Do Singaporeans prefer machines over people?

Singapore is one of the most technically advanced countries on earth. Singaporeans are some of the highest interactors with modern technology of all kinds in the world. They are also some of the fastest early adoptors of new technology and how to use to to benefit them in personal and business relationships.

However I wonder whether Singaporeans actually spend too much time with technology and not enough interacting with real people.

Consider some of these stats from various sources from The Straits Times to The Singapore Government to Global Research Companies :
 

• Singapore has been ranked first among countries in the Asia-Pacific region on IT savviness (4th in the world)
• A new survey showed that about a third of Singaporean families have more than 10 gadgets such as PCs, tablets, video game consoles, smartphones and cameras – the highest in Asia
• Singaporeans spend the most amount of time on their facebook page in the world
• They also browse the web for the most amount of time in Asia
• More smart phones are bought here than virtually anywhere else per capita in the world
• In Singapore, nearly two-thirds of those polled said there are no rules on the use of technology at home, the highest in the region
• Singapore is ranked third in the world for the cheapest mobile and broadband access
• In a recent survey it found that youths tend to use the internet for extended periods of time, with a total of 65% reporting internet usage blocks of two hours or more and 35%, three hours or more per day
• To demonstrate the sex divide of what to use technology for a recent survey found that boys generally use the internet for activities such as online gaming. Girls on the other hand, use the internet for online chatting. This is in line with general expectations, considering how boys generally love to play computer and video games, even when online. Whereas girls place more emphasis on keeping close touch with friends.

If you combine this with some examples from some Singaporeans that I have been told and observed and I am sure you have too from an anecdotal point of view, by no means representative but nevertheless interesting:
 

• A family on holiday around a dining table, all with ipads, itouch, smart phones rather than interacting with each other
• A father and mother unable to give up their ipad on holiday even when there was no internet access and when their kids were asking them to play with them on beach
• A couple queuing at a retail outlet with the man listening to music on his smart phone
• A couple at a romantic and expensive restaurant both interacting with their smart phones rather than talking to each other
• There were more queues here for ipad2’s and Galaxy 10.1’s amongst professionals as well as tech geeks
• It is not uncommon to see Singaporean’s crossing the road glued to or typing into their smartphone, sometimes as the risk of getting run over
• It is not unusual to see Singaporean’s on their bikes using their smart phones at the risk to them and other people
• Same applies to cars and motorbikes
• Men especially appear to prefer gaming on their phones even at dinner parties than interacting with other people
• Women especially prefer to update facebook pages at work than interact with colleagues
• Singaporean’s do obsess with taking photos of food in restaurants and posting it on their facebook site and sharing it with other people who are not at the dinner rather than just enjoying the food

Is this situation unique to Singapore or is Singapore just technically more advanced than other countries and the people here want to use technology to see what it can do for them? Do Singaporeans use technology too much and do they use it to avoid interacting with other people or does it make their social lives better? Does it affect work output or the ability to form relationships, whether romantic or social or business or foes it enhance this?

Does it affect the sex lives of Singaporeans which are less active than is needed to sustain the population and less active than other countries? Would they rather be on line or on their ipad? Does it affect fitness and exercise amongst some, especially young boys? Do Singaporeans prefer technology to going out or doing both? Is new technology a substitute for Singaporeans for emotional connections and real experiences? Is gaming preferred to the real world? Or is this just a minority? Is it the same in other similarly advanced countries?

Is that just Singapore or is it the developed world in general? It’s easier to battle the villains in Modern Warfare 3 than deal with business or relationship rivals? Is it easier to update twitter and facebook with impersonal details than discuss deep feelings with real people in real relationships? I don’t know the answers, these are just observations and questions but I would love to hear what you think. 

Chris Reed, Regional Partnerships Director , Asia Pacific -  Partnership Marketing (Asia) Pte Ltd

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Tags: Chris Reed, Asia Pacific