While generally optimistic about the future, the majority of Singaporeans want a slower-paced life and a less competitive education system, local media reported on Monday.

The findings of a survey of 4,000 citizens conducted in January as part of the Our Singapore Conversation exercise also showed that Singaporeans are even willing to trade economic growth for that, The Straits Times said in the report.

Of the respondents, 65 percent said that they were optimistic about the future five years ahead, and 78 percent said that the government was managing Singapore well.

Respondents were picked randomly in proportion to the demographics of Singapore society, and the interviews were conducted face to face.

When asked to pick among competing national priorities, respondents showed more consensus than observers expected, pointing to a desire for an easing of Singapore's pace of growth and development.

About 60 percent said they preferred the preservation of green spaces over infrastructural development, compared to the 19 percent who picked infrastructural development. Meanwhile, 53 percent wanted the preservation of heritage spaces over infrastructural development, while only 27 percent went the other way.

Asked to choose between career advancement and a comfortable pace of life, 59 percent chose the latter. This number swelled to 62 percent among those married with children.

Half of the respondents said they wanted to reduce the intake of foreign workers even if it translated to slower growth and fewer jobs.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently noted a shift in the direction of nation building, saying that the government would do more to strengthen the social safety net, among others.

Paulin Straughan, a sociologist at the National University of Singapore, said Singaporeans want a "more balanced approach from the government to ensure that in terms of quality of life, we are not always obsessing about saving for the future. They want everyday life to be rewarding too".

But she noted that where they stood on these compromises was a reaction to what they felt was already "in place" now.

"Because all the hard factors like infrastructure, a high employment rate and a competitive education system are already in place, they are yearning for more," she said.

"People can ask for more work-life balance only if you have work."

(China Daily 08/27/2013 page11)