Malaysian General Election Research Articles

Significance of likes: Analysing passive interactions on Facebook during campaigning.

With more and more political candidates using social media for campaigning, researchers are looking at measuring the effectiveness of this medium. Most research, however, concentrates on the bare count of likes (or twitter mentions) in an attempt to correlate social media presence and winning. In this paper, we propose a novel method, Interaction Strength Plot (IntS) to measure the passive interactions between a candidate’s posts on Facebook and the users (liking the posts). Using this method on original Malaysian General Election (MGE13) and Australian Federal Elections (AFE13) Facebook Pages (FP) campaign data, we label an FP as performing well if both the posting frequency and the likes gathered are above average. Our method shows that over 60% of the MGE13 candidates and 85% of the AFE13 candidates studied in this paper had under-performing FP. Some of these FP owners would have been identified as popular based on bare count. Thus our performance chart is a vital step forward in measuring the effectiveness of online campaigning.

Transforming Political Advertising in Malaysia: Strategizing Political Advertisements towards First-Time and Young Voters in Malaysian GE 14

Undoubtedly, the 2013 Malaysia's general election campaign marked to have significantly increased in budget, and much was contributed to advertising. The general election 2013 was noted to be among the most interesting campaign, with salient competitive campaign among the two coalition political parties. The research aims at analyzing the 2013 political advertisements rendered during the time, in order to give insights as to transform and strategize the next 2018 General Election advertising campaign. The king-makers are to be the first-time and young voters. The study approach to understand the effectiveness of political advertising during the general election 2013 to the first-time voters, on how they perceived the advertisements, whether those advertisements have an impact on them, and, their preferred advertisements content, elements, and style that suited the first-time voters, and, hence drw the most likeability and believability to the changes of perspectives of these first-time voters after a period of 4 years. The research employs the focus group method. This method was chosen as it allows access to socially-constructed expressed views, opinions, experiences, and attitudes as the participants interpreted the advertisements messages and elements. Eighteen participants were identified to form three different groups representing the rural, semi-urban and urban first-time voters. The results show that there are many elements that were not acknowledged by the creators of advertisements and the political parties as to design and strategizing their campaign. There is a lack of effectiveness in persuading and communicating through advertisement, to the first time voters. Though political messages remain unpopular, but it plays a rather significant role in influencing the young voters' to vote in the coming election. Suggestions are made on transforming the political advertisements as to improve effectiveness in the coming Malaysian General Election.

The Role of Life Satisfaction on Election Voting Preferences in Malaysia

Ethnicity and urbanisation have been the most studied predictors of electoral outcomes in Malaysian general elections. In this study, we examine life satisfaction in the political science literature that can also influence Malaysian electoral outcomes. Using data from the World Values Survey conducted in Malaysia shortly before the General Election in 2013, we leverage on responses to a survey question asking respondents to indicate the political party they would vote for if a national election were held the next day, and empirically investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and voting preferences. We find that respondents with higher levels of life satisfaction will have a higher probability of voting for the ruling party, with the magnitude of this effect relatively comparable to that of the ethnic effect. We also empirically show that this outcome is due to the preference for status quo, defined on two levels, in the Malaysian political scene.

Counter-ideological forces of “Mr Gate” in online Journalism in Malaysia: A study of MalaysiaKini and The Malaysian Insider

The online news media are said to have changed the understanding of the gatekeeping theory. Due to the virtually unlimited news space together with the interactivity in the online presentation of news, the Internet defies the whole conception of gatekeeping in journalism. This article seeks to examine the influence of gatekeeping forces in two influential Malaysian online news portals, MalaysiaKini and The Malaysian Insider (TMI), during the 2013 Malaysian general election. Based on the hierarchical model of news conception, this study assessed the influence of ideological gatekeeping forces on their news content. The reporting by both news portals was subjected to qualitative textual analysis. The results are triangualted with interviews with corresponding reporters and editors from MalaysiaKini and TMI. The findings show that although the reporting of MalaysiaKini and TMI is counter-ideological, the gatekeeping process remains intact. This is due to the speed factor and the requirement of the news portals to abide by the media-related laws in Malaysia.

