Malaysia Budget 2012

6 – 14 OCTOBER 2011

Click icon to insert client logo

Issues detailing specific abilities of media analysis while providing insight on major topics of global interest

Media analysis series

3

AN EVALUATION OF

NEWS MEDIA

COVERAGE (PRESS,

BROADCAST AND

ONLINE NEWS) AND

SOCIAL MEDIA

CONVERSATIONS OF

MALAYSIA'S BUDGET

PROPOSAL FOR

YEAR 2012.

Malaysia Budget 2012

Average favourability, net sentiment explained

    RATING SCALE COLOUR USED

News Media

  

Average Favourability Rating

0 to 100 scale where 50 is neutral

  

Highly favourable 76 to 100

Favourable Moderately favourable 56 to 75

Slightly favourable 51 to 55

Neutral/balanced 50 Neutral

Slightly unfavourable 45 to 49

UnfavourableModerately unfavourable 30 to 44

Highly unfavourable 0 to 30

Social Media

 Sentiment Scale -100 to +100 scale where 0 is neutral

Very Positive + 51 to +100 Positive

Positive +1 to +50

Neutral 0 Neutral

Negative - 1 to -50 Negative

Very Negative -51 to -100

4

5

News media analysis methodology

News media analysis methodology

Best Practice Media Analysis

Media Monitors uses the CARMA® media content analysis methodology, which is internationally recognised as one of the leading commercial systems available. CARMA® (Computer Aided Research and Media Analysis) uses advanced technology to quantify media content, and human intelligence to provide qualitative insight and analysis.

An aggregate score is calculated based on these multiple variables and presented on a 0–100 scale where 50 is neutral. This is an overall rating of the favourability of each media report towards the client organisation (and, if relevant, other organisations or competitors). This aggregate score is called the CARMA® Favourability Rating.

Average Favourability Explained

6

> Positioning

> Size

> Prominent placement

(headline,image)

> Topics

> Spokespeople/

Commentators

> Messages

> Tone

Methodology explained

The Star, 8 October 2011

Brandtology social media analysis is based on keywords and channels that have been identified by a Social Media Consultant (SMCs). SMCs work closely with clients to determine what needs to be monitored, how best to do this and how to ensure the deliverables and reports meet the clients’ objectives.

Using these keywords and channels, relevant data – such as author, content, date of content and influence of author – is extracted from forums, blogs, news, reviews, Q&As, microblogs, public pages on social networking sites and video sites (comments only) from the internet.

The extracted data is processed by multilingual natural language processors to identify sentiments along a five-point scale (very negative, negative, neutral, positive, and very positive).

Processed data is stored in databases and accessible via our Digital Conversation Management System (DCMS). Analysis based on proprietary algorithms is performed on the data to derive statistics, trends, indexes and charts.

A priority rating is also calculated based on a combination of the site and author influence. 

Social Media Analysts (SMAs) access the data via our in-house ticketing system to ensure the relevancy and accuracy of the data, as well as to train the system to process data more efficiently on behalf of the clients.

Once SMAs have checked the posts for relevancy and sentiment, Social Media Research Analysts (SMRAs) check for trends and gather insights that would be relevant to the client, and produce a report.

Social media analysis methodology & glossary of terms Social Media Metrics Explained

Engagement Index

Quantifies the content creation and response level of a particular subject. This takes into account the number of conversations started, as well as the number of relevant comments and responses to the subject.

Influence Index

Reflects the level of influence of a group of online contributors discussing a certain subject. Influencers are broken down into bands of Very High, High, Moderate, Low and Very Low Influence. Online contributors who are active content posters or garner more responses to their content will command a higher individual influence score. High Influencers have a higher weightage in determining the Influencer Index score. The higher the total Influence Index score, the more influential the group of online contributors discussing the subject are considered to be.

Net Sentiment Measures the ratio of positive to negative posts. A sentiment index value greater than 1 indicates a higher proportion of positive posts.

Reach Measures the width and depth of the subject’s reach across individual channels and unique voices, respectively.

Glossary of Terms

Category This refers to the highest level referencing a logical grouping. A category may contain one or more subjects.

