SMU Associate Professor of Economics Ho Kong Weng spoke at a forum organised by the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences’ Social Sciences and Policy Cluster and the Institute of Policy Studies' Social Lab which focused on the state of Singapore's middle class. He shared that according to the 2012 World Values Survey Singapore, middle-class Singaporeans felt a weaker sense of belonging to the country and were less supportive of the Government's efforts to redistribute income. Associate Prof Ho attributed it to the burden of income redistribution being heavier on them since they would not receive much aid and might not have the option to leave the country.