Singaporeans support Ukraine and back government sanctions on Russia: Poll

[Mista]

Singaporeans support Ukraine and back government sanctions on Russia: Poll

Poll by Singapore-based agency was also conducted in China, Australia and India. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

SINGAPORE - A vast majority of Singaporeans back Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia, while six in 10 agree with the Republic's decision to slap sanctions on Moscow, according to an online survey conducted over March 9 to 10.

The Blackbox Research poll found that 95 per cent of 1,711 Singaporeans interviewed supported or sympathised most closely with Ukraine in the conflict which Russia started on Feb 24, calling it a special operation to disarm its neighbour.

Kyiv and its Western allies, however, say Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion as an act of aggression aiming to subjugate Ukraine.

Singapore, like many countries around the world, reacted by imposing sanctions on Russia earlier this month targeting banks and goods like electronics, computers and military items. This move was supported by 60 per cent of Singaporeans polled by Blackbox, with 35 per cent saying they were unsure or had no opinion.

A total of 6,920 people aged above 18 responded to the survey conducted across Australia, China, India and Singapore. Data was weighted by age and gender to better reflect the latest census data in each country, said Blackbox, a Singapore-based agency that monitors emerging regional and global trends.

Four per cent of the Singaporean respondents said they were behind Russia in the conflict, which the United Nations said has killed hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and led to more than three million fleeing to neighbouring countries.

In China - where respondents are mostly from urban cities Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - 3 per cent felt the same, with 71 per cent saying they sympathised with Ukraine instead.

More than eight in 10 in China were undecided on their government's stance, which Blackbox framed as not taking sides in the conflict.

Beijing has not condemned Russia's actions, saying it recognises Ukraine's sovereignty but that Moscow has legitimate security concerns.

In both Australia and India, where urban dwellers also make up most of the respondents, around 9 in 10 polled said they supported Kyiv.

Apart from sanctions, Singapore has denounced Russia's actions as an unprovoked attack that violates international law and sets a "dangerous precedent" for small states like itself.

Some quarters in the Republic have questioned this strong posture, against a backdrop of swirling propaganda and disinformation pushing pro-Russian, pro-China and anti-United States views online.

Authorities have told The Straits Times that they are keeping a close watch for possible hostile information campaigns directed at Singapore in relation to the ongoing conflict.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Anonymous accounts on TikTok seek to sway views in S'pore over Russian invasion of Ukraine
Debate rages online over S'pore's stance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine

In the Blackbox poll, nearly seven in 10 Singaporean respondents said they blamed Russia for the crisis, while just over half of those in China said they did not know. Three per cent in China said the US was at fault.

Respondents were also asked to state their agreement with a set of statements. Over six in 10 in Singapore did not think that the invasion would herald the beginning of World War III; half were not sure if Russia would emerge victorious; while more than four in 10 did not think Ukraine would win.

The majority of respondents in China answered "not sure" to all of these statements, including one on whether Beijing would eventually be pulled into the conflict.

Quizzed on their impressions of Russia, Ukraine and their presidents, 1 per cent of Singaporeans said they viewed Mr Putin positively, compared to 80 per cent for his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Close to 70 per cent had a positive image of Ukraine, with the proportion for Russia coming in at 5 per cent.

Australian and Indian respondents shared similar sentiments as the Singaporeans.

The Chinese were particularly ambivalent on Russia - with 46 per cent neutral and 45 per cent viewing Moscow negatively; while nearly seven in 10 were neutral on Ukraine.

On how Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky came across to them, the same majority proportion of Chinese - 74 per cent - said they were neutral.

 

[northeast]

Did singaporean support iraq when USA invade iraq for washing powder?

 

[beijingwalker]

Singapore should learn to be quiet, it's not in its interest to take sides.

 

[Viet]

Singaporeans support Ukraine and back government sanctions on Russia: Poll

Poll by Singapore-based agency was also conducted in China, Australia and India. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

SINGAPORE - A vast majority of Singaporeans back Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia, while six in 10 agree with the Republic's decision to slap sanctions on Moscow, according to an online survey conducted over March 9 to 10.

