A survey published by Sunday Times on June 14 became a hot topic after "artists" were listed as the topmost non-essential job.

The questions, which was posed to 1,000 respondents, should be taken within the context of a pandemic.

As anger swirled within the community, one respondent has written a public Facebook post addressing his choice of selecting artists as "non-essential."

Yan Neng presented several reasons, as well as shed some light on how the survey was carried out.

1. Context

According to Yan, the respondents were not told the purpose of the survey, and he had came across the survey by chance on an app.

He said in the comments section of the post, "I get paid a few cents for doing surveys on this app and this was floated."

Therefore, the survey was left to the respondents to interpret and answer independently.

Yan perceived it as the government "trying to suss out if they should implement some sort of minimum wage."

He also clarified that the professions were given as options. The respondents did not spontaneously suggest any profession as "non-essential".

2. Distinction between artist and designer

Yan explained that he made a distinction between a pure artist and a designer while doing the survey.

To him, the former consists of painters and performance artists.

While he has been personally touched by their art, he argues that it is not essential "right now" in light of Covid-19 situation.

When artists were juxtaposed with garbage collectors in the survey, Yan felt that the latter performs a function that is needed daily.

On the other hand, he loves art, and can "enjoy the art they’ve already made every day."

3. Difference between "essential" and "valuable"

Yan also wrote about the difference between being essential and being valuable.

As a writer, he finds himself non-essential in the current climate.

However, he argued, this does not diminish the value of his work in any ways.

He also revealed how the survey defined the term "essential":

"The survey asked for 'essential' and I did the survey keeping 'essential' in mind. This term was defined in the survey: 'We mean someone who is engaged in work deemed necessary to meet basic needs of human survival and well-being, such as food, health, safety and cleaning.'"

4. Decision made within minimum wage context

As for "non-essential" HR managers, Yan elaborated that the choice was congruent with his perception that the survey was to increase the minimum wage of certain workers.

Since he felt that HR managers are already "more appreciated" than cleaners, he was not inclined to place the managerial role under "essential jobs", as the cleaners need a pay raise more urgently.

While he feels "guilty" about how his choice might have hurt the feelings of some artists, Yan said that his answers would not change.

You can read his full post here:

Top image via Yan Neng/FB, Ashley Tan via Sunday Times