Poll: More Malaysians believe country moving in wrong direction
43 per cent of citizens believe the country is on the wrong track
KUALA LUMPUR: Close to one year after the 14th General Election, more Malaysians believe the country is moving in the wrong direction, as their main worries shift from corruption to day-to-day issues like crime and cost of living, says an independent market research firm.
Ipsos, in its What Worries The World survey, found that from June to July last year, Malaysians who believed the country was heading in the wrong direction made up 25 per cent.
Three months later, the figure rose to 36 per cent and it rose further to 43 per cent as of March this year.
In March and April this year, the people who were most upset about the country's direction were the younger generation across different incomes, specifically people of the middle and upper education backgrounds.
The survey noted that the perception of wrong direction was gaining momentum, and that Malaysia was getting closer to the global average in this respect.
The poll said the global average of people who think their country was on the wrong track was 58 per cent.
The study is Ipsos' international monthly poll of 20,000 adults under the age of 65 in 28 countries, including Malaysia.
The Malaysian survey sampled 1,500 Malaysians to gauge the perception of what worried the nation the most.
The survey also found that since June last year, Malaysians' confidence in the local economy had dropped from 43 per cent to 31 per cent in March this year.
Ipsos said current Malaysian confidence is almost at the same level as before GE14, when it was at 30 per cent.
Malaysians' expectation of the economy has also dropped to 27 per cent, compared with 57 per cent in June 2018.
It noted that before GE14, expectation was at 26 per cent.
The survey said Malaysians were now less confident about making a major purchase, adding that confidence in the local economy had eroded primarily among young, urban, middle and lower income households.
Additionally, the survey also found that the top five concerns of Malaysians this year were: crime and violence (39 per cent), inflation and the cost of living (34 per cent), corruption (32 per cent), poverty and equality (31 per cent), and unemployment and jobs (28 per cent). - THE STAR
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