Social Media Discourse in Sarawak: An Analysis of Popular Issues and Their Correlation with the Gabungan Parti Sarawak Manifesto in 2021

Abstract

Social media, notably Facebook, has been reported to be actively used by all, particularly when expressing opposing perspectives on various matters related to Sarawak and Sarawak’s interests. The debate became more interesting during the period of political change in 2018 when Sarawak began to realign its position within a shifting political landscape. Consequently, the realignment had also influenced the framing of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) manifesto during the 2021 Sarawak State Election (SSE21). The article attempts to identify the popular issues circulated in social media and to correlate them with the highlighted issues embedded in the GPS manifesto in SSE21. Data was collected from Facebook from 20 December 2018 to 26 January 2019 through historical data retrieval process. About 197 high-engagement posts were selected as the dataset. Thematic analysis was used in the analytic methods, which was carried out using QSR NVivo 12 Plus. Six main topics were identified that served as focal points of discussion for online discourse in Sarawak: sociocultural topics; economic topics; political topics; development topics; constitutional and legal topics; and border and security topics. Among the topics, three main issues have been identified to be crucial for Sarawakians: (1) constitutional and legal issues – issues that are related to Sarawak rights, Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), and federal and state constitution; (2) sociocultural issues – regional sentiments that are related to the ideals of being a Sarawakian; and (3) political issues – issues of federal-state relations. It is suggested that as the online discussion of the issues gains traction, Sarawakians are observed to be more engaged in topics within the framing of their perceived position within the federation, specifically relating to the preferred position of their identity as Sarawakian first as opposed to Malaysian first. The formation of GPS as a local-based coalition has immensely benefited GPS since it is consistent with its agenda of “Sarawak First”. The study’s findings imply that there is consistency between the topics raised by Sarawakians during Sarawak’s term as an opposition state in 2018 and the themes contained in the GPS manifesto during the SSE21.