1. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had conducted a survey in 2021 to better understand public perceptions on the use of the death penalty for the most serious crimes, such as murder and trafficking a significant amount of drugs. The survey had found that there was very strong support for this among Singapore residents.
2. We conducted the survey again in 2023. Compared to the 2021 survey, the 2023 survey found that a larger proportion of Singapore residents agreed with the use of the death penalty for the most serious crimes.
3. The 2023 survey report can be accessed at MHA’s website under the ‘Publications’ section, or via the link in the Annex (PDF, 420KB).
Key Findings
Higher Proportion of Respondents Agreed with the Use of the Death Penalty for the Most Serious Crimes
4. The 2023 survey found that over three-quarters of the respondents (77.4%) strongly agreed or agreed that the death penalty should be used for the most serious crimes. This proportion was higher compared to the 2021 survey (73.7%) and the difference was statistically significant.
Higher Proportion of Respondents Agreed with the Use of the Mandatory Death Penalty for the Most Serious Crimes
5. The 2023 survey also found statistically significant increases in the proportion of respondents who strongly agreed or agreed with the use of the mandatory death penalty as the punishment for trafficking a significant amount of drugs, discharging or attempting to discharge a firearm with intent to cause physical injury (i.e. firearm offences), and intentional murder.
(a) 68.7% of the respondents in the 2023 survey strongly agreed or agreed that the mandatory death penalty was appropriate as the punishment for trafficking a significant amount of drugs, a 3.1 percentage-point (pp) increase from 65.6% in the 2021 survey;
(b) 74.3% of the respondents in the 2023 survey strongly agreed or agreed that the mandatory death penalty was appropriate as the punishment for firearm offences, a 3.2 pp increase from 71.1% in the 2021 survey; and
(c) 85.0% of the respondents in the 2023 survey strongly agreed or agreed that the mandatory death penalty was appropriate as the punishment for intentional murder, a 4.5 pp increase from 80.5% in the 2021 survey.
6. Similar to the 2021 survey, respondents in the 2023 survey who did not agree that the mandatory death penalty was appropriate for these three crimes were further asked whether the discretionary death penalty or life imprisonment would be the more appropriate punishment.
(a) Within this group, some respondents indicated that the discretionary death penalty would be the more appropriate punishment.
(b) Taking these respondents into account, the 2023 survey found that the large majority of respondents agreed that some form of the death penalty – whether mandatory or discretionary – was appropriate as the punishment for these three crimes. These proportions were comparable to that in the 2021 survey:
(i) 75.5% agreed with some form of the death penalty for trafficking a significant amount of drugs (2021 survey: 73.4%);
(ii) 81.3%, for firearm offences (2021 survey: 82.0%); and
(iii) 88.7%, for intentional murder (2021 survey: 88.2%).
Higher Proportion of Respondents Agreed that the Use of the Death Penalty is Effective as a Deterrent
7. The 2023 survey found that compared to 2021, a larger proportion of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that the death penalty deterred the trafficking of a significant amount of drugs (87.9%; 2021 survey: 83.2%), firearm offences (90.2%; 2021 survey: 85.9%), and murder offences (90.2%; 2021 survey: 85.9%). The differences were statistically significant.
Exhibit 1: Respondents’ Perceptions of the Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty
| | Strongly Agree/ Agree | Neutral | Strongly Disagree/ Disagree |
|---|
| The death penalty deters … in Singapore |
| trafficking of significant amount of drugs | 87.9% | 7.5% | 4.6% |
| firearm offences | 90.2% | 7.2% | 2.6% |
| murder offences | 90.2% | 6.7% | 3.1% |
| Removing the death penalty would likely increase … |
| the amount of drugs trafficked into Singapore | 82.8% | 12.1% | 5.1% |
| the number of firearm offences in Singapore | 83.8% | 12.0% | 4.2% |
| the number of murders in Singapore | 84.1% | 11.7% | 4.2% |
Note: The above exhibit was reproduced from the detailed report on the 2023 survey findings. Sampling weights were applied to derive the percentages in the above exhibit.
