Younger Singaporeans more likely ready for an ethnic minority Prime Minister — YouGov Survey

SINGAPORE: A new poll from YouGov has shown that Singaporeans are now ready for the country to have an ethnic minority Prime Minister. The data from the survey was made public shortly after the historic win of President-elect Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Sept 1.

The YouGov poll shows that over three in five, or 63 per cent, of the Singaporeans who participated in the survey agreed with the following statement, “I believe Singapore is ready to have a qualified, ethnic minority Prime Minister”.

Meanwhile, 15 per cent of the respondents said that the country is not ready to have a qualified, ethnic minority Prime Minister, but one day, it will be. However, 22 per cent said they are either unsure or that Singapore will never be ready to have a qualified, ethnic minority Prime Minister.

Breaking down the respondents via demographics shows that younger Singaporeans appear more than ready for an ethnic minority Prime Minister now.

Among the youngest respondents, Gen Z, 76 per cent said they’re ready for an ethnic minority Prime Minister, while 73 per cent of Millennials had the same response.

Among the older cohort, 57 per cent of Gen Xers, 54 per cent of those in the Merdeka generation, and 57 per cent of the Pioneer generation said they shared this sentiment. However, they appear to leave the door open for the country to be ready later for an ethnic minority Prime Minister.

When broken down by race, the country’s ethnic minorities indicated that the country is ready for an ethnic minority PM, with 73 per cent of Malay Singaporeans and 68 per cent of Indians saying so. In contrast, 60 per cent of Chinese Singaporeans share this view.

 “Even among ethnic Chinese Singaporeans, there is still a noticeable generational divide. Millennials and Gen Zs are significantly more likely to believe that Singapore is ready for a qualified ethnic-minority Prime Minister compared to Gen X, Merdeka, and Pioneer generations. It should also be noted that 27 per cent of ethnic-Chinese Merdeka Generation Singaporeans believe that Singapore will eventually have a qualified ethnic-minority Prime Minister,” YouGov noted.

The YouGov poll surveyed 1,000 Singaporeans aged 21 or older from Sept 8 to 11. /TISG

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