KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — They have a mixed bag of politicians. They often are at loggerheads with each other over ideology. And governing the states under their control has not been a walk in the park.
But what is the public perception of Pakatan Rakyat the alliance of Parti Islam SeMalaysia, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and the Democratic Action Party vis-a-vis Barisan Nasional?
A survey conducted in mid-August shows that the Opposition coalition's public posture on human rights and democracy is gaining some traction with voters.
The objective of the poll covering 1,000 registered voters was aimed at gauging how the public perceived the Opposition 16 months after Election 2008 where Pakatan Rakyat made unprecedented gains.
Since then, Malaysians say that PR's biggest strength is that it fights for democratic reforms (31 per cent), fights for transparency and is against corruption (29 per cent) and advocates fairness for all races (27 per cent).
This finding is not surprising given that the Opposition have been calling for the rehabilitation of Malaysia’s institutions, especially the judiciary and the police.
Pakatan Rakyat has also been at the forefront of the movement to abolish the Internal Security Act and a slew of other regressive legislation.
Broken down according to race, 65 per cent of those who think that PR’s biggest strength is racial fairness are Malays, 24 per cent Chinese and 11 per cent Indians.
Some 59 per cent of those who felt that PR's main selling point was fight against transparency are Malays, 32 per cent Chinese and 9 per cent Indians.
About 63 per cent of those who believe that PR stands for democratic reforms are Malays, 26 per cent Chinese and 11 per cent Indians.
On the flip side, those polled by Vox Malaysia said that PR's biggest weakness compared to BN was its inexperience in governing (38 per cent); bickering and fighting among members of the Opposition grouping (35 per cent) and the absence of a œgood candidate for the premiership. (20 per cent).
Broken down according to race, 67 per cent of those who think that PR's biggest weakness its its experience in governing are Malays, 27 per cent Chinese and six per cent Indians.
Some 62 per cent of those who think that PR's biggest weakness is infighting are Malays (62 per cent), 28 per cent Chinese and 10 per cent Indians. Nearly 70 per cent of those polled who believe that PR's lack of a clear candidate for the PM's is its biggest weakness are Malays, 13 per cent Chinese and 18 per cent Indians.
MI
11/09/09
But what is the public perception of Pakatan Rakyat the alliance of Parti Islam SeMalaysia, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and the Democratic Action Party vis-a-vis Barisan Nasional?
A survey conducted in mid-August shows that the Opposition coalition's public posture on human rights and democracy is gaining some traction with voters.
The objective of the poll covering 1,000 registered voters was aimed at gauging how the public perceived the Opposition 16 months after Election 2008 where Pakatan Rakyat made unprecedented gains.
Since then, Malaysians say that PR's biggest strength is that it fights for democratic reforms (31 per cent), fights for transparency and is against corruption (29 per cent) and advocates fairness for all races (27 per cent).
This finding is not surprising given that the Opposition have been calling for the rehabilitation of Malaysia’s institutions, especially the judiciary and the police.
Pakatan Rakyat has also been at the forefront of the movement to abolish the Internal Security Act and a slew of other regressive legislation.
Broken down according to race, 65 per cent of those who think that PR’s biggest strength is racial fairness are Malays, 24 per cent Chinese and 11 per cent Indians.
Some 59 per cent of those who felt that PR's main selling point was fight against transparency are Malays, 32 per cent Chinese and 9 per cent Indians.
About 63 per cent of those who believe that PR stands for democratic reforms are Malays, 26 per cent Chinese and 11 per cent Indians.
On the flip side, those polled by Vox Malaysia said that PR's biggest weakness compared to BN was its inexperience in governing (38 per cent); bickering and fighting among members of the Opposition grouping (35 per cent) and the absence of a œgood candidate for the premiership. (20 per cent).
Broken down according to race, 67 per cent of those who think that PR's biggest weakness its its experience in governing are Malays, 27 per cent Chinese and six per cent Indians.
Some 62 per cent of those who think that PR's biggest weakness is infighting are Malays (62 per cent), 28 per cent Chinese and 10 per cent Indians. Nearly 70 per cent of those polled who believe that PR's lack of a clear candidate for the PM's is its biggest weakness are Malays, 13 per cent Chinese and 18 per cent Indians.
MI
11/09/09
Both my parents are Indian and Hindu; and I am an evolutionist.
ReplyDeleteMalaysian voters must come of age. Look at India. The Republic of India maintains good relations with Russia, France, USA, Israel, etc. Similarly, I will continue to maintain that it will be in the best interests of the Malaysian people to maintain good relations with all nations.
Until year 1980's and 1990's Indian politicians too had the bad habit of blaming all their woes on the USA and the CIA. By year 2000 everything changed and in the new India very few politicians blame USA and the CIA anymore because the voters no longer believe such propaganda. Now the Indian voters have come of age. Similarly, I hope Malaysian voters too would change and come of age. See India video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP-TwHwLc98
JUST LIKE INDIAN VOTERS HAVE FINALLY COME OF AGE, IT IS TIME FOR MALAYSIANS TOO TO COME OF AGE. Politics in contemporary India is increasingly about economic developmental issues, not targeting a fictitious enemy like USA or CIA. Voters in India no longer want to hear about fictitious enemies like USA or CIA. Malaysian voters too must come of age.
Before year 2000 I used to deny that I was Indian. After year 2000 I am proud to be Indian. Before year 2000 was the old India; after year 2000 is the new India. After year 2000 we can note that the Indian voters have come of age.
In September 2009, some people in Malaysia paraded a cow's head. The media has the right to highlight it. What is news? When a dog bites a man, it is not news worthy. But when a man bites a dog, it is news worthy. The media makes news judgement. The media must be given freedom to decide what is news worthy or not. Please leave the media alone.
Some people decided to carry a cow's head. So what? They can carry a cow's head if they want. Nobody should be offended by it. The best thing to do is to play down on it and ignore it. The main thrust for Hindus should and must be in giving a good education to their children. The world will become more competitive. It is the duty of all Hindus in Malaysia to take care of their own families. Please do take care of your own family. If you can, please do work at two jobs so that you can get extra money.
Parading a severed cow's head should not perturb you. If it does perturb you, then you have only yourself to blame. Those people parading a cow's head look like comedians any way. Why are you perturbed by comedians? They say that laughter is the best medicine. It is good to have some comedy.
Some people carry a handbag, some people carry a shopping bag, some people carry a mango, and some people carry an umbrella. Different people carry different things. Similarly, people do have the right to carry and parade a severed cow's head, or for that matter, chicken wings, pig's ears, goat's feet, turtle shell, cat's tail, etc.
If the intention of the Muslim protesters is to encourage beef consumption, then I can assure you that more Hindus in Malaysia do consume beef and pork nowadays. If the Muslim protesters regularly parade a severed cow's head, it may encourage beef consumption, which is a good thing. I hope the Muslim protesters promote beef consumption by parading a severed cow's head regularly. Cattle farmers will be supportive of the idea of increasing beef consumption. If fact, you can even persuade the cattle farmers to pay the Muslim protesters.
Incidentally, there are many Hindus in Malaysia who eat pork and beef. After you see a cow's head being paraded several times, then you would get used to it and it would no longer perturb you any more. The human mind has the capacity to de-sensitize. It may help to increase beef consumption. Wait a minute. Beef has high cholesterol but not as high as crustaceans.