A year like no other! A look back at top stories that shaped Malaysia in 2020

On Jan 25, the first case of COVID-19 detected in Malaysia was traced back to three Chinese nationals who previously had close contact with an infected person in Singapore. They travelled into Malaysia via Sungai Buloh on Jan 24. They were treated at Sungai Buloh Hospital, Selangor.

Barisan Nasional (BN) won by a majority of 2,029 votes. BN candidate Datuk Mohamad Alamin retained the parliamentary seat defeating a candidate from Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan), Datuk Karim Bujang in the one-on-one contest.

On Feb 4, a 41-year-old man was confirmed to be the first Malaysian infected with COVID-19. He had recently returned from Singapore when he started to develop a fever and a cough. He was quarantined at Sungai Buloh Hospital.

Malaysia plunged into a week of political crisis following the unexpected resignation of 94-year-old Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister on Feb. 24. This is what happened:

Feb 23 - Barisan Nasional, Bersatu, PAS and a splinter faction of PKR led by Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali gathered for a “special meeting” at Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya. The gathering is now referred to as the “Sheraton Move”. Those present plotted to topple the Pakatan Harapan government. Feb 24 - Mahathir resigns, automatically bringing down the Pakatan coalition. The King re-appoints him as interim leader until a successor is named. Feb 25 - Mahathir proposes a unity government but it was rejected. Feb 26 - The palace says the King will meet all 222 elected members of parliament. Feb 28 - Bersatu party nominates Muhyiddin Yassin as its prime ministerial candidate. UMNO and PAS vow to back him.

Malaysia gets its 8th Prime Minister on Feb 29, the King appoints Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the eighth prime minister, on grounds that he has the majority support among lawmakers in parliament.

Between Feb 27 to March 1, over 16,000 people gathered for a religious gathering known as tabligh at a mosque in Sri Petaling. About 1,500 of them were foreign nationals. On March 11, COVID-19 infection was first detected in the cluster. A total total of 3,375 individuals who attended the four-day event were infected. The Tabligh cluster ended in July.

On March 17, Malaysia recorded two deaths from COVID-19, the first fatalities due to the pandemic in the country. One of the victims, a 34-year-old man, attended the tabligh gathering in Sri Petaling.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced a nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) from March 18, 2020, until March 31, 2020, to deal with the spike in COVID-19 cases.

When the MCO came into force on March 18, Malaysians and social activists began to think about measures to reach out to help vulnerable groups and to continue charitable programs, especially food aid. KitaJagaKita is an effort initiated by a group of volunteers with the aim of linking kind-hearted people with organisations to help Malaysians severely impacted by MCO

Malaysians, forced to stay home due to MCO, took to social media to post videos of fun stuff to do, including exercise challenges, cooking recipes (remember Dalgona coffee?) and messages to rally support to help Malaysians in need during MCO.

Over 300 artists and musicians participated in the #MuzikDiRumah programme. The initiative, organised by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, featured local acts through 136 programmes, including concerts, public service messages and video interviews by artists. It was inspired by a similar social movement carried out by international artistes called #togetherathome.

On May 1, the government announced it will ease lockdown restrictions beginning May 4 under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), which allowed certain business sectors to resume operations. On May 10, Muhyiddin announced that the CMCO will be extended until June 9, the fourth extension since March 18.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday unveiled the National Economic Regeneration Plan (PENJANA) to revive the Malaysian economy following the COVID-19 pandemic. 40 initiatives worth RM35 billion under PENJANA. Of these, RM10 billion is a direct fiscal injection of the government.

A video went viral on a University Malaysia Sabah student, Veveonah Mosibin who climbed up a tree to gain internet access in order to take her online examination. The video went viral and sparked intense discussions, with many calling on the authorities to tackle internet connectivity problems in rural areas. The matter was also raised in Dewan Negara when Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin accused Veveonah for lying and that she was an "attention-seeker" who tried to gain views by posting the video. He issued an official apology to Veveonah after facing backlash.

On June 9, former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman was acquitted and discharged of all 46 criminal charges linked to timber concessions contracts in the state.

Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was found guilty on all seven charges of Criminal Breach of Trust, money laundering and abuse of position, involving RM42 million in SRC International funds. Najib Razak's appeal against his conviction will commence on Feb 15, 2021.

On July 30, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal announced the dissolution of the State Assembly, following former Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman’s claim he had a simple majority to take over the state government.

The tabligh cluster, which was the biggest COVID-19 cluster at that point of time recorded zero cases and, thus, declared to have ended. A total of 42,023 samples were taken from the cluster with 3,375 individuals tested positive for COVID-19.

This is the first election in the country following the 2020 political crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. Barisan Nasional (BN) won a landslide victory with a 12,650-vote majority.

BN candidate Mohd Sharim Md Zain, won with 13,872 votes defeating two independent contenders, Tengku Datuk Zainul Hisham Tengku Hussin, and Mohd Shukri Mohd Ramli.

Plantation, Industries and Commodities Minister Khairuddin Aman Razali came under fire after he failed to undergo mandatory quarantine after an overseas trip. He was later slapped with a fine of RM1,000 by the Ministry of Health and said he will donate four months of his salary to the government’s COVID-19 fund.

On Oct 31, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) decided that “No Further Action” will be taken against Khairuddin, citing no solid evidence to establish the charge.

The Sivagangga cluster originated from Napoh, Kubang Pasu after an Indian man, owner of the Nasi Kandar Salleh Restaurant, disobeyed quarantine order upon his return from Sivagangga, a town in Tamil Nadu. Nezar Mohamed Sabur Batcha was sentenced to five months jail and fined RM12,000. Later he was sued by the Consumers Association of Kedah who seeked compensation of more than RM1 million. It became one of the largest COVID-19 clusters to hit Malaysia.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng claimed trial to corruption and criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges involving the Penang undersea tunnel project. Lim faces two graft charges and two CBT charges. He was also slapped with one corruption charge for allegedly helping to secure the project to a company, while businesswoman Phang Li Koon was charged with abetting him in committing the offence. Meanwhile, Lim’s wife, Betty claimed trial to charges of money laundering. The trial will begin in June next year.

BN retained the Slim state seat with an enhanced majority of 10,945 votes. BN's Mohd Zaidi Aziz, Tanjung Malim UMNO division deputy chief, polled 13,060 votes to beat two independent candidates, lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi and former teacher S. Santharasekaran.

Court drops charges against Goldman Sachs On Sept 4, the High Court acquitted and discharged Goldman Sachs International Ltd and its two Asian entities, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) on charges relating to the sale of 1MDB bonds amounting to RM27.2 billion after the prosecution withdrew all the charges against them.

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah gained a simple majority by winning 38 State Assembly (DUN) seats in the 16th Sabah State Election. After much deliberation between Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor becomes the new Sabah Chief Minister.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed he has the support of more than 120 Members of Parliament to form a new government to replace the Perikatan Nasional government. He said he presented evidence in the form of statutory declarations to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Goldman Sachs agreed to pay nearly USD3 billion to end a probe of its role in the 1MDB corruption scandal. The bank's Malaysian subsidiary also admitted in US court that it had paid more than USD1 billion in bribes to win work raising money for the Malaysian state-owned wealth fund.

Over 1 million consumers in Klang Valley faced water disruptions as operations at four water treatment plants in Selangor were forced to be shut down due to contamination from Sungai Selangor. Four suspects were linked to the water pollution incident. Chemical waste was dumped into a sewage hole at the suspects’ premises, which then flowed into the area that was contaminated.

Two helicopters collided mid-air before one crashed and another managed to do an emergency landing in Taman Melawati, Ampang. The victims who died were identified as Mohd Sabri Baharom and Mohd Irfan Mohamed Rawi.

A member of the General Operations Force (PGA) Corporal Baharuddin Ramli, was shot dead by smugglers while on duty at the Malaysia-Thailand border post. His colleague Corporal Norihan A/L Tari suffered serious injuries. Three men involved in the shooting were detained while receiving treatment in Songkhla and Hatyai. They smuggle and barter drugs from Thailand with ketum from Malaysia.