Saturday, July 30, 2022

Only 40% of Malay youths ready to vote in GE15, according to survey



Only 40% of Malay youths ready to vote in GE15, according to survey


The respondents were almost equally split on whether they felt the country was headed in the right direction or otherwise.


PETALING JAYA: Only 40% of Malay Muslim youths are keen to cast their ballots in the upcoming general election (GE15), according to a survey.

A recent survey conducted by polling firm Merdeka Center found that 40% of Muslims, aged between 17 and 25, said they would “very likely” vote if GE15 were to be held now.


It did not state the reasons why they would stay away from voting but a street survey carried out by the Singapore Straits Times, based on the Merdeka Center findings, found that many were disillusioned by the politicking taking place in the country.

One of them said things appeared not to have really changed after elections were held, adding that even if they did, they did not last long.

She said witnessing the “rightly elected government being toppled” and the formation of a “backdoor government” did not help, referring to the three changes of administration since the last general election in 2018.

Another person interviewed, a college student, said the country is being run now by someone whose party did not win in GE14.

“So it made me think, would voting really make a difference? I’d only be more inclined to vote if the candidates have more integrity than the bunch we see now in Parliament,” she added.

Meanwhile, 29% said “somewhat likely”, 11% “maybe” while the remainder “somewhat unlikely” (8%) and “very unlikely” (11%) when asked about voting in GE15.


The survey also found that over half of the respondents (51%) said “leadership” was the most important factor in determining their vote, while only 5% cited “support for the party” as their main reason for voting.

Respondents were almost equally split on whether they felt the country was headed in the right direction or otherwise.

Those who voted “wrong direction” (52%) cited reasons such as politics and economic concerns, while those who voted “right direction” (45%) seemed fairly content with the economic situation and administration.

When asked to state the level of trust in the federal government, 69% answered in the affirmative.

The survey involved 1,216 respondents in all parliamentary constituencies across the 14 states.

The selection of the respondents was also proportional to the population in each parliamentary constituency.

1 comment: