IN this pandemic age that we are all living in, many have adapted to the new norm of things – from working from home, “attending” online classes to events being held in hybrid styles have become the new norm.
The hybrid way of doing things has also forced many to acquire new knowledge in learning to be more tech-savvy.
Grandparents these days communicate with their grandchildren via WhatsApp Calls, employers meet with employees via Zoom with the latest being politicians campaigning online for state polls.
The upcoming Sarawak state polls has illustrated the fact that being both tech and social media savvy is the way to go. Politicians from all divide are now putting social media to good use,given the very strict Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) drawn up by the SDMC to avoid the spread of pandemic just like what happened in the Sabah state elections last year.
The upcoming Sarawak State Elections seems to be heavily dependent on social media usage after the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC)
only allows 64 out of 82 state constituents to observe the conventional method of campaigning through ceramah and home visits that comply with SOPs.
The recent 15th Melaka State Polls saw many candidates complaining that campaigning via social media was not as effective as the conventional method and it limited their reaches.
However, unlike their Melaka contemporaries, the Sarawak state polls candidates seem to take things in their stride by getting creative by campaigning via social media.
Batu Kawa incumbent Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian does not seem to have qualms resorting to social media to campaign in defending his seat.
In a uniquely creative video, Dr Sim has managed to summarise his achivements for Batu Bawah in bringing about changes and development to the constituency since 2016.
Even before the “new age” campaigning method was introduced, Dr Sim has been known to share his thoughts and activities pertaining to work on social media which is often shared and re-shared by his 147,000 followers of Facebook.
In fact, Dr Sim who is also the Local Government and Housing Minister was the go-to person to get updates on the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak with him being the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman with his daily updates on social media.
Also doing the same is GPS candidate for Nangka Dr Annuar Rapaee who has some 38,000 followers on his Facebook account.
Even before the dissolution of the state legislative assembly to make way fror the state polls, Dr Annuar who is also the Assistant Local Government and Housing Minister has been active on social media with his daily updates on various issues pertaining his portfolio and the occasional anecdotes.
His latest posting had in a way incorporated health as part of campaigning as he was seen going around Nangka on bicycle distributing GPS posters and flags garnered 139,000 views as he had gone live on Facebook!
Political expert, Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia opined that when it comes to campaigning, nothing beats the conventional method of holding ceramahs but believes that campaigning via social media complements the conventional method as it could serve to provide those seeking extra information than what is already provided to them.
“However, there is still fear that online or virtual campaigning might not be able provide the same effect as not everyone is tech-savvy or there might be areas without proper Internet connectivity.
“For voters from rural areas or areas with poor Internet connectivity, they will surely be more dependent on the face-to-face method of campaigning,” he said when contacted.
And then there is the notion that people from a certain age will fall behind when trying to get new information on currents affairs and developments.
However this has proven to be untrue as according to Pandian, even if they do not have access to the Internet, they could still get those with access to relay the information to them.
