Security surveillance in Singapore : a study on Singapore sentiments varying by age

• Main Author: Yaw, Grace Chue Yan
• Other Authors: Ian McGonigle
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137736
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Singapore is one of the most-surveilled countries in the world, yet, there is minimal criticism from its citizens. This paper explores the views of Singaporean citizens towards security surveillance, utilizing a mixed method methodology consisting of interviews and sentiment analysis. These views range from perceptions towards securitized spaces, to individual conceptions of what privacy entail under security surveillance. This paper finds that online sentiment towards government usage of security surveillance varies by age among Singaporeans, with old people being more supportive and young people being more critical. These varying attitudes include positive sentiments towards the government’s provision of security as well as concerns of privacy intrusion with regards to facial recognition technology. Overall, this research contributes to existing scholarship by providing insight on Asian sentiment towards security surveillance.