A year ago, we highlighted 10 reports about which the authorities were evidently clueless in resolving, leaving the public none the wiser as to the outcome. Six of these, being time-sensitive, died an unnatural death between then and now.

The rest on racial clashes in Petaling Jaya; alleged abuse of power by Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo; graft allegations linking former Pahang Umno chief Khalil Yaakob with logging concessions; and the ever-burning whodunit over the Dewan Tunku Canselor fire remain wide open to interpretation in the absence of official explanations.

But, let it not be said that Malaysia is stuck in a time-warp, for the current year has contributed a fresh crop of mysteries. We unveil the latest list with the same caveat: don't expect answers any time soon.

  1. 'Nice Guy' seeks deputy

    It had to happen sometime the region's longest-serving prime minister has said he will hang up his hat in October 2003, and all eyes have fallen on his current deputy 'Mr Nice Guy' Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 62, is now premier-in-waiting of Malaysia.

    As the fifth prime minister, he will need a deputy. And perhaps he may have better luck than predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has gone through four deputies over the last 21 years.

    But if Pak Lah, as the affable Abdullah is called by one and all, has his eye on a potential candidate, he is certainly not telling. Those eligible are the three Umno vice-presidents Najib Razak, Muhammad Muhd Taib and Muhyiddin Yassin . While Mahathir has named Najib for the job, he will have to wait along with all Malaysians (Citizen M may as well get used to the idea) for Pak Lah's decision.

    Tradition will not be of much help in this situation. Usually, the top two leaders of Umno assume the posts of premier and the deputy. As prime minister, Pak Lah will choose his deputy.

    Recent history suggests, though, that he would be wise to keep a low profile and measure his words until that happy day arrives, for Mahathir has yet to step down. Pak Lah is obviously careful of incurring his boss's displeasure, thereby falling from grace and joining three previous deputies in the political sin-bin.

    For now, Pak Lah is calmly playing the right cards. As one of the first people to rush to Mahathir's side after the PM tearfully announced his resignation in June, he showed crisis-management qualities. Waiting in the wings, he is using his time to strengthen grassroots support and build a strong political presence. Oh, and to select that elusive deputy....

  2. Pink face in Puteri Umno

    The personable Puteri Umno chief Azalina Othman Said was always bound to turn heads. Over the year, however, some of those heads have rolled, as she ruthlessly felled those in opposition to her leadership.

    She sacked six pro tem committee members, dubbed Enam Jahanam (The Wicked Six) when they fell out with her. Azalina's remaining supporters later accused the group of leaking stories to Khalid.

    Azalina's year of misery continued. In April, Malay tabloid Perdana Sari published allegations about her sexual orientation. Writer Khalid Jafri also alleged she was involved in corrupt practices, by using the wing's money to buy a luxury car for her friend.

    As friends became implacable foes, they fought Azalina from the outside. Former close aide Elly Zalilah Yusof, who cited several examples of alleged misconduct on Azalina's part, led the pack to meet Umno president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to get his advice.

    He promptly told them to lodge a report with the police and the Umno disciplinary committee if they had evidence of Azalina's wrongdoings. They did but, to date, neither the police nor Umno have acted on the reports.

    In the meantime, Azalina went on to win the maiden Puteri Umno election without contest none of her challengers secured the minimum two nominations required to stand against her. Were the divisions so instructed?

  3. Comrades up in arms

    In line with the time-hounoured Malaysian adage that an offender's only crime is to get caught, MCA's Team A and B members have moved their bickering to the backroom since April, when they ostensibly agreed to retain the status quo for party posts until 2005.

    After MCA returned its office-bearers uncontested at the party's triennial election in July, leaders of both factions went 'underground' to feed their feud. They held separate 'unity dinners' with their own supporters and continued to snipe at the other side.

    Team A leader and party chief Dr Ling Liong Sik aggravated the situation when he reduced the number of appointed posts in the central committee. Team B leader and former cabinet minister Lim Ah Lek was not re-appointed as head of the disciplinary committee.

    Lim has vowed to fight back and is mulling a comeback in the next general election, widely anticipated in the coming year.

    Within the party, jostling continues via proxies as Ling and Lim move to install their respective protgs vice-presidents Ong Ka Ting and Chan Kong Choy at the helm. The war, it would seem, is far from over although a ceasefire has been declared.

  4. A ticking time bomb?

    After suspected terrorist Yazid Sufaat was detained last year under the Internal Security Act for alleged links with the Sept 11 hijackers, police confirmed a Newsweek report in January that he had purchased four tonnes of ammonium nitrate.

    Yazid, however, insisted that he had sold the chemical to an Indonesian engineer who was running a quarry in West Java. He also maintained that he had been informed by 'local authorities' that no permit was required for the deal.

    The police were adamant that the ammonium nitrate had been intended for more sinister purposes.

    Initial reports said that the chemicals were meant to be made into bombs for use in the sectarian war in the Moluccas islands. Later reports suggested that the ammonium nitrate may instead have ended up in the hands of Philippines-based militants.

    Still unclear is the outcome of investigations into Yazid's claims about his Indonesian client. Has the ammonium nitrate been used in any of the recent bombing in Indonesia or the Philippines? If not, where is it now?

