IT’S the end of 2022 and what a year it has been – bitter disappointments, tragedies, tornadoes and the annual floods. But there has been relief, and some heart-warming stories too.
In all of these, there have been heroes and villains and as the year comes to a close, it is time for the big question: “Who has been the Newsmaker of the Year?”
This year, the competition has been fierce. After all, 2022 saw upheavals that changed millions of lives.
The ringgit slumped, as did the stock market. A state election sent hopes soaring for some, yet the general election brought those hopes crashing with a result never seen before.
So many people were involved in so many things – from successes in sports and in handling the pandemic to failures in economics and governance and the unwelcome rise in racial and religious rhetoric.
In sports, there was Datuk Azizulhasni Awang, the heroic cyclist who overcame heart surgery to return as one of the best in the world.
And there was shuttler Lee Zi Jia, who left the national set-up in a hugely controversial manner, being banned from the sport for two years. Sane heads prevailed and he got back his right to play.
Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik became the country’s first-ever badminton world champions. Sadly, they have yet to win a title in the international circuit.
Elsewhere, there is Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, our Health director-general who was named chair of the World Health Organisation’s Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response after all the good work he did during the pandemic.
Talking of preparedness and response, there was also the rescue team of the Batang Kali landslide.
Every one of them – and their dogs – was a hero with many refusing medical check-ups just to stay in the rescue bid. Even the state fire chief, who was rushed to hospital after a mild stroke, rushed back to work the moment he was discharged.
It was both heart-wrenching and heart-warming.
There are women in the reckoning too.
Take Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat. The Chief Justice has been steadfast in keeping the Judiciary independent, even leading the bench that sent former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to jail.
It was a decision that left Umno, which was part of the ruling coalition, shell-shocked. She also rejected a bid by assemblymen in Penang to overturn the state’s anti-hopping law.
There is another woman, but on the other side of the courtroom.
Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor now holds the record of the person facing the biggest fine ever – a mind-numbing RM970mil!
The 70-year-old was also given a jail sentence of 10 years and slapped with another 30 years if she fails to pay that fine.
She was found guilty on three corruption charges over a RM1.25bil solar hybrid project.
In politics, the rise of Perikatan Nasional, led by two Tan Sris – Muhyiddin Yassin and Hadi Awang – has been surprising.
However, they brought a racial and religious slant to the national conversation, leaving them behind the three who really stood out – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib and our new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The three have been making headlines for decades now, but things really came to a boil in 2022.
Najib was sent to jail for 12 years and fined RM210mil by the Federal Court in dramatic fashion. The trip to jail itself was all drama. He was sent to Kajang Prison although the media waited for him at Sungai Buloh prison.
Even then, there were rumours of how his powers allowed him to spend time in a medical facility instead of behind bars.
That was cleared up soon enough by the prison authorities, but his influence is real.
After all, it was his mojo that gave Barisan Nasional a huge win in the Johor state elections in March, taking 40 of the 57 seats for a super majority.
So great was his influence that even Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi pulled him in front of then prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in the victory celebrations.
Just five months later, he was in jail.
If Najib’s fall from grace was tough, Mahathir’s plummet was catastrophic.
The man who once led the country with an iron fist and did things “My Way” has really fallen by the wayside.
It has indeed been an annus horribilis for the 97-year-old.
He started the year in hospital for an elective heart surgery, tested positive for Covid-19 on Merdeka Day and was soundly thumped in the 15th General Election.
He even lost his deposit.
He then quit Pejuang, the party he founded in 2020. To add insult to injury, his loyalists claim it was his son, Mukhriz, who had turned against him – the son for whom Mahathir has long battled.
Even in defeat, Mahathir still claims his son would make a better prime minister than Anwar.
I am sure Anwar will beg to differ. For him, it has been the year when it all came together.
After 24 years – since his sacking in 1998 – he has finally risen to the pinnacle.
And what a journey it has been.
He was jailed, saw his ambitions thwarted time and again – often by Dr Mahathir’s machinations – and laughed at when his claims of “having the numbers” flopped.
Even his bid to become Mentri Besar of Selangor in 2014 went awfully awry.
The year 2022, however, saw him do the impossible.
After the Melaka state elections in 2021 and the Johor elections, his party, PKR, looked headed for a wipeout.
But with the return to politics of his new deputy Rafizi Ramli, his fortunes rose.
Pakatan Harapan managed to win the most seats in a hung Parliament and the man who had once been derided by many became the Prime Minister.
He had gone from his many battles in the Palace of Justice to the Royal Palace for his swearing-in, and on to Perdana Putra.
There cannot be a bigger story than that. It has even hit India’s Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who wants to be Millionaire) quiz show.
For that, my money has to be on Anwar Ibrahim as Newsmaker of 2022.
It will surely be a happy new year for him. And I truly hope it will be the same for all Malaysians.