Channel A source being monitored for posts. Examples are forums, reviews, blogs, etc.

Influence Score

The influence score weights the importance of the author/commenter within his/her channel. The score is within the range of 0 to 100.

Keyword A keyword is used as a search term in the matching process to tag posts to the associated subject.

Mentions Number of mentions or posts online.

Online Public Online public refers to a person or persons discussing, writing, or posting on social media platforms like blogs, forum sites, Q&A sites, review sites or microblogs.

Sentiment Scale

Very Negative, Negative, Neutral, Positive and Very Positive.

Voice An author creating the post or a commenter that made a comment.

Voice Growth The Voice Growth chart shows the number of unique voices per day that have grown during the time period. This provides an indication of a “viral” growth type of view to show how many more people are mentioning the subject.

9

NEWS MEDIA TOPICS

THE RAKYAT OVERALL ECONOMY PUBLIC SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR0

300

600

40

50

60

339

171

140

106

54.9

51.8

55.2

53.0

FAV NEU UNFAV AVG FAV

VO

LUM

E

FA

VO

UR

AB

ILIT

Y

Story focus

10

CHART 1

SOCIAL MEDIA TOPICS

Story focus

THE RAKYAT OVERALL ECONOMY

PUBLIC SECTOR

PRIVATE SECTOR

0

150

300

-100

0

100

145 141

84

53

-13.8

-37.6

-13.1

-37.7

POS NEU NEG NET SENTIMENT

VO

LUM

E

NE

T S

EN

TIM

EN

T

11

CHART2

Leading topics

INDIVIDUALTAX &

SUBSIDIES

CIVILSERVANTS

LIVINGCOST

BUDGETIMPLEMENT-

ATION

PUBLICEDUCATION

GROWTH SOCIALWELFARE

MINISTRYALLOCATION

GLOBALECONOMY

CORPORATETAX &

SUBSIDIES

0

200

400

40

50

60

206175 165 160 160

142 128 117 11194

53.5 53.654.9

52.9

55.553.4

56.0 56.5

50.852.5

FAV NEU UNFAV AVG FAV

VO

LU

ME

FA

VO

UR

AB

ILIT

Y

NEWS MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA (SAMPLED POSTS)

BUDGETIMPLEMENT-

ATION

CIVIL SERVANTS

INDIVIDUALTAX &

SUBSIDIES

HOUSING GROWTH CORPORATETAX &

SUBSIDIES

SOCIALWELFARE

LIVINGCOST

GLOBAL ECONOMY

EM-PLOY-MENT

0

100

200

-100

0

100

7657

4727 26 25 21 20 19 17

-36.5-14.8

-4.5-24.9

-45.2 -47.0

-14.3-25.0

-47.4

-4.9

POS NEU NEG NET SENTIMENT

VO

LU

ME

NE

T S

EN

TIM

EN

T

CHART 3

CHART 4

12

Leading messages - news

13

IS IN FAVOUR OF THE RAKYAT

IS IN FAVOUR OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR

OFFERS CLEAR MEASURES TO ENHANCETHE WELL-BEING OF THE RAKYAT

STIMULATES ECONOMIC GROWTH

IS INCLUSIVE

DOES NOT PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

IS IN FAVOUR OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

240

89

69

56

55

34

37

UNFAV FAVVOLUME

CHART 5

14

Leading messages – social media

IS IN FAVOUR OF THE RAKYAT

IS NOT INCLUSIVE

DOES NOT PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

IS IN FAVOUR OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR

OFFERS CLEAR MEASURES TO ENHANCE WELL-BEING OF THE RAKYAT

IS INCLUSIVE

DOES NOT STIMULATE ECONOMIC GROWTH

STIMULATES ECONOMIC GROWTH

IS NOT TRANSFORMATIVE

IS NOT IN FAVOUR OF THE RAKYAT

IS NOT IN FAVOUR OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

24

8

8

7

7

15

11

7

6

6

6

UNFAV FAVVOLUME

CHART 6

15

PRESS47.1%

ONLINE NEWS45.0%

TV & RADIO7.9%

BLOG44.4%

FORUM51.1%

MICROBLOG1.4%

SOCIALNETWORKING

SITE3.1%

NEWS MEDIA SOCIALMEDIA

Media type

CHART 8CHART 7

16

Language breakdown

ENGLISH49.5%

MALAY34.8%

CHINESE11.5%

TAMIL4.2%

ENGLISH58.5%

MALAY35.1%

CHINESE6.4%

NEWS MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA

CHART 9

CHART 10

Trend analysisCHART 11

CHART 12

This chart shows the volume and favourability of articles analysed over the report period.

