bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Jean Iau

As Singapore heads into an election year, over a quarter of respondents in a survey said they have yet to make up their minds on who they will cast their ballot for.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took office last May, has yet to call the election that must take place by November.
In a study by independent pollster Blackbox Research of 1,310 Singaporeans over the age of 21, 27 per cent said they were still undecided on who they will vote for in the first general election under Wong’s leadership.
Among them, 21 per cent of participants said they were “not very certain”, while 6 per cent were “not certain at all”.
The survey, conducted between January 2 and 13, also found that younger voters were more indecisive with a third of the respondents aged 21 to 29 expressing uncertainty.
Though 87 per cent of Singaporeans were pleased with their MPs’ work, 25 per cent of people aged 60 expected better performance from lawmakers.
Wong’s People’s Action Party (PAP) has kept its grip on power since Singapore’s independence in 1965, but appetite for opposition in parliament is growing.
The main opposition Workers’ Party won a record 10 of 93 seats in the last election in 2020.

In the survey, 18 per cent of residents in western Singapore, a PAP bastion, described their local representatives’ performance as “not good” or “bad”.
While opposition strongholds are located in the city state’s northeast, West Coast has been touted as one to watch in the coming election.
Former transport chief S Iswaran, who was jailed for a year for accepting gifts as a public servant and obstructing justice, had been the anchor minister in the constituency.
West Coast was also the ruling party’s slimmest win in the 2020 election where it secured 51.68 per cent of the vote, edging out Progress Singapore Party, helmed by former PAP MP Tan Cheng Bock.
Volunteers from the two parties were recently involved in a scuffle in the western neighbourhood after accusing each other of harassment.
The survey showed Singaporeans were most worried about cost of living, inflation, jobs and the economy, while political scandals or candidates’ educational qualifications ranked lowly for voters.
Voters aged under 49 highlighted rising home prices as one of the top three election issues.
According to founder and chief executive of Blackbox Research David Black, Singaporeans prioritised livelihood issues over everything else.
“Stability, performance, and tangible improvements in areas like local government services and the cost of living are very much at the front of mind in the electorate,” Black said.
“As we edge closer to GE2025, it’s clear that voters are more focused on their own balance sheets than they are on any wider themes.”

Political analysts This Week in Asia spoke to said that it was unsurprising for a quarter of Singaporeans to be undecided about who they would vote for.
Independent political observer Felix Tan noted that since the public was not sure when the election would be held, this group might just represent those who were generally rather apathetic.
Tan said that Singaporeans tended to be more concerned about issues that had a direct effect on them when it came to selecting who to vote for.
“Singaporeans are a pragmatic lot and many are only concerned for themselves. The scandals have little effect on them except as fodder for gossip and coffee shop talk,” he said.
Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said the sentiments revealed in the survey could vary in the run up to the election.
“The acid test is not whether the ruling party will win, but rather what will be the popular vote it will receive under a new prime minister who will be seeking a strong mandate to start off his prime ministership on a high note,” he said.


Singapore jails Australian tourist who threatened to crash flight at Changi Airport

1 in 4 Singaporeans undecided on who to vote for ahead of general election: survey

US blacklists company that ordered TSMC chip found in Huawei processor

Trump’s defence pick Pete Hegseth fails Asean test, sparking mockery across Southeast Asia

Singapore

A survey found Singaporeans were most worried about inflation and the economy ahead of this year’s general election. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s PAP will face the coming election under Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s leadership. Photo: Facebook/LawrenceWongST

Supporters of the opposition Workers’ Party wave party flags in Singapore in 2020. Photo: AFP

Should Indonesia be ‘very worried’ about Malaysia-Singapore SEZ?

Shipyards in Batam, Riau Islands province. Indonesia has 24 SEZs, six of which are in the Riau Islands. Photo: Reuters

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong walks with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on January 7. Singapore and Malaysia signed an agreement to develop the 3,500 sq km Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. Photo: Pool via Reuters

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (third from left) at the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate Special Economic Zone in Gresik, East Java, in September 2024. Photo: Indonesia’s Presidential Palace / AFP

Vendors wait for customers at a mobile phone shopping centre in Jakarta. Indonesia has banned sales of Apple’s iPhone 16. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s PAP and PSP walkabout clash marks rising pre-election temperature

Volunteers from the ruling People’s Action Party and opposition Progress Singapore Party were allegedly involved in a scuffle at a walkabout in Bukit Gombak earlier in January. Photo: Tan Cheng Bock/Facebook

Tan Cheng Bock, secretary general of the opposition Progress Singapore Party, at the nomination centre ahead of the 2020 general election. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s PM Lawrence Wong speaking at a press conference in Bangkok in November. The next general election will be Wong’s first as Singapore’s leader. Photo: AP

Singapore’s PAP goes from ‘faceless monolith’ to the forefront of activism

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong with activists of the PAP at the party’s 70th anniversary celebrations on November 22. Photo: Facebook/LawrenceWongST


Lawrence Wong (left) with Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the ruling party’s 70th anniversary celebrations. Photo: Facebook/LawrenceWongST

Supporters of the opposition Workers’ Party gather in Singapore’s Hougang after the general election in 2020. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s ruling PAP turns 70: can its dominance last?

Supporters of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) wave party flags and placards ahead of the general election in 2015. Photo: Reuters

PAP supporters and office workers gather to listen to Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s then-prime minister, during an election rally in 2015. Photo: AFP

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, shakes hands with his son, Lee Hsien Loong, after the latter was sworn into office as the city state’s new leader in 2004. Photo: AP

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong talks to the media following a meeting with Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta last week. Photo: AFP

Supporters of Singapore’s Workers’ Party celebrate winning a record number of seats in the 2020 election. Photo: Xinhua

A customer withdraws Singapore dollar notes from an ATM. Maintaining the currency’s strength has been a key part of the PAP’s strategy to mitigate the effects of inflation. Photo: AFP

This Week in Asia

Politics

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

More voters worried about cost of living, economy and MPs’ performance than political scandals


More voters worried about cost of living, economy and MPs’ performance than political scandals.


Lawrence Wong

Asia elections