Covidiots and GE drama: News headlines that caught your attention in 2020

It's been a strange year, to say the least. With much of 2020 overshadowed by Covid-19 and most of our biggest milestones pegged to our case numbers (can you believe we're finally in Phase 3?), the year seems to have gone by excruciatingly slowly.

To celebrate the end of 2020, let's take a trip down memory lane and recall all the stories that had us talking this year.

The year of the Covidiots

You can't talk about Covid-19 without talking about covidiots, a new term that emerged thanks to the bad apples who just refused to follow the rules.

First, there was the notorious 'sovereign' woman, who pretty much became Public Enemy No. 1 after brazenly refusing to wear a mask and claiming she had "sovereign immunity".

Then came the online outrage over some youths, who rubbed many the wrong way with their laissez-faire attitude towards social distancing.

But even as the internet bashed the so-called covidiots, let's not forget the popular saying — snitches get stitches.

Wait, the general election was this year?

July feels like lightyears away at this point. But who can forget all the drama that went down — from Lee Hsien Yang's dramatic appearance with the Progress Singapore Party to the Workers' Party's historic victory at Sengkang GRC.

Not to mention the entire Ivan Lim saga, where the PAP candidate got embroiled in accusations of elitism, dropped out of the race and reappeared in Jurong GRC's thank-you video, all within the span of a few weeks.

Another candidate who had Singaporeans talking was the Workers' Party's Jamus Lim, who impressed many in a live televised debate during the campaigning period.

Bad behaviour

Some people, though, made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Barely days into the opening of the new Sembawang Hot Spring Park, inconsiderate visitors made headlines for their unsavoury behaviour, from making their domestic helper wash their feet, to leaving eggshells in the pool.

One uncle even saw fit to take a full body soak there. Yikes.

Youngsters were also wildin' online, from the boy who slapped his mother, to the boy who trespassed a rhino enclosure for a TikTok video.

No joke

Thankfully, not all the headlines were doom and gloom — some even gave us a good laugh.

How about that time when 42 Foodpanda riders appeared with the same order outside a seven-year-old's house?

Or the time a family in Malaysia taped their child to the floor so they could WFH in peace.

This made my day

There were also more than a few heartwarming moments that had us going "aww".

Among our favourites is the sweet exchange between an SMRT staff and a Pathlight School student, who bonded over their shared love for busses.

In a difficult year, we also banded together to celebrate our frontliners' efforts, such as the chicken rice stall owner who offered up free meals to them despite suffering losses of his own.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com