This chart shows the volume and net sentiment of online posts analysed over the report period.

NEWS MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA (SAMPLED POSTS)

Discussion related to speculation about Budget allocation, particularly in terms of a GST.

Discussion of opposition party reviews of the government’s Budget allocations.

17

THU 6 OCT FRI 7 OCTBUDGET DAY

SAT 8 OCT SUN 7 OCT MON 8 OCT TUE 9 OCT WED 10 OCT THU 11 OCT FRI 12 OCT0

100

200

40

50

60

VOL AVG FAV

VO

LU

ME

FA

VO

UR

AB

ILIT

Y

The media discussed the government’s “over-optimistic” target of 2012’s Budget deficit, and worrying debt levels in Malaysia.

The rakyat responded to various news articles, expressing their concerns about and expectations of the Budget.

The media focus shifted to implementation of the Budget, specifically the allocations to government ministries.

THU 6 OCT FRI 7 OCTBUDGET DAY

SAT 8 OCT SUN 7 OCT MON 8 OCT TUE 9 OCT WED 10 OCT THU 11 OCT FRI 12 OCT0

100

200

-60

0

60

VOL NET SENTIMENT

VO

LU

ME

NE

T S

EN

TIM

EN

T

Discussions continue about the government’s handouts, with suggestions that this was undertaken in order to win public votes in the upcoming election.

NEWS COMMENTATORS VOLAVG FAV

DATUK SERI NAJIB TUN RAZAK, MALAYSIA PRIME MINISTER

67 58.0

DATUK DR. AWANG ADEK HUSSEIN, DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER

15 55.0

TAN SRI MUHYIDDIN YASSIN, MALAYSIA DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

12 54.2

DATUK SERI LIOW TIONG LAI, MINISTER OF HEALTH 12 54.6

DATUK MUKHRIZ TUN MAHATHIR, DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & INDUSTRY

11 54.5

DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM, OPPOSITION LEADER 9 44.4

DATUK SERI DR. NG YEN YEN, MINISTER OF TOURISM 8 55.0

CHUA HAK BIN, BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH ECONOMIST

8 46.9

TONY PUA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR PETALING JAYA UTARA

