Survey: COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: Public Health, Social Impacts, and Political Attitudes

“How is the COVID-19 pandemic transforming attitudes in Southeast Asia? While the health impacts of the pandemic are tragically obvious, we are only beginning to understand the wider social and political implications of the crisis. Some changes are being introduced from the top, as governments embark on ambitious new programs of social spending and, at least in some cases, claw back on citizens’ rights. But others are potentially occurring among citizens, as the responses to the pandemic affect ordinary people’s attitudes about their own security, the role of government in their lives, and their country’s political system.”

“In order to understand how this global crisis is shaping Southeast Asian citizens’ views on governance, official health responses, accountability for the crisis, vaccines, democracy versus authoritarianism, and much more, we conducted an online survey from mid-April to late May 2021, collecting responses from more than 6000 respondents across five Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.”

This report was prepared by Edward Aspinall, Nicole Curato, Diego Fossati, Eve Warburton, and Meredith L. Weiss.

Executive Summary:

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically transformed politics, economics and society in the past year. We zero in on the case of Southeast Asia through an online survey from mid-April to late May 2021 to examine how this global health emergency is shaping people’s views on governance and health responses, among other matters. Overall, we find populations in the region extremely anxious about the economic and public health impacts of the pandemic, although there are clear divergences on the intensity and manifestations of these anxieties across countries, and within countries according to demographic traits.”

Here are some highlights of our findings.

1. Southeast Asian populations are deeply concerned about the effects of the pandemic in all aspects of their lives — from the health and safety of their loved ones to their economic well-being. Strong majorities across all five countries felt ‘very worried’ about the situation, with prolonged economic crisis and its impact on the poor causing the greatest anxieties.

2. Despite shared worries and anxieties, populations across the region diverge in their attitudes to pandemic policy, the effectiveness of government and health interventions, constraints on personal freedoms, and vaccination.

3. One dramatic variation in responses is in whether citizens felt more worried about the economic or public health aspects of the pandemic. In Thailand and Indonesia, a majority expressed greater concern with the economic effects, while a majority in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore expressed greater concern over public health effects.

4. In all five countries, women tend to weigh public health as a bigger issue than the economic effects of the pandemic, although more women (except in Singapore) are ‘very worried’ than men about COVID-19’s impact on personal economic security.

5. Respondents’ economic vulnerability has a significant impact on how they experience and perceive many aspects of the pandemic. The region’s most precarious citizens are the most anxious about the impact of the pandemic on the economy and their personal financial situation.

6. There is massive variation when it comes to satisfaction with national governments’ pandemic response, from 85% in Singapore to 41% in the Philippines. Across the region, 80% think that relevant actors could have performed better at controlling the pandemic—particularly citizens.

7. Citizens are discerning when it comes to accepting constraints on individual freedoms. Many people accept curfews and the need for extra-parliamentary Policy Briefing – SEARBO August 2021 3 policy interventions, but few are willing to endorse state attempts to muzzle a free and open press in the context of a pandemic emergency. Southeast Asian citizens are certainly not providing carte blanche to their governments to wind back civil liberties and political rights in response to the pandemic.

8. Nearly three-quarters of respondents in each country say they will seek vaccination when it’s available, with the stark exception of the Philippines, where the figure rests at 66%. Across countries, people who are more financially secure and have more formal education are substantially more poised to seek vaccination.