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Poll findings will be used to address young voters’ needs
December 4th, 2007, Borneo Post

KOTA KINABALU: The poll findings made by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research will allow policymakers, politicians and grassroots advocacy groups to address the needs of young voters, and guide civic education efforts ahead of the coming election. The National Youth Survey 2007 was conducted in cooperation with the Asia Foundation to gauge perceptions of youths towards politics, current issues and democracy and their own levels of civic and social involvement. A total of 1,508 Malaysians aged between 20 and 35 were randomly selected nationwide for the telephone survey.

This is the second time in two years that the Merdeka Centre and Asia Foundation conducted the poll to measure the attitudes of youth voters, providing a side-by-side comparison of 2007 with results from 2006 on important concerns like crime, employment, elections and the economy. As this is the second time we have conducted this poll, the data helps Malaysian voters and policy makers to understand the needs of young voters and address their concerns based on factual findings.“Malaysia’s future will be shaped by these young voters, so it is critical that we look at their attitudes towards their role in the community and in politics,” said Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian.

The results revealed that ethnicity contributed to significant differences in Malaysian youth perspectives. When asked if Malaysians were treated equally by the government, the majority of Malays and non-Muslim Bumiputeras agreed while 59 per cent of Chinese and 58 per cent of Indians disagreed. For instance, the majority of the ethnic Malays, Indians, and non-Muslim Bumiputeras felt they were free to speak freely, while 50 per cent of Chinese respondents disagreed. In the 2006 poll, the respondents were structured along the national population profile and specifically proportioned according to gender, ethnicity and state residence.

“Conducted within the framework of the Foundation’s commitment to increase citizen participation and responsive governance, both the 2006 and 2007 polls offered important baseline information,” said Anthea Mulakala, the Asia Foundation’s country representative in Malaysia. According to Anthea, the information allows individuals to gauge their views against those of their fellow citizens. The full results of the survey are available at www.merdeka.org or www.asiafoundation.org.