DECEMBER 9 — When EMIR Research unveiled its first ever National Worry Index (NWI) last month wherein Malaysia scored a co-efficient of 0.77 which denotes a marginally maximum-worried rakyat, reactions from analysts and observers were so swift in interpreting the index to mean it’s a wake-up call for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

A wake-up call for what?

If it is a wake-up call for PH to do something about it so that it can still remain in power after GE15, then this is really missing the point.

The NWI is not a barometer for the longevity of a ruling party or coalition to hold on to power. It is just an evidence-based index that shows the sources and indicators of the rakyat’s worry, and have nothing to do with winning an election.

The index was conceptualised and formulated rigorously based on the findings of EMIR Research Inaugural Poll on "Pulse from the Ground: Voices & Expectations of the Rakyat”.

The objectives of the poll have to be taken into consideration too, and these are: