Study finds Barack and Michelle Obama are most admired man and woman in Singapore today
Former first couple outrank the country’ president and prime minister and rank highly worldwide too
By Jessica Lin
Former US president Barack Obama may no longer be the most powerful leader in the free world, but it seems his popularity is not fading.
Both Obama, 56, and his wife, Michelle Obama, 54, have been named the most admired man and woman among internet users in Singapore in 2018.
Barack and Michelle Obama were given admiration scores of 12.7 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively.
Unfortunately, few Singaporeans made the lists.
At eighth place, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was the only Singaporean on the men’s list, with an admiration score of 4.10 per cent.
On the women’s list, President Halimah Yacob was the only Singaporean, with a 12th place rank and score of 2.90 per cent.
Conducted online, the YouGov study ranks public figures in 35 countries across the world.
The 44th US president, Obama, also ranked second on the global men’s list, as did his wife on the global women’s list.
In contrast, current president Donald Trump, 71, ranked much lower at 17th place.
In fact, Obama ranked first place in 19 countries, and second in five countries. His lowest ranking, 12th place, was registered in Russia, where current US president Donald Trump outranked him by one spot at 11th.
At the top of the global lists were Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, 62, and actress Angelina Jolie, 42. Both have topped the lists every year since the women’s category was introduced in 2015.
Over in Malaysia, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 92, was top on the men’s list, with a score of 15.0 per cent on the survey. His wife, 91-year-old Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, came in second on the women’s list, behind singer Siti Nurhaliza, 39.
Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor ranked at 15th and 25th place on their respective lists.
