KUALA LUMPUR: As the country gets ready to celebrate the 61st Merdeka anniversary today, Malaysians of all walks of life, age and race share one thing in common – they are ever proud to be Malaysians and are greatly optimistic of the country’s future.
A periodic study on Merdeka and current issues, conducted by Prof Datuk Seri Syed Arabi Idid of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) this year, found that about 95 per cent of the respondents were ever proud to be Malaysians, the same level recorded when the study was first done in 2009.
“Being a proud Malaysian cuts across race, age and educational level and the same feeling extends to the people in Sabah and Sarawak,” said Syed Arabi.
On Malaysia’s future, all races showed greater optimism (above 80 per cent) during the period of study from June to August this year compared with the same period in 2017 (about 70 per cent).
“However, it is the middle-age group (36-50 years old) and the young (21-35 years old) who expressed the highest optimism, with the two groups expecting the most from the new government in charting the future of the country,” he said to Bernama, adding that there is not much change in the view of the older group (51 and above).
As the country will be celebrating Merdeka under a new government after the Barisan Nasional (BN) that had ruled since independence was voted out in favour of Pakatan Harapan (PH), the study also looked at the sentiments over the new government from May to August.
“When asked which party the respondents would vote if elections were held tomorrow, more than half answered Pakatan Harapan (PH),” said Syed Arabi, who is also the head of the IIUM Electoral Studies Research Unit.
The study also found that only 50 per cent of the respondents indicated PH as their choice but when asked again in August the figure went up by five per cent.
62 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the new government, with the Chinese (74 per cent) and Indians (65 per cent) being the most satisfied with the Malays expressing the least satisfaction (52 per cent). – Bernama