Media Usage Patterns among Chinese Voters: In Preparation for the 14th Malaysian General Election (GE14)

The growing popularity of networked media has given opportunities for the people in this democratic society to search for diverse information and compare information with other sources of information, thereafter making their choice to whom they want to elect and to which information they think is reliable. Notwithstanding the influential power of networked media in elections, among people who have access to this media, there are still people who just rely on traditional media or use both at the same time for information seeking. This study seeks to explore the media usage pattern of Chinese voters in Peninsular Malaysia in preparing the Malaysian 14th General Election. 10 focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted in seven states, namely Selangor, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Melaka, Johor Bahru, Kota Bahru and Terengganu. A total of 95 informants of whom were eligible Chinese voters, ranging in age from 21 to 65, were invited to participate in the FGDs. The result shows that social media especially Facebook is the prominent communication and entertainment tool as well as the source of information used by majority of informants from the seven states. Our result also shows that traditional media will not be replaced by networked media, at least, at this point in time as our informants still use traditional media to verify the reliability of news on social media occasionally. The researchers suggest that strategic and effective communication plan with should be planned and implemented by using both media (i.e., traditional and social media) in coming GE14.

Pelaksanaan Organisasi Dan Aktiviti Islam Hadhari Di Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) : Satu Pengamatan Awal

Islam Hadhari Islam is another policy implemented after the adaptation of ‘Islamic Values’ introduced by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi post-election of 2004 General Election in Malaysia. It is a comprehensive approach to human development, society and state of Malaysia based on the perspective of Islamic civilization. In order to achieve these goals, the government outlines 10 fundamental principles that are considered suitable to be implemented in the context of Malaysia. Since the launch of Islam Hadhari, the government has been working hard to promote and implement Islam Hadhari over the globe. As for this purpose, JAKIM as federal level religious institution was entrusted to coordinate all activities related to the implementation of Islam Hadhari in Malaysia. This article attempts to examine the development of the organization and generally evaluate the implementation of an organizational structure in JAKIM especially in mobilizing Islamic Hadhari which the establishment has covered both, the federal and state levels. However, there are still some problems due to the organization of Islam Hadhari is basically in deficient compared to other organizations with the addition of the engagement under other existing organization, whether either at the federal or state level. This situation led to the failure to achieve the goals set by the activities. Thus, it is nothing more than a political rhetoric to repeat the routine activities in the form of lectures and publications than specific activities to build a glorious generation.

Malaysia's 13th General Elections and the Rise of Electoral Reform Movement

This article looks at how an electoral reform movement affected electoral mobilization during the 13th General Elections in Malaysia. The elections are significant because it was the first time an opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, managed to secure the highest number of parliamentary seats. At the macro‐level, the article argues that political opportunities have emerged from the development of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), as well as similar groups. A broad set of incentives within authoritarian settings then increases citizens’ participation in movements on a micro‐level. Using the structural‐cognitive model proposed by Karl Dieter Opp and drawing on qualitative evidence through fieldwork observation and interviews, I relate the reform movements to citizens’ proactive electoral mobilization during the 2013 elections.

Objective Reporting or Mouthpiece for The Opposition Groups?: A Study of Malaysiakini Coverage of The 2013 Malaysian General Election

MalaysiaKini is regarded by political communication scholars as an influential online news medium in Asia. Within the restricted environment of Malaysian media, MalaysiaKini is able to provide critical reports of the ruling authorities and gives voice to the marginalised opinions of the opposition groups. MalaysiaKini is often praised for its high standards of journalistic practice based on the norms and values of independent journalism. Some however argue that as the platform for marginalised voices , the news portal is also, by default, seen as pro-opposition and acts as an opposition mouthpiece in Malaysia. This article examines the coverage of the news portal, and the 2013 Malaysian General Election will be used as a case study. Drawing on one of the important concepts in modern journalistic practice, namely objectivity, this study attempts to explain the extent to which MalaysiaKini fairly represents each leading side in the political controversy and in the impartial reporting of news. Through qualitative analysis, this study found that MalaysiaKini largely upholds the voice of the opposition parties. The study concludes that rather than offering objective reporting, MalaysiaKini contributes to an environment of a multiplicity of ideas and plurality of news coverage in Malaysia.