  5. Rescue services for fire chief

    Malaysians are a generous lot, never more so than when a family celebration is on. All and sundry are invited to join in the merry-making. Perhaps that's all Fire and Rescue Department director-general Jaafar Sidek Tambi had at mind, when he told his staff that his son was getting married in September.

    It appears they plunged enthusiastically into the preparations, using working hours to hold meetings and later, department facilities for logistical support at the wedding. A total of 7,000 guests including 700 VIPs attended grand receptions in Bukit Kiara and Renaissance Hotel.

    After the wedding, PAS Youth Chief obviously not among the invitees questioned Jaafar's alleged abuse of power during a Dewan Rakyat sitting. Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting rushed to Jaafar's rescue with a denial.

    Kuala Lumpur Fire Department director Mohd Ali Tambi Chik begged to differ. He turned whistle blower and went public with documentary evidence. While he was briefing journalists at the KL headquarters, police gate-crashed the session apparently acting on an emergency call from senior fire official Leonard Athanesius who said there was a "mad man" in the building.

    Mohd Ali lodged reports with the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA), leading to a sudden flurry of questioning of more than 60 staffers but not Jaafar Sidek and some of his senior officials to date. At last contact, ACA sources said investigations are in progress. The luckless Mohd Ali, meanwhile, has been slapped with six show-cause letters.

  6. (S)oh, for some fish-head curry!

    When businessman Soh Chee Wen returned to Malaysia in May to face two charges connected to commercial crimes, the first thing he told the press was that he missed fish-head curry.

    It was a loaded term, having been popularised by MCA chief and Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik, who had likened the party to a fish and the leaders to its head.

    Soh's statement raised eyebrows because he had been Ling's close associate until the duo's relationship turned acrimonious after the regional financial crisis put a brake on their businesses.

    He has since hinted that he may tell all about his business relationship with Ling, including acquisition of companies and possible abuse of ministerial power. Although Soh's trial started in November, it has served up little more than an appetiser. Fish-head curry could still be on the menu.

  7. Watching the watchdog

    The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is in the doghouse for not being able to complete its investigations into 21 high-profile cases that have accumulated over several years now.

    De facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim conceded as much when quizzed in May as to why investigations were taking so long to complete. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad later confirmed the figure.

    Indefatigable media activist Ahmad Lutfi Othman, who last year lodged a police report alleging abuse of power by Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, visited the ACA this year to move the overdue investigations along. In October, Lutfi claimed that Khir was involved in allocating land deals and government projects worth more than RM100 million to associates.

    Among other cases, questions still hang over how Perwaja Steel sustained RM10 billion in losses; and how Transport Minister and MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik's son Ling Hee Leong was able to acquire assets worth more than RM1.2 billion within months and at the age of 27.

  8. Youth at your service

    Will our gum-chewing teens turn into gun-toting national service-persons? Parents are biting their nails as they wait to hear how the proposed national service scheme will play out.

    Over the coming year, a special cabinet committee will go into periodic huddles to figure out the game plan. Comprising officers of six ministries, the committee is to meet for the second time in January.

    At its earlier meeting, it proposed that national service be made compulsory for about 40,000 Malaysians who turn 18 in 2004. These young men and women including those studying abroad will be expected to put in six months' service, failing which they will be penalised under a new law.

    While the proposal is aimed at instilling patriotism, national unity and integrity, opposing quarters have expressed worry that the situation may be exploited to influence the mindset of youth.

    Others have purely practical considerations on their mind whether or not the government has the facilities and capacity to implement the scheme, and if these teenagers will be taught the use of firearms.

  9. Long wait for oil money

    The multi-million ringgit oil-royalty suit that the Terengganu government brought against Petronas and the federal government last year is still pending resolution.

    In August, Justice Ariffin Zakaria of the Kuala Lumpur High Court rejected the defendants' application for the case to proceed solely on documentary evidence. He ruled that the case should go for a full trial.

    The government and Petronas have since filed an appeal against the decision, but the date for a hearing has yet to be set.

  10. Gorillas (still) in our midst

    It was monkey business on a grand scale as the spotlight fell on four rare lowland baby gorillas, which Taiping zoo acquired under dubious circumstances in January.

    Before the primates could be put on public display, controversy erupted, and the authorities soon found out how slippery a banana skin can be.

    International and local conservationists raised loud protests, based on their conviction that the gorillas were poached from Cameroon and then smuggled to a Nigerian zoo. A Malaysian-based animal dealer had arranged for their purchase by Taiping zoo.

    The uproar attracted the attention of the Geneva-based secretariat of the Convention of International Trade on Endangered Species (Cites) and World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They urged authorities in Malaysia and Nigeria to investigate.

    After details were made public by government officials of both countries, the Cites secretariat recommended that the gorillas be sent to a breeding facility that it would help to identify.

    Primatologist Jane Goodall, well-known for her ground-breaking research into chimpanzee behaviour, wrote a letter to the Malaysian government, recommending that the animals be sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Cameroon.

    Although Malaysia has agreed to surrender the gorillas, the animals are still at Taiping zoo. Amazingly, too, the government has not revealed the identity of those involved in the transaction and has yet to state if action will be taken against them.



Article prepared by the malaysiakini team.