[h=2]
ST publishes non-scientific poll by NUSPA showing 66.6% youth
prefer PAP[/h]
November 7th, 2012 |
Author:
Editorial
407 undergraduates were polled by the NUS Students’
Political Association (NUSPA). The students had to
(
compulsary) give their names and matriculation numbers during
the survey to prevent multiple voting. They were asked various sociopolitical
questions. Here are the results:
1) If a general election happened tomorrow, which party would you
vote for?
• PAP: 66.6% (271)
• WP: 30% (122)
• SDP: 1.5%
(6)
• SPP: 1.0% (4)
• NSP: 0.7% (3)
• SDA: 0.2% (1)
2) If a 2-party system emerges in Singapore, is it
desirable?
• Boon or bane depending on performance of party:
66.3%
• Will lead to policy paralysis that curtails governance: 17.2%
•
Desirable to bring about policies that reflect the needs of the people:
16.5%
3) Do you believe a 2-party system will emerge from
GE2016?
• No: 78.1%
• Yes: 21.9%
4) Do you feel that government policies have improved since
GE2011?
• Improved significantly: 4.2%
• Improved slightly:
63.4%
• No change: 28.3%
• Slightly worse: 3.7%
• Worsened
significantly: 0.5%
5) Which area of government policy has improved most since
GE2011?
• Housing: 26.3%
• Welfare policies: 20.9%
•
Immigration: 19.9%
• Education: 15.2%
• Transport: 6.4%
• Other:
6.4%
• Wages: 4.9%
6) Which area of government policy is in greatest need of
improvement?
• Transport: 30.2%
• Housing: 21.1%
•
Immigration: 17%
• Wages: 13.8%
• Welfare policies: 9.3%
• Education:
4.7%
• Other: 3.9%
7) Do you feel there is a need for an Internet code of
conduct?
• Yes, absolutely: 17%
• Good to have: 39.1%
•
Neutral: 21.1%
• Not useful: 17.4%
• Absolutely not: 5.4%
However, the organisers did stress that the poll was not scientific. Also,
because names and matriculation numbers had to be revealed, the results may be
affected, slanting towards the conservative.
NUSPA Vice-President Eugene Lee, 22, acknowledged, “That’s one of the
survey’s weaknesses, as some may have felt it was not confidential.”
Despite the survey not being scientific and weak as acknowledged by its
organisers, the Straits Times still went ahead and published the NUSPA survey
results in a news report in its Top-of-the-News section today (6 Nov).
The Straits Times reported, “But asked how they would vote if a general
election were held tomorrow, 66.6 per cent picked the People’s Action Party,
more than the national margin of 60.1 per cent it got at the last election. Some
30 per cent picked the WP.”
It even quoted an arts student Yeo Shang Long, 22, said, “It’s an
exaggeration to say that all youth today swing towards the opposition. I’m not
surprised that there is a conservative group that may be less vocal about its
political leanings.”
It also highlighted, “Yet another surprise for the organisers is that
slightly more than half voted in favour of an Internet code of conduct.”
Straits Times came to this conclusion by combining the results of:
- Yes, absolutely: 17%
- Good to have: 39.1%
The combined percentage would come to 56.1%, which is more than half
according to Straits Times’ interpretation. However, when one reads the way one
of the choices was written, “Good to have”, does this mean that the respondent
is truly in favour of an Internet code of conduct?
When one says, “It’s good to have…”, it just means it is nice to have but if
it is not available, it is also no big deal. It would have been better if a
scale of 1 to 5 was given as a choice for the respondents to choose from.
.
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