VOTING BEHAVIOUR AMONG MALAYSIAN STUDENTS IN INDONESIA IN THE 13TH MALAYSIAN GENERAL ELECTION

<p>The 13<sup>th</sup> general election in Malaysia is significant momentum in Malyasian politics. The election held in March 2013 was a testing for Barisan Nasional (BN) the biggest coalition parties led by United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to win the election. Since 1998, the votes for BN decreased but the votes for the opposition increased. If the BN lost its power in thw 13<sup>th</sup> election, it will have an impact on domestic political change. It will also bring a change in economic policy. Malaysia's political-economic changes will also take effect on the political-economic of Indonesia given the relations of economic, trade and labor has a substantial aggregate in Indonesian macro economy. The prediction of political-economic change can be seen from the behavior of the voters in 13<sup>th</sup> election. This study will examine the voting behavior of Malaysian students who are studying in Indonesia. Survey technique is used as the method in this research. In general, students do not exercise their voting rights. There is a possibility that they are reluctant to use their right to vote because most of the respondents started to not respect the country's ruling BN and also do not trust the Election Commission in conducting free and fair elections.</p><p> </p><p>Key words: Voting Behavior, General Election, Malaysian Political System, Political Participation</p>

The 2013 general elections in Malaysia: An analysis of online news portals

This research analyzed the coverage of online news portals during the election campaign in Malaysia's 13th General Election on 5th May 2013. There were two types of news portals chosen for this research: 1) the mainstream online news portals, namely The Star Online, Berita Harian Online, Bernama Online and Utusan Online; and 2) the alternative news portals consisting of political parties' publications: the Harakah Daily, Roketkini and Keadilan Daily; and the independent news portals of The Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini. This study was conducted starting from the nomination day on the 20th April 2013 until the polling day on the 5th May 2013. Results obtained were based on the frequencies of articles covering the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) party and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party. Each article was coded and labeled as positive, negative, or neutral coverage for each political party. The Content Analysis method was applied where the researchers chose and analyzed each election article and placed it in one of five categories; +BN (positive report), −BN (negative report), +PR (positive report), −PR (negative report) and N (Neutral). The results showed that the four mainstream online news portals favored the BN with their coverage. However, the parties' online news portals clearly owned by PR alliance parties had completely opposite, bias toward their owners. The two independent news portals seemed to give more balanced coverage to both sides.

Local Election Competition for National Party Survival: An Analysis of Merlimau By-Election in Malaysia

<p>Party politics in Malaysia has become tumultuous over the past two decades. As such national and regional level elections as well as by-elections have become equally sensitive for party politics. Of late by-elections have taken a special position as they are considered unseasonal barometer for testing popularity and legitimacy of the incumbent and the opposition competition. The effect of the dramatic 2008 national general elections in Malaysia continued during the subsequent three years through nearly one and a half dozen by-elections throughout the country. Until November 2010, the opposition remained jubilant over its victory in eight out of 11 by-elections maintaining the funfair of the rising opposition unprecedented in Malaysia’s election history. But the tide started to dwindle with the subsequent three wins in Galas, Tenang and Batu Sapi by the ruling coalition turning the trend around. Under this circumstance came the Merlimau by-election in March 2011. Reflecting the reality on the ground, therefore, this by-election became a battleground for party political survival for both the ruling and opposition coalitions. This article discusses the campaign strategies of the competing coalitions, the results of the election, and its implications. The importance of this by-election is that it reflected the intensity of national level electoral sensitivity since the ruling party’s political survival was dependent upon wining this election against a series of by-elections won by the opposition.</p>

Selangor Voters Perception toward Issues in 13th Malaysian General Election

The war on perception has been dominated the worlds political, and Malaysia are not excluded. Being the most populous advanced and wealthy state in Malaysia, Selangor provides ideals demographic representation of Malaysian society at large. This study aimed at understanding the issue that influenced Selangor voters to cast their votes in Malaysian 13th General Election, and thus charting new strategies for future election. In doing so, eleven issues are carefully selected and analysed. Using quantitative design with survey technique, this study involved 1,015 randomly selected respondents that representing 56 states constituencies and 26 parliamentary constituencies. Results are presented and further discussed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1s1p44

Contemporary Electoral Trends among Malaysian Chinese Voters

General elections in Malaysia have traditionally been configured along ethnic lines. Yet this description makes for a complex analysis of the electoral landscape. Chinese votes have gone back and forth at every general election since 1969. Nonetheless, there were three significant occasions when the pendulum swing pattern was disrupted. The 1995, 1999 and 2004 general elections showed decisive Chinese support for the ruling coalition, only for a drastic reversal to occur in favour of the opposition in 2008. In making sense of current Chinese electoral trends, it is argued that patterns of continuity and discontinuity influenced by political consciousness and socialisation are critical factors to be considered.

Australia‐Malaysia Security Cooperation as a Pivotal Component for More Stable Bilateral Relations

In the 1980s and 1990s, Australian‐Malaysian relations reached a critical juncture due to a series of crises, such as the 1986 capital punishment of convicted drug smugglers Barlow and Chambers, and the 1993 “recalcitrant” jibe by Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. Following the election of the Howard government in 1996, relations continued to be on a roller coaster with the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad leading anti‐Australia protests over the “Howard Doctrine,” the Australian leadership of the 1999 intervention in East Timor, and the “Deputy Sheriff” controversy. Despite this, defense relations between the two remained strong. The success of this cooperation rests on shared political commitment to the security of the region. This article examines the impact that positive cooperation in “high politics” has had in mitigating the negative aspects of crises in “low politics.” It argues that close bilateral defense relations have worked to prevent the emergence of further critical junctures in 2012 following the collapse of the Australian‐Malaysian refugee swap deal and statements by Australian politicians about Malaysia's poor treatment of asylum seekers, and in 2013 over the overt support by many Australian politicians of the opposition, especially Anwar Ibrahim, during the Malaysian general elections.

Social Media and On-Line Political Campaigning in Malaysia

Since controversies surrounding 2008 and 2013 Malaysian general elections due to rising Opposition, social media networks have played a vital role in conveying political messages and debates. In 2014 there were a few state by-elections and they were influenced by Kuala Lumpur Court of Appeal that found Anwar Ibrahim guilty of sodomy and sentenced him to five years jail (Kajang) on 23 March. He was expected to win, opening way for him to become chief minister of Selangor state, country’s main economic hub surrounding Kuala Lumpur. In another event, a well known Malaysian and opposition politician, Karpal Singh, the Tiger of Jelutong died tragically following a motor vehicle accident. This paper analyses influence of Facebook in Kajang by-election and to what extent social media impacted on victory by Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Using compliance gaining theory, this paper presents strategies used by two major political parties, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to achieve their electoral goals. Though online political campaigning is not new from a Western perspective it is for Malaysia. To understand how compliance gaining approach works in practice, selected political parties’ Facebook advertisements were examined within two weeks after nomination day and election observers from diverse backgrounds were interviewed. It can be concluded that since 2008 political messages have been heavily debated through blogs. Independent Internet Media, Facebook and Twitter are very popular among Malaysian political candidates and voters.

