This particular story seriously pushed the boundaries as to what a "hard" story should be. The assignment was: get 100 people from all over Perak to take a straw poll in three days. Tabulate the results and write about it. What is usually forgotten is the fact that you have to approach 200 people to get 100 of them to AGREE to have their views canvassed. The other hard part is convincing people you are not from the Government, the Special Branch and that they won't get ISA'd if they say something critical. The link http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/52155-pakatan-could-win-perak-again-but contains graphics of the full results.
By Sheridan Mahavera and Choo Choy May
IPOH, Feb 6 — Though it has been a year since the elected Perak government was brought down by defections, a Malaysian Insider straw poll showed that Perak folk “tak mudah lupa”.
Many still remember the previous Pakatan Rakyat government and the changes it brought to the state. But this is not an endorsement of the Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin’s eventful but short-lived 10-month administration.
The poll showed that just as Pakatan’s contributions were fondly remembered by some, others felt left out by those same programmes.
The poll, which surveyed 101 residents from districts in northern and southern Perak, indicated that although the men on the street may not keep abreast of the latest developments in local politics, they are pretty sure of their political allegiances.
In other words, if there were state polls tomorrow, more than two-thirds of respondents have already made up their minds which coalition they would choose.
In fact, going by the poll’s results, 42 out of 101 people would choose Pakatan while 34 would choose the BN.
In terms of popularity, Nizar is slightly better regarded than his rival Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir who is the present Mentri Besar. Forty-three respondents thought he would make a better chief executive while 32 thought Zambry was better.
On the surface, these numbers are a rough gauge of what Perak folk think of both administrations but beneath that lies something more fundamentally important — that Perak society is deeply fractured.
It is not just differences between the three dominant ethnic groups in terms of who they are more likely to vote. It is about how each community perceives the other and the values of each group.
One year on and still going strong
The 101 respondents were asked six questions to get a sense of what they thought of the current political climate.
The Malaysian Insider surveyed the opinions of 46 Malays, 35 Chinese and 20 Indians in rural areas in Larut, Bukit Gantang and Kuala Sepetang, the semi-rural towns of Teluk Intan and Kampar, and around Ipoh city.
They were aged between the early 20s to the late 70s and comprised, among others, farmers, fishermen, small businessmen, civil servants and professionals.
The most obvious trend that emerged and which has been hinted at before by politicians is the difference in support of Pakatan and BN among the communities.
Support for the BN was highest among the Malays with close to half (21) of those surveyed saying they would vote BN if an election was held tomorrow, versus 15 who would vote Pakatan.
Conversely, 20 of the 35 Chinese polled said they would choose Pakatan and of the remaining 15, only four would choose the BN.
Indian support is narrowly split with nine of those surveyed saying they would vote BN and seven for Pakatan.
This pattern is repeated in how favourably each group views the two coalitions. Nineteen Malays had positive feelings about the BN administration under Zambry compared to nine Indians and only nine Chinese.
Yet, among Malays, 26 of them did not think that their lives have generally improved under BN. The main reason given for this was because Zambry’s administration has only been in office for a year.
About a quarter of the Indians, Chinese and Malays interviewed say they saw no changes under either administrations because their terms were too short.
Pakatan’s contributions, however, were well remembered by all. In fact there were more people who remembered their initiatives (54) than there were those who thought that BN had changed things for the better (37).
Yet there is an unpleasant truth to this. Though 25 Malays say they remembered Pakatan’s contributions, about 10 of them felt that the programmes were unfair to the community.
“What about us Malays?”
“Yes, I remember what Pakatan did. They let the Chinese rule Perak,” remarked one Malay respondent from northern Perak. This sentiment was echoed in other interviews with many other Malay respondents.
The views ranged from grouses about how too many Chinese villages were getting freehold titles to how preferential treatment was given to Chinese businesses in the Kinta Valley.
The sentiment has its roots in the popular and not unfounded perception that the state was run by an unofficial triumvirate that included Nizar and executive council members Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham and Nga Kor Ming.
Other respondents based their belief that it was a pro-Chinese administration based on the fact that seven of the 10 state executive committee posts went to non-Malays.
Malays who say they would vote for Pakatan also admitted to subscribing to the notion though they claimed it did not affect their support for the coalition.
A veteran Pakatan activist says these perceptions persist because the coalition itself has failed to dispel them.
The reality is that under Pakatan, Malay villages also received offers for freehold titles while the community benefited much from grants given to Perak university students and aid for funeral expenses.
These benefits, however, were never highlighted by the Bahasa Malaysia media who instead kept playing up the issue of freehold titles for Chinese villages, says the activist who requested anonymity.
“There is a drop in Malay support for Pakatan ever since the March 2008 elections. I would not be surprised that support has eroded further.”
The finding suggests that Pakatan faces a greater challenge than just winning enough seats to form the government in the next state election, as the survey shows it still has support.
Yet this is not enough to endear it to a large section of Perak Malays. The community’s support is crucial if Pakatan truly wants to realise its “new” politics of transparency and meritocracy for all.
First published: FEb 6, 2010 The Malaysian Insider http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/52155-pakatan-could-win-perak-again-but
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