Malay Mail Online | KUALA LUMPUR, 16-Mar–2015 — The majority of Muslim voters across the peninsula think the Kelantan government should prioritise post-flood reconstruction instead of focusing on its proposal to implement hudud in the state, a survey has revealed.

The survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center found that 81 per cent of the Malay-Muslim respondents polled between January 21 and 30 this year shared the same view.

Merdeka Center said the findings indicated that the Kelantan PAS government’s hudud bid would not likely improve the party’s standing among the Kelantanese, or among the national Muslim electorate in general.

The pollster added that the findings were similar to its previous survey in April 2014, which had revealed that 58 per cent of Malays throughout the country felt they were not ready for hudud.

“This move recalls the party’s disastrous 2004 general election outing under the ‘Islamic State’ manifesto, which led to the fall of the PAS Terengganu state government and near loss in Kelantan,” Merdeka Center said in a press release today.

According to the survey, only 11 per cent of its Malay-Muslim respondents said Kelantan should prioritise its push for hudud, the controversial Islamic penal code that the state legislative assembly is expected to debate this Wednesday when the PAS-led government tables amendments to a state Islamic enactment.

Eight per cent said, however, that they were unsure.

Across all races, the survey also found that 84 per cent of Malaysian voters in the peninsula said Kelantan should focus on flood recovery efforts instead of on implementing the controversial Islamic penal code.

Only seven per cent said the state should proceed with its hudud implementation, while eight per cent said they were unsure and one per cent refused to respond.

IN THE GALLERY

Army personnel attend to a flood victim at a flood relief centre in Kelantan, December 26, 2014.
The survey polled a total of 1,008 registered voters here via telephone, including 60 per cent Malay, 30 per cent Chinese and 10 per cent Indian voters.

Respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along ethnicity, gender and state of residence. The interviews were carried out in the preferred language of the respondents.

The Kelantan PAS government reportedly plans to proceed with tabling amendments to the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II 1993 at the state legislative assembly this Wednesday, despite repeated objections from its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners DAP and PKR.

Details of the proposed amendments, however, have not been made public nor did the PAS-led state administration share copies of the bill with their PR partners until last week.

When the draft was shared last Thursday, the PR presidential council told PAS to “reconsider” its amendments, with one DAP man telling the Islamist party that the proposed changes were entirely a new piece of legislation instead of minor updates to the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code Enactment II 1993 as previously claimed.

The DAP lawmaker, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo also said DAP will continue to reject hudud as it was “impractical and against Pakatan’s common policy framework.”

Yesterday, however, Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said the state will proceed with tabling the proposed changes this week and will not revise the draft as requested by the PR presidential council.

“Not going to go back to meet Pakatan again. We have discussed and it will be tabled,” he told Malay Mail Online.

– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/most-muslims-want-kelantan-to-focus-on-flood-recovery-not-hudud-survey-find#sthash.HB8ovtfv.dpuf

The Malaysian Insider | 16-Mar–2015 – A majority of voters in the peninsula said the PAS-led Kelantan government should focus on post-flood reconstruction, rather than its hudud law amendments.

Pollster Merdeka Center said in a statement today that its survey on 1,008 voters interviewed over the telephone showed that 84% think the state government should concentrate on repairing and rebuilding homes of flood victims.

This is also the prevalent view of 81% Malay/Muslim respondents interviewed across the peninsula.

“It should be noted that the survey found this view prevalent across key Malay/Muslim demographics of gender, age groups and media consumers.
“This finding is also in line with Merdeka Center’s previous finding in a survey carried out in April 2014, which revealed that a majority (58%) of Malay respondents thought that the country is not ready for hudud implementation,” it said.

Merdeka Center said the Kelantan government’s pursuit of the hudud enactment now also would not improve its standing among the people of the state as well as the national Muslim electorate.

“This move recalls the party’s disastrous 2004 general election outing under the ‘Islamic State’ manifesto, which led to the fall of the PAS Terengganu government and near loss in Kelantan.”

Kelantan was hit by its worst floods in decades in December, with tens of thousands of people displaced. While the state struggles with post-flood reconstruction, the administration has yet to put its hudud enactment amendment plan on the back burner.

