‘Are you sure?’ Those were the words most often heard on the night of March 8 in Malaysiakini's newsroom.

As reports poured in from our network of journalists and volunteers across the nation, editors at our own makeshift election operations centre were dumbstruck. ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Are you sure?’

The nation, too, was stunned as we relayed up-to-the-minute results on cyberspace.

At 7.50pm, we confirmed PAS had retained Kelantan. An hour later, Penang fell into the opposition's hands. At 9.30pm, PAS conceded defeat in Terengganu.

The swing against the government was, more or less, as expected. Or so we thought.

Soon we received news that S Samy Vellu was trounced in Sungai Siput - the seat which the MIC supremo had held for three decades. His defeat was followed by that of a number of top Barisan Nasional leaders.

Then the shocker - at 10.50pm, the PAS-led opposition coalition snatched Kedah.

And there was even more to come. Selangor fell at 12.25am and 90 minutes later the DAP-PKR-PAS alliance claimed victory in Perak. At 2.42am, the opposition denied the BN government - for the second time in 50 years - its two-thirds parliamentary majority.

The impossible had happened. That night, history was being made.

Days before March 8, I wrote that it was ‘very difficult, impossible even’ for the opposition to deny BN its cherished two-thirds majority, let alone win government.

‘There will have to be a major swing in votes - and it must be across the board - before we see a sizable number of seats falling into opposition hands.’

While the mood among non-Malays was obvious to all, Malaysiakini detected a late swing among Malay voters in the final phase of the 13-day election campaign.

As a result, the domino effect went into action.

Beware Gen-keyboard

My prediction on the opposition's haul wasn't even close - 40 seats I said. The opposition doubled that, and in the process got their holy grail of denying the BN government a two-thirds majority.

And yes, I'll have to eat humble pie. But guess what? I'm more than happy to do so. And perhaps I should be whacked over my head with a rolled-up newspaper too.

malaysiakini team botak bald men 190308 Luckily though, I wasn’t among the five in Malaysiakini who vowed to shave their heads in the unlikely event that the government was robbed of its two-thirds majority ( see photo ).

All said, the man of the hour is none other than former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. He has reinvented himself as a Malay leader who speaks the language of the future - one which assures everyone a place under the Malaysian sun.

So what's next?

Knowing Anwar, he's not going to wait four years. The opposition coalition needs an additional 30 seats to claim power. For some, that should be a cake walk. In the coming months, all eyes will be on Umno - it may implode as warring factions squabble to take over from a politically mortally wounded Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Overtures will also be made to those in Sabah and Sarawak which together command 54 of the 140 seats in BN. No doubt, carrots will be thrown to entice defections. Perhaps promises of greater autonomy and an offer to abide by the original 20-point Malaysia agreement - still a sore point among East Malaysians after 44 years.

We shall leave it to historians to determine to what extent the Internet played a role in the political tsunami of 2008.

While we may quibble over its exact role, few will doubt its contribution to the perfect storm on March 8.

And even if the Internet's contribution is ambivalent today, then let’s wait another few years when the ‘keyboard’ generation joins the queue for the ballot box.

Our mission unchanged

Clearly, the Internet has helped not only in breaking the mainstream media's monopoly on the truth but also in breaking the government's monopoly on power.

Eight years ago, the few of us at Malaysiakini set about doing an unenviable task.

Along the way, we gave Dr Mahathir Mohamad a pain in the neck . We gave Anwar a voice and a ticket out of the political wilderness. We gave Abdullah's spin-doctors a run for their money. We gave Bersih and Hindraf the kind of coverage which they, no, Malaysians deserved.

March 8 has made it all worthwhile. Still, our task is not done. As we close one chapter, we are opening another. This new page has yet to be written. We know not what story we are going to tell.

But in Chapter Two, our mission will remain the same. It's our job as journalists to hold politicians - be they BN or the opposition - accountable to those who put them in power. As such, we will continue to provide news and views that matter, without fear or favour.

Four months ago, we urged Abdullah to follow the footsteps of BJ Habibie - the colourless technocrat who as Indonesia’s president made history by initiating poll reforms, liberating the media, freeing political prisoners and letting East Timor go.

Abdullah, too, has made history. By doing nothing, or at best very little, he helped create the political tsunami that swept Malaysians into a new era. Ironic, isn’t it?

Watch video: Behind the scenes - M'kini on poll night