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| From the Straits Times 16 Apr 11 |
From Cost of living is top concern of GEN Y, They believe opposition is stronger now, but do not wish for more by Rachel Chang Straits Times 16 Apr 11
LIKE generations of Singaporeans past, young voters rank the cost of living as the issue most likely to sway their vote in the coming polls.
These voters, aged 21 to 34, also prize bread-and-butter issues such as jobs and housing over and above intangibles like 'freedom of expression', according to a new Straits Times survey.
But unlike the older generations, they are less attached to the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and display a more favourable impression of opposition parties.
These findings, from face-to-face interviews with 402 voters last month, may point to what will dominate and define the coming election, say some political observers, as this age group accounts for more than one in four of the 2.4 million voters who will head for the polls soon.
An estimated 200,000 of them will be voting for the first time and are keenly courted by political parties of all stripes.
One implication of the survey findings is that this group will be concerned with how politicians plan to tame inflation, which hit 5.5 per cent in recent months.
The concern coming in a distant second is the quality and personality of electoral candidates, with only 13.2 per cent saying it is the most influential factor for ballot box decisions.
Even fewer (10 per cent) prize a party's track record.
