Yahoo! searches for Singapore General Election 2011 rose 958%

Yahoo! today sent me information that Singaporeasn are searching for Singapore General Election keywords during this year GE. In fact, it states that during the week ending 24th April, the keyword rose 958%. More information after the break.

Here is the information.

SINGAPORE GENERAL ELECTIONS SEARCH RESULTS FROM YAHOO!

The web is buzzing about the battle between WP and PAP in Aljuneid GRC;
NSP candidate Nicole Seah reigns supreme

SINGAPORE, 5 MAY, 2011 – The Singapore General Elections (GE) are set to take place on Saturday, May 7th. For the first time since 1972 there will be a play off with the opposition in all but one constituency. As Singapore prepares for its biggest event, Yahoo! Search Trends looked at what is getting the most buzz online.

According to Yahoo! the web is excited about Singapore?s big event with a dramatic surge in search words on April 27 – the filing date of candidacy papers. Yahoo! searches for „Singapore General Election 2011? rose 958% on the week ending April 24 compared to the previous week.

On April 27 Nomination Day, queries that saw the most increase included:

  1. Nomination day live coverage – 1,125%
  2. Singapore nomination day – 1,048%
  3. Nomination day candidates – 860%

Candidate searches have figured prominently in election-related search spikes since their nomination day. Keyword searches for:

  1. Chen Show Mao increased 112% – The international lawyer running for Workers Party from Aljuneid GRC had sparked off comments for his rhetoric on „the economic growth is benefitting large corporations and top wage earners but not average Singaporeans?.
  2. George Yeo increased 738% – Yeo is the current foreign minister and PAP candidate from Aljuneid GRC.
  3. Chiam See Tong increased 340% – This could be associated with the longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament?s (MP) decision to contest from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC where he faces Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng as the opposition candidate.
  4. Low Thia Kiang increased 609% – The opposition leader and WP Chief surprised many for his decision to leave his stronghold of Hougang to contest from Aljunied GRC
  5. Mah Bow Tan increased 89% – He is the current housing minister and representing the PAP from Tampines GRC
  6. Nicole Seah increased 339,700% in the week ending April 24 compared to the previous week, before she was introduced to the public by her party. The 24-year old who has the most Facebook fans after MM Lee is contesting from Marine Parade GRC and running for the National Solidarity Party (NSP)
  7. Steven Tan Peng Hoe increased 1,825%, when it was revealed the PAP bet was withdrawing from the race for “personal reasons”.
  8. Tin Pei Ling, increased 13,103% in the week of April 3 when she was introduced to the public as part of the PAP slate
  9. PAP candidate Sim Ann increased 2,685% and Tan Chuan Jin increased by 286%
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With 14 out of 15 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) being contested, here are the top five most-searched constituencies are:

  1. Marine Parade GRC – 1,188%: Here, the PAP team is led by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and contesting the NSP team.
  2. Aljuneid – 1,039 %: Aljunied is seen as the key battleground for this GE with a strong team from the Worker?s Party led by former Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang going up against the PAP incumbent team led by Foreign Minister George Yeo.
  3. West Coast – 353%: Here, the PAP team is led by Minister Lim Hng Kiang against the Reform Party led by its secretary general Kenneth Jeyaretnam.
  4. Tanjong Pagar, where the PAP including Lee Kuan Yew, Indranee Rajah, Lily Neo, Chia Shi-Lu, Chan Chun Sing has a walkover with no contesting parties rose to 319% in search queries.
  5. Jurong GRC – 308%: The PAP team led by Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will contest against the NSP.
    Ang Mo Kio GRC, the GRC for Prime Minister Lee ranked ninth in search results with 227% surge and Moulmein-Kallang GRC recording the lowest search of only 83% and ranked 15th.

Yahoo! Search Trends has also witnessed an increase in searches related to the rallies, schedule, speeches and their locations. Some of the top keyword searches include:

  1. Singapore elections rally – 660%
  2. GE rally schedule – 1,150%
  3. GE rally location – 650%
  4. Rally speech – 433%
  5. Election rally venue – 400%

Since April 28, when the first election rallies were held following Nomination Day, Yahoo! Search Results has witnessed an increased spike in searches for everything related to the rallies:

  1. PAP rally increased by 916%
  2. WP rally 2011 increased by 1100%
  3. NSP rally increased 277%
  4. SDA rally increased 200%
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“For many Singaporeans, this is a historic event,” stated Managing Editor of Yahoo! Singapore, Alan Soon. “For the first time in our modern history, Singapore will have its most contested election with the opposition parties making all-or-nothing bets on key battlegrounds. At Yahoo! Singapore, we’re focused on one single goal — to deliver the best, most balanced coverage of the election for our audience and drive strong conversations on all fronts.”
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