PERKEMBANGAN PARTI DAN KESEDARAN POLITIK DI PASIR MAS, KELANTAN SEBELUM MERDEKA

Pasir Mas is one of the largest districts in the state of Kelantan and has considerable influence on the overall Kelantan political environment. In every Malaysian general election, Pasir Mas paliamentary and state seats were among the hot seats contested between the two biggest Malay-based political parties, UMNO and PAS. Both parties had almost equal strength in Pasir Mas in term of influence and support. This article analyses the origins of political consciousness in Kelantan before the Second World War and before the Malayan independence in 1957. The history on the establishment and the development of both parties in Pasir Mas is also elaborated. In the early stage, UMNO was led by the Malay aristocrats, while PAS by the religious leaders. The discussion in the article also discussed on how UMNO and PAS competed with each other in the first federal election in 1955. The result of the election clearly showed that the people of Pasir Mas gave their undisputed support to UMNO/Alliance as a prelude to the achievement of independence from the colonial rule.

A Survey on Young Voters Trust towards the Campaign of Janji Ditepati before 13th General Election

Election campaign is one of the best fields for candidates or political parties to impose their political messages in persuading voters to believe all the political claims and appeals. During the campaign, political advertisements will be produced as function to appeal, persuade, influence, change, reinforce and attack. Each of these elements in the political ads produced in order to influence trustworthiness and acceptance so that it can be converted in the form of a vote. However, a question that is often associated is to what extent the voters believe the political messages contained in political ads? Do all the messages that are designed by the contesting parties will influence voters in terms of trust? Belief in advertising messages is one of the main focus scholars on the effect of consumer trust in advertising. This study will explore the perceptions of young voters in Malaysia where this group is the main target for the 13th general election in Malaysia. The aspects of respondents’ beliefs on claims under Janji Ditepati campaign will be studied. Therefore, this study will explain how political ads affect voters trust and how it may shape decision made by this group.

Can Twitter be an Effective Platform for Political Discourse in Malaysia? A Study of #PRU13

Studies show that social media play an important role in shaping political discourse. Applications of Web 2.0, particularly Twitter, are currently influencing the nature of online participation in which the audience is not merely passively reading web content, but is actually contributing to and creating the content. This study examines communication on Twitter during the 13th Malaysian General Election based on Twitter messages collected under the #PRU13 hashtag. The analyzed dataset is collected from Twitter's public timeline from May 1 to May 6, 2013. This study found lack of diversity in the discussion on Twitter sphere in which tweets that are pro-Barisan National coalition dominates the #pru13. Based on the communication patterns, however, #PRU13 constitute a multifaceted group of commenters who seek to persuade, educate, provoke and so on.

University Students and Voting Behavior in General Elections: Perceptions on Malaysian Political Parties Leadership

Malaysia’s 13th General Election held on 5 May 2013 was one of the most exciting General Elections in Malaysia’s political history. The result showed that the ruling party Barisan Nasional (National Front) or BN and the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance) or PR contested closely in the 222 Parliamentary seats. Although the results showed a rather status quo in favour of the ruling party, the opposition coalition managed to increase their seats to 89 compared to 82 from the 2008 12th General Election while the seats obtained by the ruling party reduced to 133 from 140 seats. National Youth Survey by the Asia Foundation indicated that the political thinking of the youths in Malaysia are not static but have changed accordingly. This new shift allows this paper to discuss the position of the youth in Malaysia with a reference to the selected university students on Malaysian political parties’ leadership and which party will benefit from their role in Malaysian politics.

Who Is Tweeting on #PRU13?

The popular microblogging platform known as Twitter has become a legitimate and frequently used communication channel in the Malaysian political arena. While the 2008 Malaysian general election was notable for the use of social media by the opposition parties during their campaigns, the 2013 general election saw a level playing field in which the Barisan Nasional coalition had quickly caught up in its use of social media. This study draws on a content analysis of election-related Twitter messages collected under the #pru13 hashtag to describe the key patterns of activity and the thematic foci of the election’s coverage on this particular social media site. The dataset is collected from Twitter’s public timeline from May 1to May 6, 2013. What emerged from this analysis is there are evidently intensified and amplified campaign messages polluting the #pru13 hastag from accounts that are questionable in their origin. This study adds to the literature that has questioned the predictive power of social media in an election.