8 45.6

DATUK SERI AHMAD HUSNI MOHAMAD HANADZLAH, SECOND MINISTER OF FINANCE

8 58.1

INFLUENCERS CHANNELS INFLUENCE SCORE VOL SENT-

IMENT

ROBERTNGOLOWYAT.NET FORUM– KOPITIAM 100 3 0

JOE_MAMAKLOWYAT.NET FORUM– KOPITIAM 100 2 -13

RYUNARUTOMIRI COMMUNITY FORUM – LOUNGE 90 2 0

FLAMING_LIONLOWYAT.NET FORUM– KOPITIAM 72 1 0

POLARISLOWYAT.NET FORUM– KOPITIAM 70 27 -8

RELAXJACKMIRI COMMUNITY FORUM – LOUNGE 65 2 -13

READZZALTWITTER – MALAYSIA 56 1 0

IDIN77TWITTER – MALAYSIA 51 1 0

THE BORNE POST

TWITTER – MALAYSIA 51 1 0

SALAHDIN

THE BURSA M’SIA FORUM – PERSONAL FINANCE

50 3 0

Commentators/influencers

TABLE 1 TABLE 2

18

News media findings

FURTHER ANALYSIS FROM NEWS MEDIA

PUBLIC SECTOR IS SAT-ISFIED WITH THE

BUDGET89.3%

PUBLIC SECTOR IS NOT SATISFIED WITH THE

BUDGET10.7%

PRIVATE SEC-TOR IS SATIS-FIED WITH THE

BUDGET71.8%

PRIVATE SEC-TOR IS NOT SAT-ISFIED WITH THE

BUDGET28.2%

RAKYAT IS SAT-ISFIED WITH THE

BUDGET77.9%

RAKYAT IS NOT SATISFIED WITH

THE BUDGET22.1%

RAKYAT

PUBLIC SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR

20

Stakeholder satisfaction

CHART 15

CHART 14

CHART 13

Leading media by language

LANGUAGE MEDIA OUTLETS AUDIENCE VOLUME AVERAGE FAVOURABILITY

ENGLISH

THE STAR ONLINE 674,424 89 53.8

YAHOO! MALAYSIA 60,630 58 53.3

MALAYSIAN INSIDER (ALTERNATIVE NEWS) 456,895 47 48.4

MALAY

UTUSAN MALAYSIA 41,413,162 71 54.1

UTUSAN ONLINE 407,925 58 56.1

HARAKAH DAILY (ALTERNATIVE NEWS) 349,027 20 42.3

CHINESE

SIN CHEW JIT POH 36,987,648 47 54.5

CHINA PRESS 18,870,540 38 52.6

TAMIL

MALAYSIA NANBAN 2,760,000 18 53.6

MAKKAI OSAI 52,000 13 54.6

21

TABLE 3

Social media findings

@HORNBILL UNLEASHED.WORDPRESS.COM, 11 OCTOBER 2011

“IN FACT, ‘ONE-OFF’ PAYMENTS ARE AKIN TO PLACEBOS THAT GIVE SHORT-TERM RELIEFS. RELIEFS THAT ARE PLAYS ON THE MIND RATHER THAN REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO A MEDICAL AILMENT. AND THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF BUDGET 2012. IT IS A SHORT TERM PLACEBO, MEANT TO GRANT A ‘FEEL GOOD’ EFFECT AMONG A SELECT FEW OF THE POPULACE. JUST ENOUGH TO AFFECT THE 5% VOTE SWING BACK TO THE BARISAN NASIONAL IN ORDER TO RETAIN THE TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT. HOW ELSE CAN YOU EXPLAIN ITS IRRATIONALITY AND DISREGARD FOR FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY?”

“

.

Social media metrics

STORY FOCUS ENGAGEMENT INFLUENCE REACH NET SENTIMENT

OVERALL ECONOMY54.4% 57% 66.5% -37.6

PRIVATE SECTOR51.9% 56% 66.6% -37.7

PUBLIC SECTOR49.4% 56% 60.8% -13.1

THE RAKYAT49.9% 54% 64.4% -13.8

23

24

Top 10 channels

LOWYAT.NET FORUM - KOPITIAM

13.0% FREE MALAYSIA

TODAY10.5%

OTHERS42.6%

LOWYAT.NET FORUM - KOPITIAM

FREE MALAYSIA TODAY

MALAYSIAN MIRROR BLOG

LOWYAT.NET FORUM - FINANCE, BUSINESS & INVESTMENT

HORNBILL UNLEASHED

CARI CHINESE FORUM - LOCAL POLITICS

CARIGOLD FORUM - ISU SEMASA

DETIKDAILY.NET FORUM - POLITIK SEMASA

LIM KIT SIANG BLOG

CARI FORUM - ISU SEMASA (CURRENT ISSUES)

OTHERS

. CHART 16

Story line: 6 – 14 October 2011

6/10/2011 7/10/2011 8/10/2011 9/10/2011 10/10/2011 11/10/2011 12/10/2011 13/10/2011 14/10/20110

400

800

1200

1600

-100

-50

0

50

100

VOL NET SENTIMENT

VO

LUM

E

NE

T S

EN

TIM

EN

T

10 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 417

The volume of mentions increased on this day, after the opposition party reviewed the Budget allocation by the government. Engagement from representatives from the government and the opposition party was apparent in discussion across forums and blogs on this day. Conversations suggested that the Budget distribution is inadequate to sustain Malaysia’s global economic growth, with wide coverage of claims that the Budget should cater to all levels of income groups.

