SINGAPORE — The country’s best badminton player, the latest iPhone, a budget airline, and actor Lawrence Wong all made it to the top of the list for online searches in Singapore this year.
The most striking thing about Yahoo’s Year in Review 2022 is that as pandemic restrictions eased, travel-hungry Singaporeans began to look for where to go after over a year of being homebound.
Sports
It was a big year for last year’s BWF Men’s Singles Champion Loh Kean Yew, who, together with footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, topped the list of most-searched athletes. Speaking of football fever, fans this year also looked up to Liverpool more than any other EPL club.
Celebrities
Showbiz stars Lawrence Wong and Felicia Chin were among the most-searched celebrities, along with JJ Lin, Desmond Tan, Fann Wong, Zoe Tay, and Joanne Peh. Ix Shen was also highly searched, undoubtedly because the former actor, who relocated to Ukraine before the war, has been posting snippets of his life on Instagram.
Felicia Chin, who topped the list of most searched among local female celebrities, made big waves this year not only once but twice—when she announced she’d be leaving Mediacorp for the ministry, as well as when she married her longtime sweetheart Jeffrey Xu.
Tech
In the tech world, Google topped the most-searched list, followed by Microsoft and Amazon, respectively.
As for the top five tech releases, Apple took the cake, claiming the first three spots with the iPhone 14, the iPad, and the Apple Watch, respectively.
Travel
Malaysia’s Air Asia took the pole position on the Most Searched Online Travel Portals and Travel Related Searches list, followed by Singapore’s own Agoda and Skyscanner in second and third place.
Lest we think that flights were the only preferred means of travel, Singaporeans also looked for staycations and cruise trips a lot.
Topping this year’s travel-related searches are Shangri-La Singapore and Resorts World Sentosa in first and second places. Cruise lines, Genting Dream Cruise, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Resorts World Cruises in third, fourth, and fifth place.
Yahoo!’s top searches for 2022
Most searched male celebrities
1. Lawrence Wong (Actor)
2. Ix Shen
3. JJ Lin
4. Zhang Zetong
5. Desmond Tan
6. Jeffrey Xu
7. JianHao Tan
8. Aloysius Pang
9. Elvin Ng
10. Tan Romeo
Most searched female celebrities
1. Felicia Chin
2. Rebecca Lim
3. Zoe Tay
4. Fann Wong
5. Jamie Chua
6. Carrie Wong
7. Chantalle Ng
8. Kim Lim
9. Jeanette Aw
10. Joanne Peh
Most searched athletes
1. Loh Kean Yew
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Eileen Gu
4. Joseph Schooling
5. Rafael Nadal
6. Mario Gómez GarcÃa
7. Novak Djokovic
8. Mario Götze
9. Sergio Agüero
10. Roger Federer
Top 5 Beauty Products
1. Sephora
2. Kiehl’s
3. Innisfree
4. The Body Shop
5. Browhaus
Top 5 Tech Releases
1. iPhone 14
2. iPad
3. Apple Watch
4. PRISM+ Monitors
5. Amazon Kindle
Top Tech Brands
1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. Amazon
4. Apple
5. Samsung
6. Asus
7. HP
8. Dell
9. Sony
10. Oppo
Most Searched EPL Clubs
1. Liverpool
2. Manchester United
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Newcastle United
6. Everton
7. Manchester City
8. Tottenham Hotspur
9. Leeds United
10. Nottingham Forest
Most Searched Online Travel Portals
1. AirAsia
2. Agoda
3. Skyscanner
4. Jetstar
5. Booking.com
6. Klook
7. Traveloka
8. Chan Brothers Travel
9. Flyscoot.com
10. Tripadvisor
Top 10 Travel-Related Searches
1. Shangri-La Singapore
2. Resorts World Sentosa
3. Genting Dream Cruise
4. Royal Caribbean Cruises
5. Resorts World Cruises
6. Desaru Beach Resorts
7. Resorts World Genting
8. Siloso Beach Resort
9. Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa
10. Bintan Island Resorts
/TISG
Loh Kean Yew nominated for Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2022 Male Player Of The Year