Corruption continues to be a concern among Malaysians, months after the general election.

A survey conducted in July by global market research firm Ipsos found that 60 percent of 500 respondents picked political and financial corruption as one of their top three concerns.

Although the number had decreased by six percent from a similar survey conducted in April, graft is still the main concern, said Ipsos Malaysia managing director Arun Menon (photo below).

This, he said, could be a result of the numerous disclosures and investigation of corruption cases since the change in government took place.

While the revelations are eye-opening, Menon said people now want to know how the Harapan government plans to tackle the issue.

"Although we see a lot of revelations (on corruptions) being made, it has not reduced consumers' concerns," he said.

Day-to-day issues

The company's comparison of surveys conducted in April and July also showed that concerns about unemployment and jobs, as well as crime and violence, had increased significantly.

Concerns on unemployment and jobs had shot up to 43 percent in July compared to 33 percent in April while concerns on crime and violence increased from 33 to 41 percent.

Arun said this could be attributed to the shift in focus as the election fever wore off.

"After the election excitement, people went back to focusing on day to day issues, which are jobs, as well as crime and violence," he explained.

Happy with tax holiday

The survey listed a total of six subjects which Malaysians are most concerned about, with the three others being moral decline, taxes, and inflation.

Moral decline showed a slight increase from 27 to 31 percent which Menon said was relatively linked to the corruption issue.

Concerns on taxes and inflation, however, decreased significantly.

The figure on taxes dwindled by half from 28 percent, while inflation was down to 16 percent from 24 percent.

Menon said this could be a reaction to the zero-rating of government service tax (GST) from six percent.

"Automatically, when six percent (GST) is reduced, the money you pay for day-to-day purchases is reduced.

"Now, with the SST (Sales and Services Tax), we will see how the statistics vary."

According to the Menon, Ipsos Malaysia carries out their surveys involving 500 respondents every month, with most of them engaging in online surveys.

The respondents, he added, were not the same people but chosen from different age, income and race groups from across the country.