Since independence, Malaysia has held 12 sessions of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into various issues, the latest being an inquiry on Bank Negara's foreign exchange (forex) losses during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The conduct and composition of the RCI are governed by the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950, which empowers the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the authority to appoint commissioners to look into the following:

• Conduct of any federal officer;
• Conduct or management of any department of the public service of Malaysia;
• Conduct or management of any public institution which is not solely maintained by state funds; or
• Any other matter in which an enquiry would, in the opinion of the Agong, be for the public welfare, while not involving Islam, Malay customs or certain matters pertaining to Sabah and Sarawak.

The subject of the 11 past RCIs are as follows: Salaries and conditions of civil service (1965), local authorities (1968), teaching service (1971), Penang ferry terminal collapse (1988), fire at Sekolah Agama Rakyat Taufikah al-Halimah, Kedah (1989), Bright Sparklers factory fire (1991), Anwar Ibrahim's black eye (1999), police reform (2004), Lingam-tape incident (2007, photo below, left)), Teoh Beng Hock's death (2010) and Sabah's population boom (2012).

From this list, it is evident that, typically, an RCI is called to probe current affairs, with the exception being the inquiry into Sabah's population explosion, which allegedly began in the late 1990s.

But now that Putrajaya has formed an RCI on Bank Negara's forex scandal, PAS has urged Putrajaya to form an inquiry on the Memali incident, which took place in 1985, as well.

This incident saw 14 civilians and four police personnel killed, following a botched attempt to detain Ibrahim Mahmud, better known as Ibrahim Libya, at a commune in Baling, Kedah. [Read our KiniGuide here]

This proposal has received a positive response from the federal government, possibly because it could affect the reputation of BN's "No 1 enemy of the Malays" - Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In view of the recent trend of dredging up old issues for public scrutiny through an RCI, Malaysiakini has compiled a list of other old issues that might warrant an RCI.

This list is by no means exhaustive and is arranged in no particular order...