Popular on Singapore social media, but not at ballot box
(Today) – The General Election results were in stark contrast with prevailing sentiment on social media sites as well as high attendance at the rallies of Opposition parties, analysts noted yesterday.
Photographs of the massive turnout at Workers’ Party rallies and long lines for Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan’s autographs dominated social media, but results from Polling Day — the People’s Action Party walked away with 69.86 per cent of the vote — suggest that popularity on social media does not necessarily translate to votes.
Former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Siew Kum Hong said the silent majority — those who do not express their views online — appeared to be behind the swing towards the PAP.
“Since the 2001 General Election, in every election the Internet seems to always predict big advances for the Opposition, so I am not surprised by the disconnect,” said Siew, pointing to the government’s responsiveness to voters since the last General Election, the passing of Lee Kuan Yew and Golden Jubilee as reasons for the PAP’s success.
Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan felt that social media may also have played a part in encouraging undecided voters to take the “flight to safety.”
“Much of social media predicted or encouraged voters to further erode the PAP’s electoral support, and I think that did cause a concern among the middle ground, whether the political realities would be radically different… And I think there was this flight to safety, but of course that’s also impacted upon by concerns about regional insecurities and economic uncertainties as well,” said Prof Tan.
Some of the more “extreme” messages online may have caused voters to digest the rhetoric on social media with more care, he added.
Dr Felix Tan of the SIM Global Education said social media is often used as a sounding board to “highlight problems that plague our society or a specific segment of Singapore society”. But some of these issues are “rather anecdotal and/or personalised, meaning it affects only a comparatively small segment of society and not the larger society per se,” he noted.
Associate Professor Alan Chong from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies said the Internet as a platform is a “potential leveler of the playing field” for the Opposition. But when it comes to getting votes, the human touch may still count for more.
“If your candidates can go house to house, door to door, if he or she actually leaves a message for you to say please vote for me, I wish you well, these things can’t be done on social media,” said Assoc Prof Chong, adding that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s messages have been very effective.
“If you look at PM Lee’s messages, he appealed to the good old-fashioned advantages of keeping the PAP in power to ensure continuity in national security and economic prosperity. Some of the voters at the last minute probably thought, let’s not spoil the party, vote the incumbent. This last-minute messaging worked,” he said.
