The current study confirmed the multidimensionality of the public’s attitudes to mental illness, and it also identified several key characteristics associated with negative attitudes to mental illness. Risk factors for negative attitudes include older age, male gender, Chinese ethnicity, lower education and lower socioeconomic status. For Indian and Malay ethnicities, although they tended to show more positive attitudes on social distancing, tolerance/support for community care, and social restrictiveness; they also had more prejudice and misconception towards the mentally ill. Tolerance or support to community care was positively associated with being female, Indian and with higher education level; while negatively associated with being a housewife or homemaker. The potential difference between Western and Asian population in how they perceived mental illness also suggested that there is need for well-planned and culturally sensitive public attitude campaigns. Future studies could explore cultural differences and how these differences might affect public attitudes.