COMMENT | As usual, my pick for the top five newsmakers in no particular order – except the top spot, that is – are individuals who shaped the discourse, either intentionally or not over the course of the year.

I assumed that choosing these individuals would be difficult, but I discovered this was not the case.

1. Zaid Ibrahim

Let's see. Over the course of the year, the former law minister has:

1. joined DAP;

2. angered the Selangor royal family, by reminding the Sultan that he should be non-partisan;

3. angered mainstream Islamists, by reminding them that rationality trumps blind faith;

4. angered the liberal left by encouraging Malays to leave an increasingly intolerant Muslim Malaysia;

5. angered certain people in the opposition for his defence of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (Zaid was one of the first to support the former strongman); and,

6. Angered the Umno establishment with his views on the Islamisation process and what it means to be Malay. The state has since banned a book of his that has been in print for the past two years.

From my vantage point: “Zaid will no doubt gain much attention if he continues talking about his principles with nary a care for party solidarity. While I think this is a good thing, his political career is evidence that this is not considered being a team player. Zaid believes that a ‘Malay’ tsunami will be the downfall of Najib. The question is, can Zaid and all the other oppositional Malay leaders create the variables for a perfect storm that would bench the Umno hegemon?”

2. Former PM Mahathir Mohamad

There is no doubt that the former prime minister defined prime minister’s Najib Razak’s annus horribilis. Relentlessly attacking the Umno grand poohbah, dissing the Umno sycophants that ironically he helped create, the former prime minister in his quest to dethrone Najib has made it clear that he has no intention of ceding the field even if it means slaying sacred cows.

While opposition types may have made peace with the reality that the prime minister they had condemned for decades is the only viable captain in this great coming election, many feel a sense of futility as to what could come of this unholy alliance of former Umno die-hards and an opposition sensing the tide is changing.

From my vantage point: "If the goal of removing the current Umno grand poohbah is paramount then the opposition should just stop this nonsense and place the crown on Mahathir Mohamad and hope that some kind of change will be forthcoming if they succeed."

3. PM Najib Razak

Why do I get the feeling that even if he loses he wins? That is right because with the setting up of the National Security Council and other powers at his disposal, the current Umno grand poohbah has a safety net that could see him retain power if he chooses to carry out certain options. While the opposition flounders, Umno is making use of its old enemy PAS to shore up Malay/Muslim support and string the Islamic party along with dreams of power in Putrajaya.

I would argue that the complicated 1MDB issue, the People's Republic of China (PRC) bailouts and the reality that the Umno establishment is using its own crimes which they claim were perpetrated by the current opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad, has done far more damage to the opposition than anything the opposition has done to the current Umno grand poohbah.

From my vantage point: The Najib regime has made no comment and indeed the racial and religious rhetoric has escalated to the point that the Umno establishment has enacted laws that would give them legal authority to rule in emergency until such time that they feel confident enough to resume the facade of democracy in this country.”

4. Jamal Yunos

The clown prince of outsourced thugs. Jamal has the singular distinction of being the person who defanged the concept of Malay and Islamic supremacy. With his bizarre antics, he turned the concept of “ketuanan Melayu” into a joke. The joke was on us, of course, because the real Islamists within the establishment were making moves while Malaysians were distracted by his tomfoolery.

It is easy playing the tough guy when the state is behind you. It is easy spouting racist and bigoted horse manure when you know you will not be sanctioned. It is easy fighting with opponents who have one hand tied behind their backs. If Jamal Yunos is the future of Malay leadership, then perhaps, we should just sign the country over to the PRC. I am sure they will have a job for him.

From my vantage point: “Jamal, meanwhile, continues his ‘screw you’ approach to the security apparatus of the state. He has no problems leaving a mess in a public space because he has the backing of the Umno state, which is making a public mess all over the country. His type of easy Islamic extremism entails bullying the non-Malay/non-Muslim communities, all the while enjoying the blessing of the state, instead of fighting other Muslims on foreign soil attempting to establish an Islamic caliphate.”

5. Nurhanizah Abdul Rahman and her dog Bubu

I have no idea how this story panned out but Nurhanizah and what she went through for taking care of a stray dog, is a reminder to us non-Muslims of how the majority of Malay/Muslims in this country with all their special rights have to put up with oppressive state religious agencies. Religious bureaucrats who characterise an act of compassion as something that should be repented should be a stark reminder to all of us, that if we do not stand up for our rights, support those who do but most importantly hold the people who claim to share our values responsible for what they say and do, we could all end up at the mercy of such charlatans.

From my vantage point: “I do wonder if these same pious members of her community, so easily distressed, also threw food laced with poison and faeces - cat, dog or human? - into her compound? No, what she was doing was showing empathy for an animal, and what she gets in return is a state-sanctioned religious institution asking her to repent for her sinful ways.”

Lastly, my New Year message for friends, readers and Malaysians fighting the right fight: Illegitimi non carborundum.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.