SINGAPORE: Thank you, Taylor Swift! The pop icon is most likely responsible for Google’s most-searched word, “Ticketmaster”, in the Singapore News category this year.
The Eras Tour is far and away the biggest draw, and since Singapore is the only stop in Southeast Asia that Swift is making, fans from the region are likely to be coming in the thousands. But Swift isn’t the only top musical act coming to the Little Red Dot in the coming year since Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and Niall Horan performances have also been scheduled.
For Singapore News, former politicians Tan Chuan-Jin and Nicole Seah took second and third place on the top five list, followed by CDC Vouchers in fourth and iPhone 15 in fifth.
No one should be surprised that Swift ranked first in the International Personalities category. The newly-minted billionaire has had a banner year, what with her concert tour arguably being the most successful in the world and being named TIME’s Person of the Year.
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh came in second, followed by controversial media personality and former kickboxer Andrew Tate, who was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking late last year. British–Italian actress Katy Louise Saunders, who married Korean actor Song Joong-ki, made it to fourth place, while another Korean actor, Ahn Bo-Hyun, is in fifth. Ahn had been in a relationship with Blackpink’s Jisoo earlier this year, but the two have gone their separate ways.
On the international news front, it’s the war in Israel and Gaza that was most searched in Singapore, followed by slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi, the Inter Miami Football Club, the earthquake in Turkey, and then another football club, Al-Nassr, in second to fifth places, respectively.
After three years of the pandemic, Singaporeans have been eager to be out and about, as evidenced by what they looked for on Google. Number one for “Activities in Singapore” is F1 Singapore 2023, followed by Chatuchak Singapore, River Hongbao 2023, Halloween Horror Nights 2023, and Van Gogh Singapore.
The top 5 “Places in Singapore” list also bore this out, with malls taking the top two spots—Woodleigh Mall and Sengkang Grand Mall, respectively, in the number one and two spots. Woodlands Checkpoint made it to number three, while the renowned French pastry chef Cedric Grolet’s Singapore venture and Bird Paradise rounded out the top five.
The CDC vouchers were clearly on people’s minds, as they took the number one spot in the “How to” searches—“How to claim CDC vouchers 2023.” However, showing that the AI bug has also bit Singapore, this was followed by “How to use chat GPT.”
“How to vote” made it to number three, and “How to edit WhatsApp messages” and “How to stop coughing” were also in the top five.
Read also: Ng Kok Song tops list of top 5 most-searched Singapore business leaders /TISG