The survey comes as the state government plans to table its Shariah Criminal Code Enactment II 1993 amendments on Wednesday at its state legislative assembly sitting, despite the Pakatan Rakyat presidential council urging the PAS administration to re-evaluate the proposed revision last week.

The survey echoes a report by The Malaysian Inisder over the weekend where more local Kelantan folk are calling for their leaders – and the rest of the country – to shift their focus from hudud to bread-and-butter issues.

The survey found 78% Malay men and 83% Malay women agreeing that rebuilding flood victims’ homes should be prioritised over hudud. Of those in favour of reconstruction, 79% were urban residents while 82% were rural residents.

In terms of how the different races responded to the questions in the survey, only 11% of Malays, 2% of Chinese and 1% of Indians approved of the hudud enactment.

Regardless of where they work, more than 80% of all respondents were in favour of rebuilding flood-ravaged Kelantan over imposing hudud law in the state.

The survey also found 85% of voters working for the government or government-linked companies, and the private sector respectively agreeing that the focus should be on rebuilding the state.

In the survey, only 7% of the respondents approved of the hudud enactment while 8% said they were unsure.

Only 1% of the voters interviewed refused to answer when asked if they thought the state should focus on rebuilding homes and if they approved of the hudud enactment.

The survey involved 60% Malay voters and 30% Chinese. The rest were Indian voters.

The respondents, who came from all 12 states across the peninsula, were randomly selected along the lines of gender, ethnicity, age and parliamentary constituency. – March 16, 2015.

– See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/focus-on-post-flood-works-not-hudud-voters-tell-kelantan-pas#sthash.YibRAv7z.dpuf

Malaysiakini.com | 27-Feb-2015 – Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s approval rating has dropped to 44 percent last month, the second lowest since he became prime minister six years ago.

His popularity slided one percentage point from 45 percent recorded in November and December last year. In October 2014, Najib’s approval rating was 48 percent.

Najib’s popularity plunged to its lowest in January last year when it registered 42 percent.

His highest approval rating was at 72 percent in May 2010.

According to Merdeka Centre, a poll carried out from Jan 21 to Jan 30 found that 46 percent of the respondents disapproved of the prime minister’s performance.

The survey also discovered that 47 percent of voters felt that the country was “headed in the wrong direction” compared to 39 percent who felt it was “headed in the right direction”.

The latest survey noted that 43 percent of the respondents, however, were either ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘angry’ with the performance of the government.

“We attribute this to public dissatisfaction as likely arising from pressure due to the rising cost of living, depressed commodity prices in rural areas as well as concerns on increased polarisation along communal and sectarian lines in the country”.Negative sentiments were largely driven by economic factors such as concerns over the high cost of living as well as the impact of the upcoming implementation of the goods and services tax (GST).

Public satisfaction same

Merdeka Centre further explained that other reasons driving negative perceptions about the country’s direction included perceived poor administration and continued racial polarisation in society.

“Those who felt the country was on a positive track based their views on the prevailing sense of peace and security, favourable economic conditions and infrastructure development and continued welfare assistance from the government”.

The Centre added public satisfaction with the government remained at the same level compared to the last survey released in October last year, whereby 38 percent reported that they were ‘happy’ with the government.

Although economic concerns remain the top issue among voters, with the latest being at 62 percent, this is lower compared to 71 percent in October 2014.

This was largely contributed by the drop in fuel prices and increased attention on the massive floods in East coast and other parts of Malaysia during December 2014.

A total of 1,008 registered voters comprising 60 percent Malay, 30 percent Chinese and 10 percent Indian were involved in the lates Merdeka Centre survey.

Respondents were interviewed by telephone. They were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along ethnicity, gender and state of residence.

Malaysiakini.com | 27-Feb-2015 – As expected, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is far from being the toast of the Chinese community.

A survey by Merdeka Centre revealed that only 18 percent of those polled from the community are satisfied with his performance.

Whereas, only 13 percent believe that the country is headed in the right direction under his stewardship. Overall, 39 percent involving all ethnic groups say the country is headed in the right direction while 47 percent say it is going in the wrong direction.

As for the perception towards the government along ethnic lines, the survey found that only 11 percent of the Chinese respondents expressed “happiness”.

