POLL | Over the past 20 years, Malaysiakini has, without fail, named a top newsmaker as we bring the curtain down on the year.

A newsmaker is defined as “someone whose actions make news headlines, who affects the course of public discourse and creates an impact on Malaysian politics, for better or worse.”

Malaysiakini has nominated 19 candidates for the Newsmaker of 2021 award.

A total of 367 respondents participated in the poll. They voted by indicating their preference for each of the nominees – 0 being the lowest and 10 votes the highest.

And here’s their verdict…


19. Wee Ka Siong, transport minister who ‘saved’ the day for Prasanara and liquor licence (1,398 votes)



18. M Saravanan, the minister in the hot seat as Malaysian-made products banned over labour exploitation allegations (1,525 votes)



17. Mahathir Mohamad, PM4 and PM7, who launched yet another memoir (1,565 votes)



16. Idris Haron, former CM who brought down the Malacca government (1,765 votes)



15. Azalina Othman Said, former Dewan Rakyat speaker, now special advisor to PM9 (1,858 votes)



14. Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, Kedah MB who is a pain in the butt for Penang (1,908 votes)



13. Rosmah Mansor, former ‘First Lady’ and the Imelda Marcos of Malaysia (2,025 votes)



12. Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, who assumes a prominent role as governing coalition plays musical chair (2,084 votes)



11. Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, infamous for his tone-deaf comment over a horrific train collision (2,139 votes)



10. Ismail Sabri Yaakob, PM9, another accidental prime minister (2,156 votes)



9. Muhyiddin Yassin, PM8, the shortest-serving prime minister in history (2,166 votes)



8. Nur Sajat Kamaruzzaman, the cosmetics entrepreneur transgender who fled to Thailand and given asylum in Australia (2,186 votes)



7. Khairy Jamaluddin, possibly the best performing minister (2,188 votes)



6. Anwar Ibrahim, the embattled opposition leader who faces calls for resignation (2,271 votes)



5. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Umno president, facing corruption trial (2,280 votes)



4. Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, the student who blew the whistle on a teacher who allegedly told a rape joke (2,485 votes)



3. Abdul Hamid Bador, former police chief who blasted the home minister on the day of his resignation (2,552 votes)



2. Delta and Omicron, the variants which ‘transformed’ our fight against the Covid virus (2,682 votes)



1. Najib Abdul Razak, former prime minister, convicted of corruption (2,700 votes)


Top news of 2021 - Malaysiakini readers' choice

Top news of 2021 - Malaysiakini readers' choice