Mkini laughs

Pak Lah more popular than Najib

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.Seriously, not surprised at all! Ok, news below:

BTW, you can get the Merdeka Survey here (PDF format- thanks Malaysiakini!)

A nationwide survey tracking the popularity of prime minister-in-waiting Najib Abdul Razak found that support for him among Malaysians has plunged to 41%.

The survey by polling group Merdeka Center – conducted over a one-week period between Dec 26 and Jan 2 – showed that Najib’s popularity dropped two percentage points since the poll was last taken in late October.

According to Merdeka Center, Najib’s popularity reached a high of 55% in April 2007 but saw a dramatic fall in June last year in the wake of the 40% hike in petrol prices to a low of 34%.

It crept up to 43% before falling again in the latest opinion poll. The survey also revealed that outgoing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, with a 46% approval rating, was more popular than Najib.

More troubling for Najib was an earlier Merdeka Center survey which found that the premier-in waiting trailed Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim 34% to 40% on who can make a better prime minister.

Najib’s popularity is highest among Malay Malaysians (57%) but low among non-Malays – Chinese (18%) and Indians (28%).

Low public confidence for MACC and JAC

Meanwhile, the survey found that Malaysians have little confidence for the newly-minted Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), with both scoring an approval rating of 43%.

The survey also found that the top two concerns among Malaysians were the ailing economy (43%) and racial problems (17%).

“The survey reveals that a plurality of voters were concerned over economic related issues comprising 22% who cited ‘unfavourable economic conditions’, 17% citing ‘rising cost of living’ and 4% who cited ‘unemployment”, respectively, as the most important issue or
problem in the country today,” said Ibrahim Suffian of Merdeka Centre.

“These concerns were followed by 17% who cited ethnic-related worries such as ‘racial inequality’ (9%), ‘worsening ethnic relations’ (6%) and ‘lack of unity among Malaysians’ (2%).”

He said that the third most quoted response are government-related with 9% citing ‘corruption’ and 1% citing ‘ineffective/unconcerned government’.

Backing for English policy in schools

The survey also revealed some support for the government’s policy in the teaching of science and mathematics in English in primary and secondary schools.

Overall, 57% of Malaysians back the policy with the support highest among Indian Malaysians (86%) while it is less emphatic among the Malays (55%).

The Chinese, however, were split on the issue with 51% giving the policy the thumbs up.

For MCA, the verdict from Malaysian voters is clear – 39% of respondents said that they expected the party “to pressure the government to treat Malaysians fairly irrespective of race.”

A total of 1,018 respondents took part in the latest survey comprising registered voters aged 21 and above.

The respondents, all randomly selected, were interviewed via telephone, and the results have a margin of error of 3.1%.