Most Malaysians find Olympics a unifying event - Ipsos
KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 -- A total of 77 per cent of Malaysians polled regard the Olympic Games as an event that can unite the people in the country, according to the latest research conducted by Ipsos.
The research, entitled ‘Olympic Spirit in Pandemic Times’, found that Malaysia ranked third when its respondents were asked to agree on the statement of ‘the Olympics bring my country together’, behind China, who led the chart with 92 per cent of support and India in second place with 84 per cent. South Korea was just below Malaysia, in fourth place with 73 per cent.
The United States of America (USA) came in fifth (66 per cent), followed by Great Britain (62 per cent) and this year’s Olympic Games hosts Japan (36 per cent), while the global country average score stood at 65 per cent.
“People still see positives in the Olympics going ahead - in Malaysia and beyond, the Olympics is seen as a unifying event during a difficult time,” Ipsos said in a statement today.
The research also discovered that Malaysians are passionate about badminton in the Olympics with 63 per cent of interest, far higher than China (27 per cent) and India (36 per cent), while the global average level of interest in this sport was just six per cent.
The badminton squad made up the biggest group of athletes in the Malaysian contingent to the Tokyo Olympics. The badminton team have eight players, led by All England 2021 champion Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles), Soniia Cheah (women’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles), Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (women’s doubles) and Rio 2016 silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (mixed doubles).
Meanwhile, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to skepticism that the Games should be held under the current conditions, with Japan among countries least keen to go ahead with Tokyo Olympics at 22 per cent.
India had 54 per cent of support to proceed with the Olympics, followed by the USA (52 per cent), China (41 per cent), Great Britain (34 per cent), Malaysia (33 per cent), and South Korea ranked below Japan with just 14 per cent of approval while the global country average of support for the Games to go on was 43 per cent.
The research by Ipsos, a France-based company, was conducted among 19,510 adults on its online panel between May 21 and June 4.
The Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23 to Aug 8.
-- BERNAMA