The Blackbox Research poll found that 95 per cent of 1,711 Singaporeans interviewed supported or sympathised most closely with Ukraine in the conflict which Russia started on Feb 24, calling it a special operation to disarm its neighbour.

Kyiv and its Western allies, however, say Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion as an act of aggression aiming to subjugate Ukraine.

Singapore, like many countries around the world, reacted by imposing sanctions on Russia earlier this month targeting banks and goods like electronics, computers and military items. This move was supported by 60 per cent of Singaporeans polled by Blackbox, with 35 per cent saying they were unsure or had no opinion.

A total of 6,920 people aged above 18 responded to the survey conducted across Australia, China, India and Singapore. Data was weighted by age and gender to better reflect the latest census data in each country, said Blackbox, a Singapore-based agency that monitors emerging regional and global trends.

Four per cent of the Singaporean respondents said they were behind Russia in the conflict, which the United Nations said has killed hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and led to more than three million fleeing to neighbouring countries.

In China - where respondents are mostly from urban cities Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - 3 per cent felt the same, with 71 per cent saying they sympathised with Ukraine instead.

More than eight in 10 in China were undecided on their government's stance, which Blackbox framed as not taking sides in the conflict.

Beijing has not condemned Russia's actions, saying it recognises Ukraine's sovereignty but that Moscow has legitimate security concerns.

In both Australia and India, where urban dwellers also make up most of the respondents, around 9 in 10 polled said they supported Kyiv.

Apart from sanctions, Singapore has denounced Russia's actions as an unprovoked attack that violates international law and sets a "dangerous precedent" for small states like itself.

Some quarters in the Republic have questioned this strong posture, against a backdrop of swirling propaganda and disinformation pushing pro-Russian, pro-China and anti-United States views online.

Authorities have told The Straits Times that they are keeping a close watch for possible hostile information campaigns directed at Singapore in relation to the ongoing conflict.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Anonymous accounts on TikTok seek to sway views in S'pore over Russian invasion of Ukraine
Debate rages online over S'pore's stance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine

In the Blackbox poll, nearly seven in 10 Singaporean respondents said they blamed Russia for the crisis, while just over half of those in China said they did not know. Three per cent in China said the US was at fault.

Respondents were also asked to state their agreement with a set of statements. Over six in 10 in Singapore did not think that the invasion would herald the beginning of World War III; half were not sure if Russia would emerge victorious; while more than four in 10 did not think Ukraine would win.

The majority of respondents in China answered "not sure" to all of these statements, including one on whether Beijing would eventually be pulled into the conflict.

Quizzed on their impressions of Russia, Ukraine and their presidents, 1 per cent of Singaporeans said they viewed Mr Putin positively, compared to 80 per cent for his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Close to 70 per cent had a positive image of Ukraine, with the proportion for Russia coming in at 5 per cent.

Australian and Indian respondents shared similar sentiments as the Singaporeans.

The Chinese were particularly ambivalent on Russia - with 46 per cent neutral and 45 per cent viewing Moscow negatively; while nearly seven in 10 were neutral on Ukraine.

On how Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky came across to them, the same majority proportion of Chinese - 74 per cent - said they were neutral.

Bravo
Go Singapore go
However I think we should give Putin a way out. There is one thing about Putin psycho.
Putin tells a story about a rat when he was a kid. He drove a rat thru the house. when the rat was at the corner with no way out, the rat suddenly jumped him into the face. He learned Don’t push anyone into a corner with no escape.

 

[jhungary]

Singapore should learn to be quiet, it's not in its interest to take sides.

You should learn to be quiet, what Singapore do is what Singapore do, it is basically none of your or Chinese business.

So they want to take side, then what? What have that have to do with you?

