Malaysiakini has again let its readers to decide on what they think are the most important news of 2012.

A total of 822 readers participated in the five-day survey, which was opened only to paying subscribers of the news portal.

They voted by showing their preference for each of the 18 news items selected by Malaysiakini - ‘1' being the lowest and ‘10' the highest.

Surprisingly, the top two news for 2012 mirrored that of last year's - Bersih rally and the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal. Apparently, these two issues have enough steam to remain on the radar and they are not likely to go away anytime soon.

The controversy surrounding the Lynas rare-earth refining plant in Gebeng and the debate on its radioactive wastes make it to No 3. This is followed by two issues which are linked to the 2006 murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The rise of the green movement is ranked No 6, while the more recent issue involving the Automatic Enforcement System (AES) as well as the rise in crime rounded up the list.

Here they are - Malaysiakini readers' choice of the top 10 headline-grabbers.

1. Bersih 3.0 - the mother of all rallies in downtown Kuala Lumpur

7,715 votes

2. National Feedlot Corporation scandal - cows, condos and a lot more

6,986 votes

3. Lynas and its radioactive wastes - store here, send back to Australia, export to other countries, or recycle into harmless products?

6,820 votes

4. Deepak Jaikishan and P Balasubramaniam - two statutory declarations, a dead Mongolian national and a powerful couple

6,501 votes

5. Suaram and its Scorpene campaign - the hounding of the human rights NGO by six government agencies

6,191 votes

6. Rise of the environmental movement - Himpunan Hijau, Pengerang, Bukit Koman and the Green March

6,005 votes

7. Amangate and RM40 million ‘donation' - Was the money for Musa Aman or Sabah Umno?

5,939 votes

8. PTPTN and Occupy Dataran - varsity students campaign for free tertiary education

5,220 votes

9. Automatic Enforcement System - the privatisation of traffic summonses

5,675 votes

10. Crime statistics - is the rising rate mere perception or is it real?

5,353 votes

Those that failed to make the cut

Eight of the 18 news items are relegated by Malaysiakini subscribers to the also-ran category.

Interestingly, it included the court verdict where Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy, the second in 10 years.

They are as follows:

11. Sodomy II verdict - surprise judgment that exonerated Anwar Ibrahim

5,060 votes

12. Violence at ceramahs - rocks, bottles and red paint fly during Pakatan ceramahs nationwide

5,050 votes

13. Cops vs cops - war of words continues among former top cops

4,275 votes

14. Talam, BN land grab and prawn farm - the Selangor government and opposition cross swords over a myriad of corruption allegations

4,246 votes

15. Felda and FGV listings - the battle to win support in the rural heartland

4,240 votes

16. Controversy over 55th Merdeka - the logo, the song, the butt-show and poster stomping on Merdeka eve at Dataran Merdeka

4,141 votes

17. LGBT and V-neck t-shirts - attacks on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community that only made a laughing stock of the country

3,522 votes

18. Reform of the ISA, UUCA, PPPA - PM Najib Abdul Razak's bid to make Malaysia the world's best democracy

3,494 votes

Tomorrow, Malaysiakini will announce the Newsmaker of 2012.