freemalaysiatoday.com | PETALING JAYA – 04-Nov-2022 – : Pakatan Harapan is slightly ahead of Barisan Nasional in an opinion poll of voters’ preference among the various political coalitions competing in the general election.
The survey by Merdeka Center was held from Oct 19 to Oct 28 and involved 1,209 voters across all ethnic groups.
It found that 26% of respondents supported PH, with BN behind by only 2%, but Perikatan Nasional trailed far behind, with only 13% of respondents supporting the coalition.
Gerakan Tanah Air and others were backed by 2% of respondents.
However, a majority of respondents (31%) said they had no preference or were unsure.
BN had a clear advantage among Malay respondents, with the Umno-led coalition backed by 32% while PN and PH had 20% and 13% respectively.
The research centre said “overt preference had declined” and 29% of Malay respondents said they had no preference or were unsure of which coalition to vote for.
“It is possible that some of these undecided voters may still vote in favour of the ruling party, but past experience tells us that the majority of them are likely to go for either opposing parties, namely PN or PH.”
With three large coalitions in contention in GE15, Merdeka Center said it was difficult to predict the outcome of the polls. It added that it was possible that no one coalition would be able to form the government.
“Instead, there is a rising possibility that at least three or more parties or coalitions are needed to cooperate to form a government with a simple majority.”
theborneopost.com | KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): A survey conducted by independent pollster Merdeka Center has found that Malay voters who are inclined to vote for Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 15th general election (GE15) rose to 13 per cent on October 28 from 10 per cent back on May 31.
In comparison, Malay respondents who were inclined to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN) declined from 40 per cent to 32 per cent in the same period.
Malay voters surveyed also showed declining inclination towards Perikatan Nasional (PN), with 22 per cent reporting they would vote for the coalition on May 31 but only 20 per cent on Oct 28.
Ethnic Chinese respondents demonstrated a strong preference for PH (47 per cent), with little interest in BN (5 per cent) and PN (1 per cent).
Indian voters meanwhile mainly supported PH (51 per cent) and BN (32 per cent) compared to PN (1 per cent), and had the highest number of voters who refused to vote (8 per cent).
The survey also found that no coalition at the moment possesses a clear simple majority as illustrated by voters’ preference.
Overall, 26 per cent of the voters surveyed indicated a preference for PH, 24 per cent would choose to vote BN, and 13 per cent backed PN.
A further 31 per cent were unsure of the party they would vote for while 4 per cent refused to cast a vote.
Of the Malay voters surveyed, 15 per cent did not prefer any party while another 15 per cent remained unsure.
A total of 18 per cent of ethnic Chinese voters did not prefer any party and 23 per cent were unsure, the highest number of fence-sitting voters across ethnic lines.
Despite the high level of refusal to vote, only 2 per cent of Indian voters did not indicate a preference for any party while 6 per cent were unsure.
Merdeka Center surveyed 1,209 respondents aged 18 and above via telephone from all states and constituencies, proportional to the population in each parliament constituency.
The survey was conducted from October 19 to 28. – Malay Mail
www.malaymail.com | KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — A survey conducted by independent pollster Merdeka Center has found that Malay voters who are inclined to vote for Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 15th general election (GE15) rose to 13 per cent on October 28 from 10 per cent back on May 31.
In comparison, Malay respondents who were inclined to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN) declined from 40 per cent to 32 per cent in the same period.
Malay voters surveyed also showed declining inclination towards Perikatan Nasional (PN), with 22 per cent reporting they would vote for the coalition on May 31 but only 20 per cent on Oct 28.
Ethnic Chinese respondents demonstrated a strong preference for PH (47 per cent), with little interest in BN (5 per cent) and PN (1 per cent).
Indian voters meanwhile mainly supported PH (51 per cent) and BN (32 per cent) compared to PN (1 per cent), and had the highest number of voters who refused to vote (8 per cent).
The survey also found that no coalition at the moment possesses a clear simple majority as illustrated by voters’ preference.
Overall, 26 per cent of the voters surveyed indicated a preference for PH, 24 per cent would choose to vote BN, and 13 per cent backed PN.
A further 31 per cent were unsure of the party they would vote for while 4 per cent refused to cast a vote.
MORE TO COME
Of the Malay voters surveyed, 15 per cent did not prefer any party while another 15 per cent remained unsure.
A total of 18 per cent of ethnic Chinese voters did not prefer any party and 23 per cent were unsure, the highest number of fence-sitting voters across ethnic lines.
