Does dying affect family time spent with the deceased?

Conducting the survey: The respondents will be families who have had tragedies befall one of their loved ones during the previous year. They will be asked whether their family members death have resulted in less, more or equal time spent with said family member.

 

9. Does being fired from a job increase or decrease job security?

Conducting the survey: The respondents will be those that have been fired within the last few months. To ensure the integrity of the survey, they will be prevented from getting a job for at least half a year.

 

10. Does long working hours provide an obstacle to family time?

Conducting the survey: Because some questions are too good to just ask once.

 

Top image from Flickr

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- Thet Nyi Nyi