Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, told Parliament that the government does not make policy decisions on the basis of polls.

Sim said that survey data, if used properly, can help public agencies ensure that service delivery and policy implementation are satisfactory.

And this is the reason why the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and other public agencies commission surveys and opinion polls.

Sim shared the purpose of the public opinion surveys conducted by the government during the MCI's Committee of Supply debate on March 4.

Government surveys used to evaluate whether policy work

Sim was addressing a question from Workers' Party NCMP Leon Perera, who asked about the public opinion surveys conducted by the government.

Sim explained that public agencies use survey data to evaluate if a programme or policy is well understood and if there are particular segments of the population that the government might not be reaching.

More specifically, Sim said that government communication campaigns are driven by data.

Sim explained that if the survey data disclose that the government communications on a particular programme have not adequately reached their target audiences, the relevant agencies will re-examine their collaterals -- including letters, posters and online and television ads -- to improve them.

How surveys helped improve the communication of the Pioneer Generation Package

Sim used the communication of the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) as an example.

When the PGP was introduced in 2014, the government conducted surveys to ascertain how well understood the package was by the pioneers themselves.

As a result, the government decided to use Chinese dialects to communicate the package to our pioneers.

Sim added that the government will be undertaking a similar process in planning our communications on the Merdeka Generation Package.

Top photo from Gov.sg YouTube.