What do you want for M’sia?

PETALING JAYA: “What do the rakyat want?”

With this question, leading local mainstream media outlets The Star, Sinar Harian, Astro Awani, Sin Chew Daily and Malaysia Nanban have joined forces to gather the wishes and voices of Malaysians ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15).

The unprecedented move sees the five multilingual, multi-platform media organisations collaborating with three research firms – Ilham Centre, O2 Research and Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies – to conduct a mega survey titled “Suara Rakyat Malaysia Menuju PRU15” (Malaysian Voices: On the Road to GE15).

The survey will be conducted online and via face-to-face interviews by the three research firms from today to Oct 9.

Star Media Group chief content officer Esther Ng said the collaboration is aimed at bringing forth the voices of the people regarding issues they are facing as well as identifying the common hopes of the diverse communities in the country.

She said the involvement of the five leading media companies in the country, each of which has its own unique target group, will ensure that the survey reaches all levels of society comprehensively.

“We are working together to pool the resources we have to benefit us all. So, our role is very clear, which is to give a voice to our respective readers.

“I believe this initiative is unique and represents what our Malaysian readers want,” she added.

Astro Awani editor-in-chief Ashwad Ismail hopes the collaboration can help everyone understand the thoughts and wishes of Malaysians.

“Ultimately, democracy is about the strength, wishes and needs of the people that have to be understood by political players in the democratic arena, which I hope can be improved through this survey.“This is so the voice of the people can be raised as the main voice in democracy or, more specifically, during GE15,” he said.

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Sin Chew Daily editor-in-chief Kuik Cheng Kang said the cooperation of all the media involved in this survey is necessary to enable it to get the comprehensive responses of Malaysians who are made up of various races.

“I hope that all Malaysians, regardless of race, will participate in this survey and convey their wishes and hopes regarding the government that will be established in the next general election,” he said.

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Rozaid Rahman, Sinar Harian editor-in-chief, said the survey is vital after the political upheavals in the country.

“We want to know what Malaysians want for GE15 after going through the surprising political tsunami of 2018 and the ensuing political waves.

“If the ruling party fails to govern the country, the people will no longer hesitate to punish and replace the government.

“Hence, we are aware of how important it is to know the inclinations and voices of the people as GE15 draws near,” he said.

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Rajeswary Ganesan, associate editor of Malaysia Nanban, described this mega survey as unique.

“This survey is a first of its kind, which will highlight the needs of the rakyat.

“It is a very smart move to get the views of the public, especially since GE15 is around the corner. The Indian community, particularly, is still lagging in education, the economy, and so on. They remain in the B40 group.

“I believe this survey will help them voice out what they want. The government needs to look into their plight. This can be a good platform for them (and has not been) done before,” she said. – Media in Arms