8. Similar to the 2021 survey, respondents were also asked whether they felt that the death penalty had an additional deterrent effect over life imprisonment. In the 2023 survey, there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of respondents who strongly agreed or agreed that the death penalty was more effective compared to life imprisonment in deterring people from trafficking a significant amount of drugs (79.7%; 2021 survey: 73.7%), committing firearm offences (82.4%; 2021 survey: 77.4%), and committing murders (83.0%; 2021 survey: 77.8%).
High Proportion of Respondents Agreed with Retaining the Mandatory Death Penalty for the Most Serious Crimes
9. To better understand how respondents felt about the mandatory death penalty, respondents were asked three new questions in the 2023 survey:
(a) whether the mandatory death penalty was a strong deterrent against the most serious crimes in Singapore;
(b) whether the replacement of the mandatory death penalty with the discretionary death penalty would result in an increase in serious crimes in Singapore; and
(c) whether they would prefer to retain the mandatory death penalty in Singapore.
10. Most of the respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the statements [Exhibit 2]. Notably, most respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the statement that they would prefer that the mandatory death penalty be retained for trafficking a significant amount of drugs (75.6%), committing firearm offences (82.2%), and committing intentional murder (87.7%).
Exhibit 2: Respondents’ Perceptions on the Deterrent Effect of the Mandatory Death Penalty
| Question | Strongly Agree/ Agree | Neutral | Strongly Disagree/ Disagree |
|---|
| The mandatory death penalty is a strong deterrent against … in Singapore |
| trafficking a significant amount of drugs | 86.6% | 8.0% | 5.4% |
| committing firearm offences | 87.2% | 9.0% | 3.8% |
| committing intentional murder | 90.3% | 6.4% | 3.3% |
| If the discretionary death penalty were applied – i.e., a situation where the death penalty may or may not be imposed – there will be an increase in … in Singapore |
| drug trafficking activities | 73.6% | 18.5% | 7.9% |
| firearm-related activities | 76.5% | 16.9% | 6.6% |
| intentional murder offences | 79.0% | 15.4% | 5.6% |
| I would prefer that the mandatory death penalty be retained for … in/into Singapore |
| trafficking a significant amount of drugs | 75.6% | 13.6% | 10.8% |
| firearm offences | 82.2% | 11.4% | 6.4% |
| intentional murder offences | 87.7% | 7.7% | 4.6% |
Note: The above exhibit was reproduced from the detailed report on the 2023 survey findings. Sampling weights were applied to derive the percentages in the above exhibit.
11. The 2023 survey also found a statistically significant increase in the proportion of residents who strongly agreed or agreed that the mandatory death penalty was a greater deterrent than the discretionary death penalty for the most serious crimes:
(a) 82.3% for trafficking a significant amount of drugs (2021 survey: 74.9%);
(b) 85.8% for committing firearm offences (2021 survey: 77.9%); and
(c) 87.7% for committing murder offences (2021 survey: 78.4%).
High Level of Confidence in Singapore’s Criminal Justice System for Death Penalty Cases
12. Similar to the findings from the 2021 survey, the majority of respondents in the 2023 survey had confidence that Singapore’s criminal justice system would handle death penalty cases appropriately:
(a) The majority of the respondents (88.7%) in the 2023 survey had confidence that accused persons in death penalty cases are subject to fair and rigorous investigations (2021 survey: 88.5%);
(b) The majority of the respondents (87.9%) in the 2023 survey had confidence that accused persons in death penalty cases in Singapore undergo fair and rigorous trials (2021 Survey: 88.1%); and
(c) The majority of the respondents (84.3%) in the 2023 survey believed that there are adequate safeguards to ensure that there are no wrongful executions (2021 survey: 85.3%).
13. Compared to the previous 2021 survey, the 2023 survey found that a higher proportion of Singapore residents agreed that the death penalty i) should be used and had a deterrent effect against the most serious crimes, such as trafficking a significant amount of drugs, firearm offences and intentional murder; and ii) is more effective than life imprisonment in deterring these crimes.
14. The survey also found that most Singapore residents had confidence in Singapore’s criminal justice system in ensuring that accused persons in death penalty cases undergo fair and rigorous investigations and trials, and that the Singapore criminal justice system had adequate safeguards in place to prevent wrongful executions.