Despite the high level of refusal to vote, only 2 per cent of Indian voters did not indicate a preference for any party while 6 per cent were unsure.
Merdeka Center surveyed 1,209 respondents aged 18 and above via telephone from all states and constituencies, proportional to the population in each parliament constituency.
malaysiakini.com | 04-Nov-2022 – The approval rating for the BN-led government stood at 31 percent after the Parliament’s dissolution, with 60 percent of the respondents voicing dissatisfaction, a Merdeka Center research has revealed.
The survey, conducted among 1,209 voters aged 18 and above between Oct 19 and 28, also showed that about 72 percent of the respondents felt that the country was headed in the “wrong direction”…
malaymail.com | KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — A survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center found that only 31 per cent of voters it surveyed were satisfied with the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government, while 60 per cent reported dissatisfaction.
This was a fall of 7 percentage points from the last survey in September 2022, with the highest approval rating at 45 per cent went it first took over in October last year.
The report with the survey results released today noted that as of October 28 ahead of the 15th general election, ethnic Chinese respondents had the biggest proportion of dissatisfaction at 83 per cent followed by the Indian community at 79 per cent.
The only demographic with a higher proportion of satisfied respondents compared to dissatisfied were those who work for the government or in government-linked companies (48 per cent satisfied versus 42 per cent dissatisfied) and Muslim Bumiputeras (58 per cent satisfied versus 34 per cent dissatisfied).
Caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob also saw his approval rating falling from 42 per cent to 40 per cent. In comparison, his highest approval rating was 50 per cent when he came into power.
Of the five political leaders on the survey, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had the highest approval rating at 46 per cent, followed by Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan at 32 per cent.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim managed to get an approval rating of 34 per cent, while Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi ranks last with just 12 per cent.
Zahid also had the highest disapproval rating at 72 per cent, while Mohamad had the lowest disapproval rating of 29 per cent.
Merdeka Center surveyed 1,209 respondents aged 18 and above via telephone from all states and constituencies, proportional to the population in each parliament constituency.
themalaysianinsight.com | 30-Oct-2022 – PUBLIC opinion of Barisan Nasional is lower now than in 2018, when the coalition lost the general election for the first time in 60 years, Singapore’s Straits Times reports.
Independent pollster Merdeka Center for Opinion Research said approval for the government in September stood at 38%, lower than the 39% in April 2018.
malaysiakini.com | 30-Oct-2022 – Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Muhyiddin Yassin was the most popular among top party leaders, according to a September survey by pollster Merdeka Center.
According to report by Singapore’s Straits Times, Merdeka Center found that 51 percent of respondents approved of Muhyiddin.
malaymail.com | KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Approval ratings for the Barisan Nasional-led federal government prior to Parliament’s dissolution last month stood at 38 per cent, lower than when the coalition headed into the 14th general election in 2018, according to the latest surveys from the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research.
In a report yesterday, The Straits Times noted that the independent pollster found that its survey of Malaysians in September who approved of the Umno-led BN was lower than the 39 per cent recorded in April 2018, days before the coalition was ousted in GE14 after nearly six decades in power.
The report stated that current satisfaction with the government is much lower than the 50 per cent seen in September 2021, weeks after Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob first became prime minister, after both the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions failed to garner the necessary parliamentary majority to form the government.
It also found that just 51 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the federal government in September, compared with 47 per cent just before Datuk Seri Najib Razak was deposed as prime minister in GE14 in May 2018.
According to The Straits Times, the survey results, which were reportedly presented to various financial institutions recently, stated “sentiments which hit lows in July have eased as inflation and cost of living increases were mitigated by government subsidies”.
The Singapore newspaper also reported Merdeka Center’s popularity ratings for five top politicians who are seen as the main prime ministerial candidates this round.
According to the survey, 46 per cent were satisfied with Ismail Sabri, though this is lower than the 52 per cent when he first came into power a year ago.
Even so, the Umno vice-president’s popularity far outstripped that of the party president Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi — currently on trial for a slew of graft charges — who garnered a mere 13 per cent satisfaction rating.
Conversely, 67 per cent of the respondents were dissatisfied with Zahid, compared with 46 per cent for Ismail Sabri.
By comparison, a third of those polled were satisfied with PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, while PN chief Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was the most popular with 51 per cent approval.
The report also noted that Merdeka Center had added a proviso in its presentations.
