With most of 2020 overshadowed by Covid-19, the circuit breaker, cancelled holidays and having our biggest milestones pegged to local case numbers (at least we're finally in Phase 3), the year seems to have gone by in a blink of an eye, yet excruciatingly slowly all at the same time.
Despite that, there's been a couple of talking points this year, from Covidiots to GE drama. Let's take a trip down memory lane!
The year of the covidiots
There's no way to talk about Covid-19 without talking about covidiots – the socially irresponsible ones who just refused to follow the rules.
First, there was the notorious 'sovereign' woman who made everyone raise an eyebrow after defiantly refusing to wear a mask and unleashed in an extraordinary tirade, claiming she had 'sovereign immunity'.
Then came the outrage over expats who flouted circuit breaker rules in Robertson Quay, which led to conversations about why the local heartland areas were being monitored closely and apprehended promptly, but behaviours such as drinkly openly without a mask on was being tolerated in 'expat zones'.
GE drama
Wait, did the GE really happen this year?
Who can forget all the drama — from Lee Hsien Yang's dramatic alliance with the Progress Singapore Party to the entire Ivan Lim saga, where the PAP candidate's past elitism behaviours were exposed and was forced to withdraw his candidacy over the public backlash.
Another candidate who had Singaporeans talking was Workers' Party's Jamus Lim, who warmed the cockles of our hearts and impressed many during the campaigning period.
And of course, who can forget our hypebeast ah gong?
Bad behaviours
Some people made the news for all the wrong reasons.
Like the Singaporean teen who repeatedly slapped his mum. Or NUS' fall from grace amid back-to-back scandals involving sexual misconduct. What also shocked us was the stabbing of a safe distancing enforcement officer after he approached a man who was not wearing a mask.
And of course, Singaporeans' racism issues towards our migrant worker community was ruthlessly called out.
Heartwarming stories
But it's not all doom and gloom, and there was also news to help restore our faith in humanity.
Like the young Singaporeans behind Beng Who Cooks, who became hawker heroes when they provided free food for the needy during the Covid-19 lockdown. Or the elderly McDonald's staff who gifted her watch to volunteer as thanks. In this difficult year, Singaporeans also opened up their hearts and homes to Malaysians stranded in Singapore.