This was the year that tens of thousands of Malaysians broke free of mental chains and collectively thumbed their noses at those in control.
From courtly lawyers to cheesed-off car-tinters, there was a unity of purpose across their respective causes, as they claimed the right to speak and to be heard - and damn the consequences!
No, it had nothing to do with a government that “gave” them freedom to do so. It had everything to do with a citizenry that would not cave in to the commands of an overbearing government.
Malaysiakini celebrates a year of definitive mindset change - so, it is apt that C-words rule our choice of Top 10 news issues of the year.
Think coverage of that clip, corruption, clean-ups, conversions, courage, crackdowns, crime, conflict, commission, culling, chatterboxes and campaigns... caught on yet?
Who, what, when, where, why, how? That’s precisely what we would like to know, as Malaysiakini re-visits major issues that have stretched our analytical skills over the year.
Cronies and phoneys feature alongside phantoms and fakes, as well as missing persons and promises. What’s real, what’s not? Who gains, who doesn’t?
2007 X-Files: Same old stories
Two Thousand And Seven, what an eventful 365 days we have had. Hideous crimes, high-profile court cases, explosive scandals and massive street rallies, just to name some news highlights. The Year of the Boar had indeed proved not to be ‘boaring’.
It was also a poignant year for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, for whom the bell tolled - wedding bells, that is. But the honeymoon came to a quick end when he invoked the spectre that Malaysians thought had been exorcised with his predecessor’s farewell - the summoning of the Internal Security Act to silence dissent.
The year was especially significant for Indian Malaysians too. Overnight, they became a political force to be reckoned with as they took to the streets in the tens of thousands, incurred the wrath of the government, and saw five of their ‘leaders’ hauled off under ISA.
In view of this, Malaysiakini decided it would only be correct to honour an Indian Malaysian as the Newsmaker of 2007.
And the Newsmaker of 2007 is...
PREVIOUS REPORTS
Top 10 News
The X-Files
2006 X-files: An inelegant silence
2005 X-files: Wish-list for action
2004 X-files: The plot thickens
2003 X-files: Unresolved cases
2002 X-files: The saga continues
Newsmaker of the Year
And the Newsmaker of 2006 is...
And the Newsmaker of 2005 is...
And the Newsmaker of 2004 is...
And the Newsmaker of 2003 is...
