By Nur Sa’adah Batrisyia
GOMBAK, 10 November 2020: The “WAPOR Asia Kuala Lumpur 2020” virtual conference today started off with conversation with the pioneers of World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) giving an insight into the panelist’ personal background and their experience as public opinion researchers.
The five panelists were Robert Chung from Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, Yashwant Deshmukh from CVOTER International India, Takashi Inoguchi from the University of Tokyo, Ijaz Gilani from Gallup Pakistan, and Mahar Mangahas from Social Weather Station Philippines.
The interview was hosted by the Chairman of WAPOR Asia Kuala Lumpur 2020, Prof. Dato’ Sri Syed Arabi Idid from IIUM.
Former president of WAPOR Asia, Dr. Robert Chung shared his enjoyment in freedom of speech which sparked his interest in public opinion.
“Being in a liberal school (Diocesan Boys’ School), I value the freedom to ask questions without boundaries,” Robert Chung told the session.
Further, the head of the Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) revealed that in the early 1990s, Hong Kong faced a transition period where he saw the demand for public opinion research. Since then, he began to set foot in this field.
The current president of WAPOR Asia, Mr. Yashwant Deshmukh was born in Bihar, Northern India, known as the oldest city in India and the world. Since his early childhood, he was interested in the election due to his traumatic childhood experience facing a national emergency for two and a half years from 1975 to 1977.
“The national emergency in 1975 has suspended all democratic rights and the media was heavily censored,” Mr. Yashwant vividly recalled the staggering era seeing the opposition leaders being imprisoned.
In 1977, after the post-devastating emergency, the opposition finally won by a landslide and he perceived this as the power of public opinion. “Public opinion is a powerful tool that can change people’s lives,” Yashwant said.
In response to the development of public opinion in Asia, Mr. Yashwant believed that public opinion will perpetually grow because it is in proportion with the level of democratisation through discussions and open debates.
Yashwant added that all the negative scenarios by political analysts were part of democratisation.
“People get the leaders they deserve. Americans deserved Donald Trump. Those good or bad leaders are democratically elected by the people,” Yashwant said.
On the other hand, Mr. Takashi Inoguchi started to take an interest in public opinion research after voting behaviour studies became rapidly popular in Japan in 1970. This well-known author has written a number of books on foreign affairs, and international and global relationships.
In regards to other public opinion research organisations, his response was: “This field was previously occupied by sociologists and social psychologists.”
The same goes for Mr. Mahar Mangahas in the Philippines, who mentioned that there were already a couple of research companies and one of them was hired by the administrator.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ijaz Gilani, the Massachusetts Institute Technology (MIT) alumnus, shared that one of the challenges in the development of public opinion in Asia is that this field was introduced in 1930 which is during the year of depression.
“Public opinion is a product of fewer than 100 years where technology and economy have changed enormously,” Mr. Gilani expressed. “If the global industry stays with the same mindset, it can be a great challenge to public opinion researchers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Robert Chung hoped that WAPOR Asia will have frequent interaction with neighbouring countries.
The full version of this conversation will be available in a podcast on WAPOR Asia website.***