The majority of Singaporeans who have no religion still believe in God, unseen beings, performing rituals for dead relatives and karma, a survey carried out by Pew Research Center, a U.S. think tank based in Washington, D.C, has found.

The survey, which defined no religion as "religiously unaffiliated", found that 62 per cent of Singaporeans from this group believes in God and unseen beings, while 65 per cent also thought that karma exists.

In comparison to adherents of other religions, however, only 3 per cent of Singaporeans with no religion said that religion is very important in their lives.

The survey was part of a wider study on Buddhism, Islam and religious pluralism in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and was carried out from Jun. 1 to Sep. 4 in 2022.

A total of 2,036 respondents in Singapore were interviewed via computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) using mobile phones.

The survey added that as of 2020, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics, around 20 per cent of Singaporean adults identified as having no religion, making them the second largest religious demographic after Buddhists.

It also pointed out that the overwhelming majority of this particular demographic are Singaporeans of Chinese descent and mostly college educated.

Over 40% of Singaporeans with no religion believe they can feel presence of deceased family member

The survey elaborated that the questions about believing in God and unseen beings were asked separately.

Some 41 per cent of those who said they have no religion still believe in God, while 56 per cent of the same demographic think there are unseen beings in the world.

The survey said this means roughly six in 10 Singaporeans of this demographic (62 per cent) hold at least one of these beliefs.

The survey also noted that 52 per cent of these Singaporeans said it is important to perform rituals in temples for the soul of the deceased relative.

In addition, 46 per cent of Singaporeans with no religion felt that it is important to set up an altar for the deceased relative.

As for feeling the presence of a deceased family member, the percentage for Singaporeans for this group came in at 43 per cent — the same level as Singaporean Christians and just four points behind Singaporean Muslims, at 47 per cent.

Even among unaffiliated Singaporeans raised with no religion, majority still believe in God and unseen beings

The survey also broke down its responses by gender and by upbringing.

At 68 per cent, women who have no religion are more likely than men, at 57 per cent, to believe in God and/ or unseen beings.

As for Singaporeans who were raised in a religion but are unaffiliated as adults, 66 per cent of them believe in God or unseen beings.

In the case of Singaporeans who were raised with no religious affiliation and are still without religion today, this figure stands at 52 per cent.

The survey also pointed out that at 84 per cent, the "vast majority" of the religiously unaffiliated who believe in God and unseen beings are more likely to believe in karma, compared to 36 per cent of the religiously unaffiliated who do not.

Similarly, 36 per cent of the religiously unaffiliated who do not believe in God and unseen beings said it is important to perform rituals in temples for the soul of the deceased relative when planning a funeral, compared to 63 per cent of those without religion who do believe.

Number of Singaporeans who either have no religion or are Christian growing, number of Buddhists and traditional Chinese religious adherents falling

The survey also examined changing religious demographics in Singapore.

One way in which Singapore stands out from the other five countries — Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Cambodia — in the wider study, is that at 64 per cent of the total number of respondents, fewer Singaporeans identify with the religion they were raised in, the survey highlighted.

Such "religious switching" has led to a decline in the proportion of Singaporeans who follow Buddhism or traditional Chinese religions, and an increase in the number of Singapore who are either Christian or have no religion.

Among Singaporean adults, 32 per cent said they were raised Buddhist, which is significantly more than the share who identify as Buddhist today, at 26 per cent.

The survey pointed out that such a difference is even more pronounced in the case of those who identify with Chinese traditional religions, such as Taoism, Confucianism or other Chinese local religions, with 15 per cent saying they were raised in these traditions, and only 6 per cent identifying with such religions today.

In contrast, the share of Singaporeans who identify as Christian today, at 17 per cent, is higher than the share who say they were raised Christian, at 11 per cent.

A similar trend has also been observed for adults in Singapore who do not identify with any religion, with 22 per cent of adults saying they are religiously unaffiliated today, compared with 13 per cent who say they were raised with no religion.

Majority of Singaporeans with no religion will raise children the same, similar to Muslims and Christians

As for religious upbringing, the survey found that only two-thirds of Buddhists said they are raising their children as Buddhists, with 27 per cent stating that they were also raising their children with no religion.

In comparison, 99 per cent of Muslims and 90 per cent of Christians said they are raising their children in their own respective religions.

As for Singaporeans with no religion, 85 per cent of them said they are raising their children without religion.

Other findings from the same study:

Top image from Raymond Lai/ Renato Cento on Google