 

[Mista]

On TikTok, anonymous accounts seek to sway views in Singapore over Russian invasion of Ukraine

MHA says it is keeping a close watch for possible hostile information campaigns directed at Singapore. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

On TikTok, anonymous accounts seek to sway views in Singapore over Russian invasion of Ukraine

SINGAPORE - Below a video showing Ukraine's United Nations Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya praising Singapore's diplomatic position as "brave as a tiger" on video sharing app TikTok, almost every comment was critical of the Republic's decision to implement sanctions on Russia.
"Russia - URA", said one comment on the video posted by Mothership.sg on March 4 , using the battle cry of the Russian Armed Forces that has become a rallying cry for Russia supporters globally.

"I'm living in Singapore I stand for Russia," another said. It received 156 likes.

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues into its fourth week, an increasing number of comments supportive of Russia, whose invasion has been widely criticised, have emerged in response to videos being shared by users here.

A spokesman for Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs told The Straits Times: "Singapore authorities have been keeping a close watch for possible hostile information campaigns directed at Singapore, in relation to the conflict in Ukraine."

The spokesman added: "At the individual level, we should check the authenticity and credibility of information we receive, and where it comes from, and exercise discretion when consuming and spreading it further."

For each seemingly authentic comment on TikTok by a profile that can be traced to a real user - such as, "SG is not interested in politics or wars" - there was an outlandish one by a recently created, anonymousaccount that seems dedicated solely to the issue. For example, one wrote: "If Russia is here, I would gladly join them and bring my family along w me".
Of the several dozen accounts seen making such comments, almost all of themfurnish no personal particulars, use online images as their profile photos and have a skewed ratio of accounts they follow to accounts that follow them.

The nature of TikTok accounts makes it difficult to assess if these are real people or hired internet trolls or bots, with people needing only an email address to begin posting. But observers note that Russia, as well as several other states, have a history of hiring hundreds of trolls to flood internet forums, social networks and comments sections to wage propaganda wars against perceived Western viewpoints.

Similar observations were made by experts who testified before the Singapore Parliament's select committee on deliberate online falsehoods in 2018 - when TikTok was nascent - and noted that such trolls were active on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.

Replying to queries from The Straits Times, a TikTok spokesman said the platform continues to respond to the war in Ukraine with increased safety and security resources to detect emerging threats and remove harmful misinformation. She added: "We also partner with independent fact-checking organisations to support our efforts to help TikTok remain a safe and authentic place."

Associate Professor Alton Chua of the Nanyang Technological University, who studies information science and knowledge management in the context of social media, said the presence of such trolls and bots on such platforms is not surprising as they represent a low-cost strategy to influence public opinion.
"From domestic issues to international affairs, so long as there is some scope to stir up controversies, we can expect to see some level of information operation used against us from time to time," he said.

"As technology advances, bots are becoming more human-like. The ability to differentiate bots from actual users is no longer trivial and sustained interaction may sometimes be required before a bot gives itself away."

Dr Shashi Jayakumar from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), who has studied information operations, also said a bot attack is a possibility.
"It may well be that there is some orchestration or coordinated activity at work," he said. "Given that (Singapore's position) is unlikely to shift, and given that Singapore is one of the few in the region to have made its points so clearly, it would not be entirely surprising if actors opposed to Singapore's position attempted to undermine it, by probing society and seeking to create fissures."

Not all content on TikTok supportive of Russia's invasion is posted by trolls or bots, with a number of named social media users seemingly from Singapore and the region expressing their support on TikTok and other platforms.

But posts by trolls and bots amplify such views, and can make a position seem more credible that it actually is by the sheer number of apparent believers.

For instance, a video by anonymous account "info_my", posted on March 10, has already received 6,917 likes and 1,673 comments within a week.

Using an increasingly common trope, it shows a series of pictures of the Singapore Armed Forces with the caption "What Russia have to face if they want to invade Singapore", implying SAF's relative weakness and ending with a short clip of Russian President Vladimir Putin laughing.

Mr Ben Chua, chief executive officer of Cyber Youth Singapore,a local charity focusing on cybersecurity that is mostly run by youths, said: "We believe it is clear that the content featured on these accounts is created with the desire to generate doubt within the Singapore populace on our nation's ability to defend ourselves.

