FROM personal luxuries and ambitions, the focus is now back on basics such as home and family as Singaporeans re-evaluate their priorities in this downturn.
A survey of the 'Top 10 Singaporean Dreams' released by OCBC Bank yesterday shows that starting a family, settling down and homes are the nation's top three dreams this year.
This contrasts with last year's top three of seeing the world, self-improvement and making money.
As a sign of the shift in sentiment due to the ongoing economic crisis, travel - the top priority last year for Singaporeans - has dropped to No. 6 this year.
Also, four in 10 Singaporeans said they will cut down on spending.
The survey was conducted for OCBC by research agency Idealog, which did face-to-face and phone interviews with 400 Singaporeans aged 18 to 64 years, from mid-October to end-November last year. They were randomly selected to ensure a representative sample, OCBC said.
The survey also reveals that singles and those married without children are most worried about losing their jobs and getting paycuts.
Half of the singles group have starting a family as their top priority, while 36 per cent want to further their education.
A total of 56 per cent of those married with children put financial freedom and retirement plans as top concerns.
Married couples with older children are the least worried segment among all the respondents, with two out of three unconcerned about the downturn.
One in four is concerned about losing their job and having difficulties supporting their families.
For those married with young children, education is a top priority, with 51 per cent saving for this purpose.
Overall, while most respondents do not think the recession would derail their efforts to achieve their financial goals, nearly half believe it will take longer now, said OCBC. The bank's head of global wealth management, Mr Nicholas Tan, said it will make use of the survey findings as 'customer engagement has been a key driver' in helping the bank develop and launch innovative products.
'Many of our recent initiatives...were developed in response to changes in the lifestyle needs of our customers,' said Mr Tan. 'The latest findings will provide substantiated data that can help us evaluate and where necessary, refine our suite of products and services.'
The survey findings will be published in this year's first issue of Ask OCBC, which is a free quarterly publication by the bank launched last January.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on January 10, 2009.
