vox populi small thumbnail 'This saga is not over yet - not until the culprits responsible have been caught and punished, failing which this case will fester until the next general elections. Then Beng Hock will have his triumph.'

Kgan: The Beng Hock saga is not over yet - not until the culprits responsible have been caught and punished, failing which this case will fester until the next general elections. Then Beng Hock will have his triumph in death - the ousting of BN with his help.

RubyStar: The choice for Malaysiakini's Newsmaker of 2009 is excellent and appropriate, though it is a very sad choice. We must make sure that the MACC will pay for this as well as their puppet master who orchestrated the injustices onto this poor man. Somehow his spirit will always live with us and may he rest in peace.

Mythots: Teoh Beng Hock paid the highest price for his pursuit of a better Malaysia - he paid for it with his life. In remembrance, let us not make his sacrifice be in vain. Malaysia, our country and homeland, is worth it. And this son of Malaysia, stands tall as a fighter for all that is good in our country.

Ong Guan Sin: May Beng Hock rest in peace and may his ghost continue to haunt those shameless people in power. His tragic death will be another nail in the coffin of BN. His sacrifice will not be in vain - we must make sure that.

Gk: Teoh Beng Hock is also my choice for Newsmaker of 2009. I would say Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand is my choice as well for her righteousness and professionalism. The spirit of Teoh shall be with us for long, long time.

Cala: I like this particular sentence in the article: "His tragic death opened up a whole cans of worms on many spectrums - in politics, governance, and a myriad of other mentions."

My sincere hope is that this unfortunate incident shall hasten the pace of change in Malaysian politics. That his death is not in vain.

Why the ROS is no friend of SAM

Anak Sarawak: I am a native Kayan from Baram. The state government has given our NCR (native customary rights) land for palm oil plantations and the project was launched by none other than our own chief minister who took our land. We are now trying our best to prevent the plantations from entering, but for how long?

Perhaps some blood will spill because Kayan land is really NCR land since the Kayans never moved from place to place before 1958. We are really grateful to people like the writer who fight for our heritage. God bless you.

Lee Heng Soon: I was in Miri for eight years and I have nothing to do with timber. Maybe this can give you an idea of how much money can be made from a single timber concession. If one has 20,000 hectares to log, the money that one company can make is easily around RM20 million to RM50 million based on my calculation if the land is logged over three years.

The stakes are very high. Greed is in human nature. The trouble is that some people have no limits to their greed.

Samy Vellu slammed over civil service job disparity

Norman Fernandez: Thank god my parents never fell for MIC's cock-and-bull stories. Had they relied on MIC or depended on MIC, I think my life would have been doomed.

Thiru: Instead of complaining about the MIC, Pakatan Rakyat should show that they are better since they have the power to make changes in four states. The people voted for Pakatan to see changes - not to complain about MIC.

Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: Now aren't we a racist nation? Why even talk about the percentage of how many Indians are in the civil service? Why should there even be a quota in the first place for any race? If a person is competent, dedicated and qualified, then why can't he/she just be considered for any job, be it in civil service or otherwise?

What has the colour of one's skin, the origin of one's roots or one's religious belief got anything to do with their ability to perform their job? If it so happens that only Indians or only Malays or only Chinese are the best at a certain kind of job, then why can't we matured Malaysians let them perform those functions?

Wouldn't the nation greatly benefit from the best quality of service? Aren't the progress and prosperity of our nation as a whole paramount? Or is our respective racial preference more important? Therein lies the answer as to whether or not we are a nation deserving of development and prosperity.