"The key recurring theme is that of undermining the country's national defence by promoting the rhetoric that we will be unable to defend ourselves against larger powers. Such efforts serve to undermine Singapore's pscyhological defence and weaken the morale and resolve of our people,"said Mr Chua.

Such messages are sometimes targeted at segments of Singapore's population, and could be initiated by users from Southeast Asia. The account known as "info_my" states in Malay in another post that Russia has warned Asian countries not to interfere in its affairs or face the consequences of always being on its "radar".

For now, TikTok users say they find it less important to ascertain who is posting than to look at what the post conveys.

Mr Wong Shin Kang, a 43-year-old management consultant, said he only checks the facts and not the source of the post since people are creating multiple accounts on social media anyway and do not always provide all their personal particulars.

"It is not different from Facebook and other platforms. People already believe what they want to believe," he said.

However, Singapore Management University student Chng Lu Yee, 21, said many of her peers form their political views through the Internet, and TikTok, most commonly used by her generation, is a powerful tool to shape public opinion.

Cyber Youth Singapore's Mr Chua said: "The effects (these posts) may have on the average individual are not to be discounted. Younger individuals are more impressionable and more likely to be convinced.

"Ultimately, it does not matter if an account is an application that runs automated tasks. Singaporeans must be able to discern and reject disinformation."

https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/tgaofa

 

[beijingwalker]

You should learn to be quiet, what Singapore do is what Singapore do, it is basically none of your or Chinese business.

So they want to take side, then what? What have that have to do with you?

It's a suggestion, why are you so worked up? You still believe China is not with Russia now?

 

[jhungary]

It's a suggestion, why are you so worked up? You still believe China is not with Russia now?

go open anther thread about China and Russia and talk there

This is about Singapore and Russia, not everything in this world evolve around China

 

[jhungary]

Funny claim by a guy carrying a Chinese flag who is not a Chinese at all.

can you just stop derailing thread for once?

And I did give you a chance to talk to me and do your verification, you refused, then don't pin it on me.

 

[beijingwalker]

can you just stop derailing thread for once?

And I did give you a chance to talk to me and do your verification, you refused, then don't pin it on me.

Do you have Weixin? I only use weixin. I agree we should not talk about it here, maybe in another thread.

 

[kankan326]

Because they see Malaysia as Russia. Nothing about justice

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

For each seemingly authentic comment on TikTok by a profile that can be traced to a real user - such as, "SG is not interested in politics or wars" - there was an outlandish one by a recently created, anonymousaccount that seems dedicated solely to the issue. For example, one wrote: "If Russia is here, I would gladly join them and bring my family along w me".
Of the several dozen accounts seen making such comments, almost all of themfurnish no personal particulars, use online images as their profile photos and have a skewed ratio of accounts they follow to accounts that follow them.

Remember there is no 50 cent army.."it is all a Western CIA fabrication to slander our China".

Repeat ten times...

 

[xuxu1457]

south Korean hit the streets of Shanghai to get Chinese citizen’s reaction to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict and to hear what they think about Russia and Putin in general.

 

[Song Hong]

Lee Kuan Yew brain wash Singaporeans so much that they even hate China.

I am always talking to normal Singaporeans about China. The only response is hate and contempt. There is nothing good on MSM on China. But MSM relay entire US fake news.

 

[Song Hong]

Singaporeans are a bunch of house slaves with zero self respect. They speak in an ugly pidgeon English like some sorry stereotype of a neutered Chinese coolie but think they are superior to China because they are closer to the west. They have the mentalities of weak people.

What you say is unfortunately right. The entire Singapore ruling class are peranakan race traitors who love English more than Chinese.

Recently GoS even embark on massive "anti Chinese" campaign, painting Chinese as world most horrible racists. They want to shame and castrate Chinese.

They succeeded.

Now Singaporean Chinese become white worshipper or even more disgusting Indian worshippers.

In reality Singaporean Malays and Indians are 10x more racists than Chinese.

Singapore leaders are liars, idiots and they are big threat to regional security.