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Cost of living tops Singaporeans' concerns ahead of GE, 1 in 4 voters undecided on who to support: Survey
SINGAPORE: The cost of living has emerged as the top concern of Singaporeans heading into this year’s general election, for which over a quarter have not yet made up their minds on who they will be voting for, a new survey has found.Concerns over jobs and unemployment came in second, while the state of the economy followed in third place, according to the study by Blackbox Research’s sentiment tracker SensingSG.
Released on Thursday (Jan 16), the survey was done earlier this month and involved 1,310 Singaporeans eligible to vote in this year’s electoral contest, varied by ethnicity, age, gender, housing type and region to represent national demographics.
The next general election must be held by Nov 23 this year. It will be Singapore’s 14th since independence, and the first under the country’s fourth-generation leadership led by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
“Despite all the media noise surrounding politicians in 2024, our findings highlight that Singaporeans are prioritising practical, everyday issues over everything else,” said Blackbox Research founder and CEO David Black.
He noted that factors such as tangible improvements in local government services and the cost of living are at the front of mind of the electorate.
“As we edge closer to GE2025, it’s clear that voters are more focused on their own balance sheets than they are on any wider themes,” said Mr Black.
UNDECIDED VOTERS
About one in four Singaporeans remain undecided on who they will pick at the next general election, with 26.8 per cent of respondents indicating that they are either not very certain or not at all.Younger Singaporeans between 21 and 29 are the least certain age group, with a third undecided about their choice.
Of the eligible voters who are very or quite certain of their decision come Polling Day, older Singaporeans aged 50 and above are the most secure about their choices, with almost three-quarters sure about it.
Voters from middle-income and high-income households are also significantly more sure of their decisions, with 74 per cent saying they know who they intend to vote for, compared to 65 per cent of low-income voters.
ECONOMIC CONCERNS A PRIORITY
As for the key factors shaping their decisions at the ballot box, the survey respondents largely identified economic issues as their top concerns.Each respondent was asked to select their top two concerns from a list of 20 factors.
While the cost of living and inflation (34.8 per cent), jobs and unemployment (15.6 per cent), and the state of the economy (15 per cent) occupied the top three spots, political considerations followed closely.
Concerns over political stability and consistency (14 per cent), trust in a political party (13.5 per cent), and leadership of the current government (11.6 per cent), sat in fourth to sixth place respectively.
Housing costs (11.5 per cent) followed in seventh place. It also ranked highly among voters aged under 49, emerging as one of that segment’s top three election issues.
The need for fresh thinking (8.2 per cent), defence and national security (8.1 per cent), and support for the lower income (7.9 per cent), rounded up the top 10.
Other factors, such as political scandals or politicians' moral standards (5.7 per cent), the costs of motor vehicles or Certificates of Entitlement (4.1 per cent), and support for people with mental or physical disabilities (6.6 per cent), ranked lower for voters, according to the survey.
CONSTITUENCY OVER NATIONAL MATTERS
The survey also found that the quality of governance at the constituency level matters more to voters than at the national level, with almost 90 per cent of respondents indicating that sentiment.For 88 per cent of respondents, the quality of candidates standing in their constituency is important to them, while 87.8 per cent highlighted the importance of service delivery and infrastructure in their wards.
These factors outweighed national-level considerations, such as who the eventual prime minister will be, which party can best lead the country, and the government’s performance since the last election.
While MPs on a whole received positive appraisals from their constituents — 87.1 per cent said their performance since the last election has been good or better — there were notable disparities by region and demographic.
Residents in the west are the least satisfied, with almost a fifth — 17.8 per cent — of them rating their parliamentarians’ performance negatively.
In contrast, constituents in the central part of Singapore are the most satisfied, with over 90 per cent saying their MPs have done a good to excellent job.
Older Singaporeans aged 60 and up were most dissatisfied with their MPs, with almost a quarter — 24.4 per cent — expecting better.
About 91 per cent of respondents in their 20s and 30s, on the other hand, found their MPs’ performance favourable.
FOCUS ON BREAD AND BUTTER ISSUES
The results showed that the Singaporean voter base is pragmatic and ultimately more concerned about bread and butter issues, observers told CNA.“Essentially, many are still very much concerned over the day-to-day living expenses, especially more so now with an unstable global economy and emerging tensions around the world, not least between US and China,” said independent observer Felix Tan, who has written about Singapore’s political landscape.
He added that the portion of undecided voters could be due to a lack of political knowledge or general apathy in the younger generation.
“Fence-sitting or undecided voters are commonplace in Singapore,” said Dr Mustafa Izzudin, a senior international affairs analyst with Solaris Strategies Singapore.
“As more of the young become eligible voters at the age of 21, the more undecided voters there will be in a Singapore general election.”
Another reason, Dr Tan suggested, could be that the election has not been called and voters, therefore, do not feel an immediate need to decide on their choice.
There could also be cases in which voters have already decided who to support but are reluctant to share their views candidly to pollsters, said National University of Singapore associate professor of political science Chong Ja Ian.
The segment of undecided voters from the survey is in line with trends from past general elections, experts noted.
"The undecided voters - many of whom tend to see themselves as more as being middle-ground voters - can serve as kingmakers in some of the constituencies in Singapore, especially if there is a sizeable number of younger voters," said Dr Mustafa.
Dr Tan said the impact of swing voters was seen when the Workers' Party won Aljunied GRC for the first time in 2011, with 54.72 per cent of the votes, as well as in Sengkang GRC in the last election, when it won 52.12 per cent of support.
"For every constituency in Singapore, there will be diehard supporters of the ruling party and staunch supporters of the opposition, regardless of the political party. But to win the constituency, the party must capture as much of the middle-ground votes as possible, many of whom tend to be undecided," said Dr Mustafa.
"The party that wins the middle ground, which is a diverse lot and tend to be pragmatic on how they vote, normally wins the constituency."
However, political parties need to find a balanced approach in targeting the undecided pool, without losing sight of their core support base, said experts.
For example, overly pandering to undecided voters to win them over may be perceived as too populist a move, said Dr Tan.
“Futhermore, there is clearly very little impact from the controversies — such as the Iswarancorruption case, Pritam Singh’s trial, and the sexual indiscretions of former MPs — which some had thought would be used as a strategy in the political campaigning during the GE,” he noted.
Observers suggest that as election time approaches, voters are likely to prioritise which party can effectively address the escalating cost of living.
Assoc Prof Chong said that the ruling PAP will bear the burden of incumbency to present a clearer direction and vision to voters.
It could start by addressing some of these concerns through the upcoming Budget, he said.
“However, there are broader structural concerns such as protectionism globally that may create inflationary pressures and economic uncertainty in ways that the ruling party cannot control, but may have an effect on voters,” said Assoc Prof Chong.
Source: CNA/fk(rj)
