SINGAPORE — What a year 2022 has been. It will be remembered as the year the country emerged from a two-year lockdown and when food and property prices became a familiar worry.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic not being over, life has, in many ways, returned to what it used to be, with Singaporeans allowed to travel and attend big events again, and keeping up with vaccine schedules is now part of life.
And in other ways, 2022 has been an eventful year, starting from The Workers’ Party still battling—and appearing to overcome—the fallout from the Raeesah Khan scandal, with WP chief and Leader of the Opposition emerging from it with grace and grit.
Party mates Jamus Lim and Nicole Seah, as well as other WP figures, have continued to make an impact both in Parliament and on the ground.
Important issues such as the Goods & Services Tax (GST) increase and the repeal of Section 377A, a carryover from colonial times criminalizing sex between consenting adult males, were also much discussed.
Amid all this, there were standouts throughout the year, and The Independent Singapore has compiled our own list of newsmakers for 2022.
Lawrence Wong
Without a doubt, 2022 is Lawrence Wong’s year. Two months after giving his first national budget rollout as Finance Minister in February, he was chosen as the leader of the People’s Action Party‘s fourth-generation (4G) team, to no one’s surprise.
In June, the presumptive successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, now serving with Heng Swee Keat, as part of a Cabinet reshuffle.
He also joined TikTok, where he shows off legit guitar skills.
@lawrencewongst Always nice to have some time at the end of the year to unwind with the guitar. Enjoy this riff everyone!
Otters
Definitely cute and guaranteed to elicit an “aaawww” from most of us, otters, however, made the headlines for not-so-cute and sometimes outright destructive behaviour.
As the otter population has grown, encounters between people and these furry animals have also increased. Some have been adorable, as when a group of otters stopped traffic as they crossed Orchard Road near the Istana, and some have not been so sweet, as when they chased a woman jogging at West Coast Park or when they savaged a family’s prized koi and goldfish. So yeah, good times! For otters, at least.
Loh Kean Yew
Did Singapore’s first badminton men’s singles champion win any tournaments this year? No. Did he still have his best year ever? Yes! He did!
The humble and affable athlete reached a career-high, ranking third in the world. He was also awarded Sportsman of the Year at the Singapore Sports Awards and was nominated for Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2022 Male Player Of The Year, which was won by world number 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who is Loh’s good friend and training partner.
“As surreal as it may all be, it has been an exhilarating year. Grateful for all that 2022 gave me, and ready for you, 2023,” he wrote in a recent Instagram post.
Malaysian chickens
Who would have thought that chickens would be newsmakers? But in 2022, they were.
After Malaysia announced in May that it would temporarily ban the sale of fresh chicken to Singapore in order to ensure its own supply, there was somewhat of a spate of panic-buying because we all know how much Singaporeans love their chicken rice.
Many began snapping up birds from wet markets and supermarkets, and enterprising Carousellers started charging unbelievable prices.
Fortunately, this died down after a while, and Singapore’s chicken supply is safe. Phew!
Richard Branson
Our final newsmaker of the year is British tycoon and anti-death penalty advocate Richard Branson.
He joined the chorus of voices around the globe calling for the pardon of Malaysian convict Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, who was sentenced to death on drug trafficking charges and who reportedly had an IQ of 69. Nagaenthran was judicially executed in April of this year.
Shortly before his execution, Mr Branson urged President Halimah Yakob for the third time to pardon him, calling the death penalty a ‘horrible blotch’ on Singapore’s reputation.
On Oct 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty, he asked ‘What’s the matter with Singapore?’ on his blog, writing, “Singapore still finds itself on the wrong side of history is its continued, almost stubborn use of the death penalty, particularly for drug offences.”
He was later challenged to debate on the issue by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, which the British billionaire declined. /TISG