About Bakau Review

Bakau Review is a small newsroom in George Town, Penang, focused on the paper trail behind public spending decisions.

What we publish

We publish long-form reports built from documents a member of the public can request or search for themselves: tender notices, evaluation sheets, board minutes, audit reconciliations, company registry filings and comparable records. Our stories describe what those documents show and where they leave a gap, rather than asserting conclusions the documents themselves do not support.

We cover three areas: investigations into specific procurement and spending decisions, explainers on how public money is allocated and reported, and plain-language accounts of what oversight institutions are empowered to do. We do not publish opinion columns, and we do not accept paid placement of any kind.

How we source

Every factual claim in a Bakau Review report is anchored to a named, datable record — a filing, a minute, a certificate, an invoice — listed in a records box alongside the article. Where a document was obtained through a routine disclosure channel rather than a channel open to any member of the public, we say so.

We do not use unnamed sources for factual claims about documents; where a named individual is quoted for analysis or context, their name and role are given in full. We do not have access to, and do not claim to have used, any material beyond what a diligent member of the public could themselves request or locate.

Composite reporting

Case names, companies, officials and public bodies described in our investigations are composite and illustrative: each report is constructed to demonstrate a pattern in how public records can diverge, using fictional entities and fictional named individuals rather than reporting on any real dispute, company or person. Any resemblance to a real case is coincidental.

Where a report refers to a genuine public body by name, that reference describes the body's published statutory role, mandate or procedure only, in general terms — never a specific action taken in the composite scenario the report describes. Readers should treat every case, contract, official and company named in our investigations as illustrative rather than as a report on real events.

Corrections

When we get a fact wrong, we correct it and note the correction on the article itself, with the date of the change. We do not remove or silently amend published reports; corrections are logged, not erased.

If you believe a report contains an error, write to us using the contact details on this site and describe the specific claim and the document or basis you believe contradicts it. We review every correction request against the underlying record before making a change.

Independence

Bakau Review is independently operated and is not affiliated with any government department, statutory body, political party or commercial entity named or referenced in its reporting. We accept no funding tied to editorial coverage of any specific story or subject.

Our editorial decisions — what to report, how to frame it, and when a story is ready to publish — are made by our own newsroom without external review or approval from any party with an interest in the outcome.