DESPITE the recent acceleration of vaccination in Malaysia, a surge in new cases in May ensures that COVID-19 remain as a primary concern among Malaysians, a study by Ipsos, a global market research firm, revealed.
In its May 2021 study entitled What worries Malaysia?, 74% of Malaysians are concern about COVID-19 compared to global average of 42%. Global country average reflects the average result for all the countries where the survey was conducted.
However, this marks a decline compared to 2020 where 85% of the 500 respondents stated COVID-19 as their main concern. Although Malaysia’s COVID-19 numbers – at that time – are comparatively much lower in comparison to Europe, the concerns for the pandemic were still higher then.
“More than one year after the outbreak, COVID-19 is still looming large in shaping people’s perceptions and sentiment about the state of the country,” Ipsos Malaysia’s associate director of public affairs Lars Erik Lie said.
Meanwhile, more than half of the respondents or 54% think that the country is going in the wrong direction, a jump of 22% compared to a year ago. Also, the study found that there is a positive correlation between the fluctuation in COVID-19 cases with the perception that the country is going on the wrong direction (negative sentiment).
Apart from that, the survey – which is conducted monthly in 28 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system – found that 51% of the respondents are concerned about financial and political corruption in the country.
Concerns about unemployment (36%) and poverty (23%) continues to linger among Malaysians. This is followed by crime and violence (19%). – May 28, 2021
