SINGAPORE Avid net surfers in Singapore would give up televisions and books before sacrificing the Internet and many would not stop their explorations of cyberspace even to become millionaires, a survey showed on Monday.
The Internet has emerged as the lifestyle choice of many Singaporeans, a poll conducted on the Straits Times Website revealed.
More than 10,000 responses were received to the queries posed starting July 17.
Asked if users would give up the Internet for the rest of their lives if offered 1 million Singapore dollars ($581,000), more than 33 percent said no, 27 percent said yes while 40 percent would consider the option.
"Without the Internet, life seems incomplete," said "Enterprise23," a respondent who E-mailed his views.
The grip of the net on people's lives in the city-state was also evident from the 46 percent of those polled who would rather give up television or books than be deprived of the net.
"It is much better to stay tuned to the net than the TV and be a net-surfer than a bookworm," said another respondent.
Among the 20 percent who opted for books, Chia Tzu Lin said, "I can't imagine life without a good book in my hand. But I can imagine life going on without the Internet." The poll, conducted entirely on-line, revealed that despite the fervor for the Internet, respondents were ambivalent about dotcom companies. Asked about dream jobs, 39 percent wanted to run their own dotcoms, but 40 percent said, "anything but a dotcom." (DPA)