Only 16pct Chinese say M'sia heading in right direction

Only 16 percent of Chinese voters surveyed by Merdeka Centre say that the country is heading in the right direction, the lowest since May 2009.

This is in contrast with 70 percent of Malay respondents and 57 percent of Indians who felt the same way.

This makes it the highest number of Malay respondents polled who felt so since April last year, and a significant rebound for Indian respondents after a low of 28 percent in October 2008.

In all, 52 percent of the 1,018 voters surveyed between Dec 15 and 28, last year, agreed while 34 percent felt otherwise and a majority, or 61 percent, expect this year would be better than 2012.

Of the 52 percent, 26 percent said this it is due to the improving economy and 14 percent to good administration, while those who disagreed blamed it on inflation and on the present country's leadership.

The Merdeka Centre survey also found that the majority of respondents felt that the government should tackle corruption, with 51 percent saying this issue requires serious attention, followed by the need for affordable housing and inflation.

“When asked about the two most important issues they wanted the federal government to tackle, slightly over one-half of voters, or 51 percent reported corruption as the topmost problem they want to see resolved.

“Voters have consistently rated corruption as the main area where they wished to see government action throughout last year.

“Coming a distant second and third were their demands that the government make progress towards ‘providing affordable housing’ and ‘fighting inflation’, which is at 24 percent and 21 percent  respectively,” the Merdeka Centre poll states.

This, it said in a release today, is followed by “improving public infrastructure in rural areas” and also “improving government efficiency”.

Meanwhile, the pollster found that the economy and crime are the topmost concerns for voters, with 34 percent and 19 percent respectively.

Of the 1,018 polled, 59 of the respondents are Malays, followed by 32 percent Chinese and nine percent Indians.