More S'pore residents agree with death penalty for serious crimes

Respondents in 2023 MHA survey felt use of the death penalty deterred such crimes

- Wong Shiying and Andrew Wong

More Singapore residents agreed with the use of the death penalty for the most serious crimes here, such as murder, trafficking large amounts of drugs and firearm offences.

Over three-quarters of respondents, or 77.4 per cent, in the 2023 survey commissioned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said they strongly agreed or agreed with this statement.

This was compared with 73.7 per cent of respondents in the same survey done in 2021.

Respondents felt that the death penalty deterred the most serious crimes; that such crimes were serious and posed a danger to society; and that the death penalty was commensurate with the crime, MHA said on Sept 19 when it released the 2023 survey findings.

The survey was done to better understand public perceptions on the death penalty, and was conducted by a survey company appointed by MHA. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with about 2,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 15 and above between April and June 2023.

MHA said the surveys in both 2021 and 2023 used stratified random sampling based on age, race, sex and citizenship status to ensure the survey samples were representative of the national resident population.

To ensure the comparability of the results between both surveys, the questions asked in 2021 were retained in 2023, and the phrasing of these questions generally remained the same.

The 2023 survey found statistically significant increases in the proportion of respondents who strongly agreed or agreed with the use of the mandatory death penalty.