7 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 952

The online discussions spiked when the Budget was announced. Discussions related to Budget allocation, in particularly speculation about the introduction of a GST, and the implementation of the Budget. The online public perceived the 2012 Budget as a ploy by the government to gain electoral votes.

8 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 691

Conversations continued to suggest that the Budget has failed to address a possible global recession. Budget 2012 was again described as perceived as tool for the government to win electoral votes. Middle-class citizens claimed they had received the least benefits from the Budget, and that finance aids were targeted only at lower income groups.

12 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 325

Discussions continued to relate to the government’s cash handouts, again with claims that these handouts were allocated in order to win public votes in the upcoming election without consideration of the impact of the Budget on recession and low GDP growth.

CHART 17

.

25

26

04/10/11 05/10/11 06/10/11 07/10/11 08/10/11 09/10/11 10/10/11 11/10/11 12/10/11 13/10/11 14/10/110

150

300

450

600

NEW VOICES CUMULATIVE GROWTH

VO

LUM

E

04/10/11 05/10/11 06/10/11 07/10/11 08/10/11 09/10/11 10/10/11 11/10/11 12/10/11 13/10/11 14/10/110

25

50

75

100

NEW CHANNELS CUMULATIVE GROWTH

VO

LUM

EVoice growth & channel growth

CHANNEL GROWTH

VOICE GROWTH CHART 18

CHART 19

“

“

“

“

Top influencers13 OCTOBER 2011 01:11COMPARISONS with other countries indicate that we have too many civil servants for the population.  Some 1.3 million civil servants, together with retirees, accounted for nearly two-fifths of the Federal Government’s operating expenditure last year of over RM150bil”. - http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2068415

11 OCTOBER 2011 18:20But beyond the lofty promises and glossy numbers, the so-called shadow budget, if ever it is implemented, could hurt rather than benefit ordinary Malaysians.”- http://www.malaysianmirror.com/media-buzz-detail/6-nation/55159-putting-pakatans-flawed-budget-under-scrutiny

11 OCTOBER 2011 3:38A government is more than a budget. It is not all money and mega projects and subsidies. The poor will remain poor no matter what multi-billion ringgit transformation projects are rolled out.” - http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/10/11/battle-of-the-budgets/

USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URL

Polaris Lowyat.NET Forum – Kopitiam

70 32 Negative http://forum.lowyat.net/user/Polaris

USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URLHornbill Unleashed Blog 43 27 Negative http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com

USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URLMalaysian Mirror Blog 43 24 Negative http://www.malaysianmirror.com/index.html

8 OCTOBER 2011 00:00This Budget 2012 measures to put cash in the pockets of voters ahead of a general election expected soon.” - http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/24226/.

USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URLFree Malaysia Today Blog 43 14 Negative http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/

27

> Given the wide concerns expressed about the economic

sustainability of the Budget proposals, the government could

consider more proactively communicating specific details about

the proposals to the public. This could include providing more

information about the development and implementation of the

projects, and addressing queries from the public in a timely

manner. This will help to boost public confidence about the

government’s accountability in delivering the promises made in

the Budget, especially in the current global economic climate.

> Although the Prime Minister and government ministers have an

undeniably strong presence in news media, opposition leaders

seem to be utilising social media more effectively to

communicate their messages. Government representatives are

still lacking a presence in forums and blogs, whereas opposition

leaders and members of the middle-class were active in these

areas. A greater government engagement in the social media

space is therefore encouraged.

> Future news and social media tracking should relate to the

implementation process and results of high-profile projects,

which are commonly the focus of media and public interest. This

would include financial aid offers for lower-income groups;

ministry funding of projects such as the new women’s and

children’s hospitals; upgrades of rural clinics; Kedai 1Malaysia;

the Langkawi tourism project; and upgrades for the Royal

Malaysian Police.

Conclusions

28

COPYRIGHT © 2011 MEDIA MONITORS GROUP.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.