“Despite apparent low ratings, Zahid and his possible PM candidates (from Umno) have the support of a loyal base. However, this could turn off undecided voters and turn them to alternatives,” Merdeka Center was quoted saying of its findings.
www.thinkchina.sg | 5-Jul-2022 – In a recent poll conducted by Malaysia’s Merdeka Center and the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya, public perception of China seems to have improved slightly from the last time a similar survey was done in 2016. That said, opinions are divided among ethnic groups and hinge on a few deciding factors.
In a speech delivered in June 2021, Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged his senior officials to enhance their efforts to make the country more “credible, lovable and respectable”. Clearly, China has a long way to go in making itself “lovable”, judging by recent opinion polls released by the well-known Pew Research Center, which recorded a drastic decline of China’s image among its pool of selected countries.
Of course, a caveat is that countries selected for Pew’s surveys are generally affluent countries in the developed world and cannot be considered as the authoritative “international opinion”. On the flip side, in the newly released African Youth Survey 2022 which polled African youth in 15 countries, China was evaluated favourably overall. 76% of the respondents agreed that China has a positive influence in Africa.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore-based think tank ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute has been conducting an “elite survey” since 2019 which has thrown up a mixed picture for China. In its 2022 report, for instance, China was noted for its contribution in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and was also recognised as the most influential economic and strategic power in the region. However, more respondents were worried rather than welcoming of China’s strong economic and strategic influences, and few had confidence in China to play a positive role in providing regional leadership. Variations among the member states of ASEAN should be noted too, with the surveyed elite in Cambodia and Laos generally more positive of China’s role in the region, in contrast to their counterparts in Vietnam and the Philippines.
Along ethnic lines?
As useful as it is, the ISEAS survey does not tap into public sentiments, which may or may not be in line with the “elite” perceptions. To gauge the full spectrum of how the public view China in Malaysia, in March 2022, Merdeka Center, a reputable public opinion polling agency in Malaysia, in collaboration with the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya, carried out a comprehensive nationwide survey on Malaysian perceptions towards China. This was the second collaboration between Merdeka Center and the Institute of China Studies, after the two carried out a similar survey in April 2016.
… only the ethnic Chinese stand out as having a strongly “favourable” view towards China at 67%, and the “unfavourable” view among the ethnic Chinese is only a negligible 3%.
The 2022 poll result shows, somewhat surprisingly, that China’s image has improved slightly from the time of the earlier 2016 survey. The total percentage of the respondents that had a “favourable” impression of China increased from 35% in 2016 to 39% in 2022. There are two caveats, however, in interpreting this result.
First, a 2015 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center actually showed that 78% of the Malaysian respondents held favourable views of China. Hence 35% in 2016 or 39% in 2022 seems to indicate a drastic decline of “favourable” views among the Malaysian public.
However, the difference in the Pew and Merdeka Center-Institute of China Studies surveys lie in the fact that the poll run by the latter provided three answerable options to the question “How would you describe your overall impression of China as a country?”: “favourable”, “neutral”, and “unfavourable”. In contrast, the Pew survey provided a binary (“favourable” versus “unfavourable”) option which forced the respondents to really make a choice.
In the Merdeka Center-Institute of China Studies poll, up to 45% of the Malaysian public actually answered “neutral”, while 12% responded “unfavourable.” The category of “neutral” is curious because the respondents could lean either way if they were asked to make a choice.
In contrast, none of the other ethnic groups had a majority holding a “favourable” view.
Second, the overall improved image of China masks a more complicated picture — that impressions are quite divided among the major ethnic groups in the country. Among the five ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, Indians, Muslim Bumiputera and Non-Muslim Bumiputera — the latter two categories include mostly the ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak), only the ethnic Chinese stand out as having a strongly “favourable” view towards China at 67%, and the “unfavourable” view among the ethnic Chinese is only a negligible 3%.
Other factors come into play
In contrast, none of the other ethnic groups had a majority holding a “favourable” view. Among the Malay respondents, 28% had a “favourable” view, 50% “neutral”, and 17% “unfavourable”. The Indian respondents registered the highest in terms of an “unfavourable” view towards China (23%).
The increase of negative perceptions towards China by the ethnic Indians was also the most pronounced among all ethnic groups, with 56% of Indian respondents saying that their impression of China had declined in the past two years. As for the Muslim and non-Muslim Bumiputera categories, their views towards China are quite similar, with majorities having “neutral” view, slightly more than 30% were “favourable”, and around 6% “unfavourable”.
Across all ethnic groups, the majority of those who had personal experiences in China came back with a better impression of China.
Age, income level, and educational level also have some impacts — China’s image improves slightly as it moves towards the older, higher income, and higher education categories, but the ethnic factor is clearly the most discernible factor here. Clearly, if one takes away the ethnic Chinese citizens of Malaysia, China’s image in Malaysia would be pretty unimpressive.
