Today’s news of PM Lee Hsien Loong being the second most admired man in Singapore was a bit of a surprise to say the least. More so when you look at the list he’s on.
In the survey, done by UK organization YouGov, he’s ranked higher than some truly famous global personalities!
It’s no doubt that he’s popular here, he wouldn’t be the Prime Minister otherwise. But him being number two? Was that really in line with Singaporean Netizens?
Can you guess what the answer is?
Yup. It’s a big, fat NO!
…at least if you go by online opinions. Then again, people feel much safer to speak out online and might change their tune if confronted face to face.
Online netizens are also mostly of the tech savvy younger generation, so it’s not really a full accounting of Singaporeans. The PAP (and by extension PM Lee) has a diehard base with the elderly, something I know for sure by just asking the old people in my family.
Still, it’s hard to shake off the feeling that the survey might be pure bullshit.
Just looking through online posts have convinced me that a ton of people disagree with it, even if most of them choose to couch their disbelief in jokes instead of outright saying no.
If you read between the lines, it’s plain to see what they think of the survey.
Nobody’s saying he’s a bad person but the disbelief of him ranking so high, especially for a survey that’s purportedly done by Singaporeans, doesn’t seem to jibe with what the people here really think.
Most importantly, they doubt the veracity of those surveyed.
It’s a valid question to ask to be sure.
That, along with other questions like ‘What’s the survey sample size?’ or ‘When was it done?’ also dog the announcement, showing why locals are in disbelief.
That’s not to say that everybody online is against the survey’s findings.
While rare in the responses, there are those that clearly make their support for PM Lee known. Seems like those who are in favour of PM Lee view him as incorruptible and a great leader.
I’m honestly interested in the survey too, especially who among us were reached out to. It’d be really interesting to see which demographics and races are hugely in favour of the PM and which aren’t.