Monica Baey’s #MeToo story, Hong Kong protests and Christchurch shootings are top news events for Singaporeans
- Baey – who sparked debate about discipline for sexual offenders and support for victims – was the top newsmaker for younger respondents to a new survey
- Also on the list is the government’s decision to ban electric scooters from all footpaths, which is seen as the ‘top local event’ of the year
Undergraduate Monica Baey was the top newsmaker of 2019 for young Singaporeans, according to an independent pollster’s survey of 1,000 people on the key events and personalities of the year.
The survey, conducted earlier this month by Blackbox Research, found 23 per cent of Singaporeans aged between 15 and 25 said Baey was their “top newsmaker” in 2019, ahead of the country’s prime-minister-in-waiting, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.
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Baey, who received a “Woman of Courage” award from local women’s group Aware, said she felt comforted by the survey findings.
“I think it speaks volumes on how urgent the issue of voyeurism is in Singapore. It was almost normalised or not discussed for too long,” said the 23-year-old final-year communications major.
David Black, the owner and managing director of the Singapore-based polling company, said: “Locally, the Monica Baey story was Singapore’s first major #MeToo moment and helped kick start greater public consciousness.”
Since Baey’s case came to light, Singapore’s online community has paid closer attention to similar cases of sexual harassment.
Thousands of netizens later signed an online petition to protest against favourable sentences for “educated sex offenders”.
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The Attorney General’s Chambers said it would appeal against the judge’s decision, with Minister for Law K. Shanmugam taking to Facebook to say he agreed with the move.
Baey said she had met many individuals who also felt voyeurism incidents in Singapore had been dealt with too lightly.
She has since encouraged not just survivors but all Singaporeans to speak up about the issue and advocate for better protection for survivors and serious punishment for offenders.
“[There has been] a lot of ground-up activism by students, and some [are] even going through the education system,” she said. “It’s really inspiring, and I hope it continues.”
Meanwhile, the survey also shed light on bread-and-butter issues that worried Singaporeans.
A third of Singaporeans polled voted the government’s November move to ban electric scooters from all footpaths as the “top local event” of the year.
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The government has maintained that the move was justified given a rise in accidents involving the devices, despite multiple attempts to weed out errant riders.
Singaporeans were also concerned over the 7 per cent hike in public transport prices, set to kick in on December 28, with 43 per cent of respondents expressing anger.
On the global front, Black from Blackbox Research said the Hong Kong protests were also a “real hot button” issue with Singaporeans this year.
More than 6,000 people in Hong Kong – 40 per cent of them students, including secondary school pupils – have been arrested in connection with the unrest, which was triggered by a now-withdrawn extradition bill but morphed into a broader anti-government campaign, with bouts of violence. About one-quarter of respondents rated the protests as the “top global event”.