That the ethnic Chinese tend to have a more favourable view towards China is not surprising in one sense, but it is incorrect, or even dangerous, to simply conclude that this is simply the ethnic Chinese extending their co-ethnic sentiments towards China.
The 2022 survey also asked respondents whether they have had personal experiences in China (such as visiting the country as tourists or studying there) and whether such experiences improved their impression of China. Across all ethnic groups, the majority of those who had personal experiences in China came back with a better impression of China.
Among all ethnic groups, the ethnic Chinese naturally have more opportunity and reasons to visit China and find it convenient to do so. This is, in a way, natural and a similar rationale in terms of Malays/Muslims traveling to Muslim countries in the Middle East and likewise for the Indians to India.
In total, 70% of Malaysians view Malaysia and China having a good relationship… China’s vaccine diplomacy helped improve its image significantly.
Vaccine diplomacy helps
Despite the ethnic divide, a majority of all ethnic groups agree that Malaysia-China relations are good and cordial, and have improved from the past two years. In total, 70% of Malaysians view Malaysia and China having a good relationship.
Consistent with the ISEAS elite survey, China was acknowledged as the country that provided the most assistance to Malaysia during the Covid-19 pandemic. An online survey conducted from July to September 2021 by USCI University’s Poll Research Centre in Malaysia also showed that Malaysian perceptions toward China and Chinese companies improved after vaccine cooperation between both countries. All these data pointed to the fact that China’s vaccine diplomacy helped improve its image significantly.
In addition, with the exception of the ethnic Indian respondents, a majority of the respondents in all ethnic categories agree that China’s investments in Malaysia have a positive impact on the country, and that Malaysia should participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, either “actively” or “carefully”.
Up to 40% and 17% of the Indian respondents have negative views of China’s investment in Malaysia and the Belt and Road Initiative respectively, making this ethnic community the most dubious about China’s economic impact in Malaysia.
Hence, China has a divided image among Malaysians, notably across ethnic lines. Although partly natural, this is not necessarily healthy, as it could reinforce the ethnic fault lines in Malaysian society. China would be well advised to address its shortcomings among the non-Chinese populations.
In addition, Malaysia’s government policy towards China is one of maintaining positive ties and deriving benefits (economic or otherwise) from engagement with China. This approach is, overall, largely supported by the majority of the Malaysians as well.
Malaysia Now | 17-Jun-2022 – Only 33% of Malay youth are interested in politics, with trust in government administration at about 69%.
Only 40% of Malay youth in the country would turn out to vote if the 15th general election (GE15) is held in the near future, research by an independent pollster shows.
Merdeka Center said this was a low percentage as the youth comprise about 58% of the electorate as a whole.
The study, conducted with NGO Sisters in Islam, was carried out from Oct 30, 2021 to Jan 25, 2022. It saw the participation of 1,216 Malay respondents aged 15 to 25 through face-to-face interviews across the country, including in Sabah and Sarawak.
According to demographic data for 2022 from the statistics department, a total of 12.2 million people aged 18 to 40 are eligible to vote, with 5.8 million new voters automatically registered after the introduction of Undi 18.
The study also found that only 33% of Malay youth are interested in politics, with trust in government administration at about 69%.
The rest said they had lost interest in the challenges and political issues in the country, with 52% of the belief that the country was on the wrong track.
At a session to present the findings of the study in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian said a survey conducted 12 years ago had shown that 66% believed Malaysia was on track to becoming a developed country.
The latest study had contained questions similar to those in the 2010 survey, and covered the same target group.
Merdeka Center also identified some of the challenges faced by the youth in dealing with issues arising after the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in terms of the economy and employment.
Ibrahim said the main concern for the group was job security, with 48% worried about losing their current jobs and being unable to find new work.
Other areas of concern included the environment (43%), corruption (40%), an influx of refugees and immigrants (35%) and mental health (30%).
“The views given by the youth in this latest study are driven by their experiences and challenges over the past few years, including the spread of an epidemic, economic uncertainty and political turmoil,” Ibrahim said.
“This has affected their confidence about the future and their views of the country’s direction.”
Ibrahim said many Malay youth were also sceptical of the political process and saw politicians as “transactional” in nature.
Azmil Tayeb of Universiti Sains Malaysia meanwhile said the same trend could be seen among his students who were increasingly losing faith in the political process.
He said they were instead shifting to volunteer work and the organisation of community programmes with the local people.