SINGAPORE, July 3 — Leading up to this General Election (GE), WhatsApp and Telegram chat groups are buzzing more than in past elections with copious amounts of news reports, memes and discussions related to the hustings.

One man in his 60s — who wanted to be known only as Tham — said that in GE2015, WhatsApp was a tool his group of friends used to arrange meetups and plan gatherings. Now, it is the place where political discussions and debates take place.

The reasons for this range from the younger generation driving the shift to the online space — and the older generation following suit — as well as the Covid-19 pandemic robbing the population of physical rallies, with most information being posted online.

This is the case for homemaker Mazlina Mohd, 52, who has been more active on WhatsApp — the platform she uses to communicate with her two children, aged 21 and 25.

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“They send me all sorts of things on WhatsApp. Funny videos or photos of (politicians) making speeches… sometimes I share them with my friends,” she said, adding that her family chat has been buzzing in the last three days.

The younger crowd say that they mainly use messaging app Telegram with each other, and that it's easier for them to learn abt GE developments via their friends' shared memes and links rather than reading the news.

Tham, who works in the financial industry, said: “In the past we would look forward to (physical) rallies.

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“But now with the Covid lockdown, people are more mindful of mingling around… Social media has become very relevant and critical.”

He is in a WhatsApp group of over 20 friends who are “in the Merdeka generation”, and most of them actively send articles and funny memes related to the GE.

Administrative associate Yasmin Ardekani, 23, said she uses Telegram as it contains public channels, from news outlets to online communities, which make it convenient to receive updates.

For instance, she joined a group with other Marsiling residents to keep up with events in her neighbourhood during the campaigning period.

Discussions can get heated

While sharing of information may allow for discourse, voters TODAY spoke to said it may sometimes get heated, especially when the receiver has differing views or does not come from the same social sphere.

Fiona Teo, a 23-year-old who works part-time in the education sector, said this happened with her mother.

Some also see more intimate chat groups as a more suitable space to share their thoughts.

For 26-year-old Teresa Zhou, she said she “tends to share more” about her political views with her closer friends, and they do so on a Telegram group.

Whereas she will discuss “more superficial” aspects of the GE through memes and by sharing articles with acquaintances on other platforms, her group of close friends will “dig deep” into the discussions.For instance, her Telegram group had discussed Wednesday’s (July 1) GE debate at length, which led to a disagreement on whether opposition parties should be voted in to reduce the ruling party’s majority.

“This led to us discussing about how it shouldn't just be about voting the opposition in for the sake of opposition, but to ensure that we are voting in the right individual,” she said.

Zhou, who works in public affairs, said that as a first-time voter, she is feeling more involved in this year’s GE through group chats.

“It is still very important for these discussions to happen in group chats… because we need to talk about it first and formulate thoughts about it and have an opinion,” she said.

“This way, we can potentially engage in more discussions afterwards with other people to continue building on our perspective."

However, not everyone sees messaging apps as a platform for serious discussion.

Undergraduate Mattheus Wee, 23, said he has been keeping up with the coming election because the bite-sized information shared on messaging apps are easily consumable and has served as springboards to explore the issues surfaced.

The type of content which he is most excited about: Memes.

“As a first-time voter who feels like I wasn't really engaging with the elections in the past, I am heartened to know that we are viewing the same sites and memes that the generation after us are viewing, and hopefully that sparks some interest within them,” said Wee.

Rodney Sim, 31, who is a third-time voter, said that he uses messaging platforms to share websites with listicles and infographics, as well as memes with his family and friends.

“They summarise all the important points and at the same time make it very entertaining,” said Sim, who is an events organiser.

“Who am I voting for, or if I’m a pro this or that party… We don’t really (engage) in in-depth discussions,” he said. “We usually just say ‘this is quite funny’ or ‘this is quite interesting’.”

Similarly, Nurul Huda Jumali, 32, said she usually shares reports about the latest policies which impact her circle of friends, like health or childcare.

“I think we don’t really like to share our political views… just safe topics like where to send our children to school,” said the administrative assistant with a chuckle.

Spreading fake news, alienating the elderly

While most interviewed said that messaging apps have become an important source of information during this GE when there are no more physical rallies, some are also wary of their potential to spread fake news.

Tham said that before sharing any news article to his “Merdeka generation” group, he would cross-check with other sources, as he is afraid that fake news laws can be invoked against him for spreading falsehoods.

“The way news can be altered and doctored, we are not sure,” he said. “We should take WhatsApp with a discerning perspective, don’t take it as gospel truth.”

Agreeing, 70-year-old Eng Kin Seng said that it is up to the reader to discern if the news is fake.

Eng, who works in the construction industry, added that some elderly may be alienated from political discourse, as the use of these apps is mainly driven by the younger generation.

He said that he was only active on WhatsApp because his two children, in their 30s and 40s, had created a family group chat with him in it.

“The older generation, most of them (are not familiar) with the internet or WhatsApp,” he said.

“What is going around now (online) are political things, which they may not know (about).” — TODAY