Out of the 1,008 polled, 30 percent of the respondents were Chinese,
60 percent were Malays, whereas the remaining 10 percent were Indians.

The percentages could have dipped further if the survey, which was conducted in January, had been carried out this month following Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s call on the Malays to boycott Chinese traders.

Since the 2008 general election, the Chinese have drawn the ire of Umno for throwing their lot behind the last general election.

Following the lack of action on Ismail, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli claimed that the Chinese are now a community whose sentiments no longer have political value to Umno.

As for Najib’s support among the Malay community, it remains unchanged for four consecutive monthly surveys since October last year, at 58 percent.

On another note, the overall sentiment of the Malay community about the country’s direction improved, with 54 percent believing the country is on the right track, up five percent from last month.

This is also reflected in perception towards the government, with 52 percent of the Malay community saying they are happy, an improvement of two percent.

There is some good news for the premier though, as his support among the Indian community improved slightly from 39 percent to 44 percent.

Nonetheless, the community’s view of the government remains unchanged, with 34 percent expressing happiness with the government.

However, the Indian community’s view on whether the country was on the right direction fell to 26 percent compared to 29 percent.

The Malaysian Insider | 27-Feb–2015 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s approval rating dropped to 44% in January from 48% in October 2014 as more people felt his government was headed in the wrong direction in economic matters, according to the latest Merdeka Center poll.

The independent pollster said Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s approval rating remains at 38% in January, the same as the last poll done last October.

But on Najib himself, it found that 46% of people in its January 2015 survey disapproved of the prime minister’s handling of his job. (see graphics below)

Of those surveyed, 47% also felt that Malaysia was “headed in the wrong direction”, while 39% said it was on the right track.
The pollster said that those who felt positive about the country said so based on their sense of peace and security, economic conditions and the government’s provision of infrastructure and welfare assistance.

But broken down into perceived feelings, 38% of respondents said they were “dissatisfied” with the government’s performance, and 5% said they were “angry”.

Merdeka Centre noted that these sentiments were driven by concerns over higher living costs, the overall economic situation and worries over the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will be enforced in April.

It noted other reasons as well, including perceived poor administration and continued racial polarisation as factors which fueled negative perceptions towards the government.

The survey conducted between January 21 and January 30 among 1,008 registered voters also found that their topmost concern remained the economy.

Among those who said the country was going in the wrong direction, 19% cited inflation and higher living costs as a major reason while 15% cited generally unfavourable economic conditions.

Only 4% cited racial inequality, general political instability and the GST, respectively.

Overall, however, there was a drop in percentage of those who ranked the economy as their biggest worry, to 62% in January from 71% who said the same in October last year.

Merdeka Center said this drop could be due to lower fuel prices and increased attention on the massive floods in the east coast of the peninsula and other parts of the country in December last year.

By ethnicity, the voters surveyed comprised 60% Malay, 30% Chinese and 10% Indian. – February 27, 2015.

Malay Mail Online | KUALA LUMPUR, 27-Feb–2015 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s approval rating as prime minister fell again in the latest Merdeka Center survey, dropping four percentage points to 44 per cent in January.

According to the independent pollster, the latest decline in Najib’s support was rooted in Malaysia’s lagging economy, as well as the impending implementation of a new consumption tax in April.

“The negative sentiments were largely driven by economic factors, such as concerns over high cost of living, the general condition of the economy, as well as concerns over the impact of the upcoming implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the public,” Ibrahim Suffian, who heads Merdeka Center, said in a statement accompanying the survey results.

In the previous edition of the survey last October, Najib recorded a positive rating of 48 per cent, down from 54 per cent in August and his personal best of 72 per cent in May 2010.

According to the latest poll, the Chinese were the least satisfied with Najib, recording an 18 per cent approval rating, while the Indians and Malays registered approval ratings of 44 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.

A total of 43 per cent were dissatisfied or angry with the government, while 38 per cent said they were happy with its performance.

Only about one in 10 Chinese respondents, or 11 per cent, expressed happiness with the government, compared to 34 per cent of Indians and 52 per cent of Malays.

Almost half of participants, or 47 per cent, believed that the country was headed in the wrong direction, citing high living costs and an unfavourable economy.

“Other reasons driving negative perceptions about the country’s direction includes perceived poor administration and continued racial polarisation in society,” said Ibrahim.

The 39 per cent who felt Malaysia was on a positive track based their views on a sense of security, favourable economic conditions and infrastructure development, as well as continued government welfare.

According to the poll, voters were most concerned about the economy at 62 per cent.

The survey, which was conducted from January 21 to 30, sampled 1,008 voters aged 21 and above across peninsula Malaysia.

The Malaysian Insider | 10-Dec–2014 – Public perception towards corruption in Malaysia remains unchanged since 2005 with at least 77% of Malaysian voters this year agreeing that corruption in the country is serious, according to a recent Merdeka Center survey.

The survey done jointly with BFM Radio for World Anti-Corruption Day yesterday showed this perception appeared unchanged compared to similar polls conducted in August 2005 and June 2012 which found 76% and 78%, respectively, saying that corruption was seriously prevalent.

The survey found that 49% of Malaysians report that corruption had increased, 20% felt it had remained unchanged while 21% felt it had decreased compared to one year ago, Merdeka Center said in a statement released today.

The same survey also saw a majority, or 56%, of Malaysians perceiving the government’s fight against corruption left much to be desired despite recent successes by the anti-corruption commission.
These views were more apparent among younger voters and those with Internet access.

Reflecting upon the recently released Auditor-General’s report, the survey found that Malaysians were split, where 51% felt that the report was not taken seriously while 39% felt otherwise.

Again, these views were more prevalent among younger voters.

But the survey found that 67% of Malaysians felt that it was possible for ordinary citizens to make a difference in combatting corruption.

This sentiment was particularly strong among rural and low-income households.

The survey was carried out by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research between November 26 and December 5, 2014. For this survey, 1,019 registered voters comprising 61% Malay, 30% Chinese and 9% Indian respondents were interviewed by telephone.

Respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along ethnicity, gender and state of residence. The interviews were carried out in the preferred language of the respondents.

The survey also found that 41% of respondents felt paying bribes was aimed at speeding things up, while another 28% felt it was the only way to obtain services.

Sixteen percent felt bribes are categorised as “gifts, or to express gratitude” while 15% felt it was to obtain cheaper services.

The report flies in the face of Putrajaya’s claims that stringent anti-graft practices put in place had contributed to Malaysia’s three-spot leap on Transparency International’s 2014 corruption perception index (CPI) to 50th spot.

Malaysia ranked 50th among 175 countries which participated in the 2014 CPI. Last year, it ranked 53 out of the same number of countries in the index.

Score-wise, Malaysia moved up two points to 52 from 50 last year. On the CPI, a score of 0 is “highly corrupt” and 100 is considered “very clean”.

Putrajaya’s efficiency unit Pemandu’s Anti-Corruption National Key Result Area director Ravindran Devagunam had attributed the rise in CPI scores to the collective effort of various parties, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), police and other enforcement agencies in combating corruption.

He noted the formation of the Integrity and Standards Management department, as well as the introduction of integrity testing this year for hiring and promoting police personnel as a “game-changer”.

“Moving forward, we will be working with more enforcement agencies to replicate the Integrity Testing initiative. We hope to see our frontliners perform with the highest integrity,” he said.”We are beginning to make headway into systemic issues with the view of curbing corruption at its source.

Another factor which contributed to Malaysia’s improved performance was the move to table the Auditor-General’s Report three times a year in Parliament, as opposed to only once previously.

This, said Ravindran, had contributed to the perception that there was increased transparency demonstrated by the government, coupled with the steps taken by the chief secretary-general to the government and his secretaries-general to engage the media on issues highlighted in the report.

Moreover, there was also prompt follow-up actions by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and relevant enforcement agencies on the issues highlighted in the report.

“This is the best score we’ve achieved over the past 10 years, however we will not rest on our laurels and, moving forward, we need to make a steep change in delivery to further improve our rankings.

“This will require sustained commitment from all stakeholders until we achieve our target to have Malaysia occupy the top 30 ranking by the year 2020,” he added. – December 10, 2014.