In November, Cyber activists Anonymous threatened to bring down government networks if laws restricting online news portals were not withdrawn. These men in Guy Fawkes masks present a faceless threat, just like…
the haze in June, which brought Singapore to a standstill. For more than a week, the air smelt of smoke and recrimination. Everyone stayed indoors, unlike the many people who came out for…
Pink Dot, for its biggest incarnation yet, in June. For the first time a serving member of parliament (Vincent Wijeysingha) announced he was gay. 21,000 supporters went to Hong Lim Park dressed in pink, unlike…
Karl Lagerfeld, who was here in May to showcase his Autumn/Winter collections at Dempsey Hill, dressed in black. The invite-only party saw throngs of unsolicited fashion fans and bloggers queuing to grab available empty seats, just like…
the crowd at McDonald’s, for the launch of Singing Bone Hello Kitty toys, in June. The toy had already sold out by the time breakfast was served. Yes, even the guys at…
Krispy Kreme didn’t manage to attract such a frenzy, when opening their first outlet at TANGS in October. They were giving away free doughnuts to spread the love, unlike…
Ashley Madison, the extra-marital dating website which failed to launch here in November when it was banned by the Media Development Authority who found its content objectionable. This was part of MDA’s move to regulate mainstream and online media, which sparked debates among Netizens, similar to…
the online Facebook protest group, kick-started by transitioning.org, which petitioned against the government’s Population White Paper proposal in February that aims to increase the city’s population to 6.9 million by 2030. Citizens are concerned about their quality of life and the rifts between the rich and the poor, sentiments echoed in…
local author Kevin Kwan’s satirical spin Crazy Rich Asians, published in June, about the jet-setting lifestyle of a super-rich, pedigreed Chinese family, reflected through the comings and goings of…
singer Sun Ho, who along with her husband and founder of City Harvest Church, Kong Hee, was in the news in June for allegedly misusing church funds to launch her singing career in the US. Having more success in the entertainment scene was…
filmmaker Anthony Chen’s (read his full interview) debut feature-length film Ilo Ilo about domestic life in the ‘90s, which won numerous prizes at the Cannes Film Festival in March and at the Golden Horse Awards in November, despite its relatively small budget of $700,000. The awards bode well for the local film industry, unlike…
the uninspiring cable TV show Serangoon Road that premiered in October, the first HBO Asia drama produced in collaboration with Australian Broadcasting Corporation, set during the ‘60s around the Serangoon Road area, which was also…
home to the recent riots in Little India, the country’s first since 1969, involving 400 foreign workers who overturned police vehicles and set fire to an ambulance. Twenty-four individuals have been charged in court. In another case…
legal action was taken against blogger Alex Au in October for allegedly accusing the Supreme Court of deliberately manipulating hearing dates in his blog yawningbread.com. Since then about 170 individuals have signed a statement of support for Au. No support was given, however, to…
Alison McElwee, who put an eight-month-old adopted mongrel, Tammy, to sleep in November. McElwee claimed that Tammy had bitten her children and guests. Animals were also the focus at…
the newly-launched Amazon River Quest Boat Ride at the River Safari. The latest feature at the attraction is a bumpy 12-minute ride that meanders through a 483-metre long man-made river from where you can occasionally spot swinging monkeys, birds and unfortunately, not much else. Try your luck at…
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve instead. The nature park, known for its wide variety of bird species and other wildlife, is attracting more saltwater crocodiles, with the latest appearances reported in December. Fortunately, none were spotted at…
this year’s ZoukOut in December, which had 41,000 revellers partying by the beach at Sentosa. Other interesting nightlife developments: News of Avalon closing down at Marina Bay Sands in October turned out to be a hoax (the troubled club is still operating), while hip The Vault relocated from Chinatown to Boat Quay in November. Speaking of Boat Quay…
its car-free trail along Circular Road—from Lorong Telok to Molly Malone’s on North Canal Road—that launched in November, is quite the success. For three months, traffic is prohibited from entering the area every Friday and Saturday between 6pm-11am; the stretch has become the hotspot for post-work drinks. Meanwhile, less cars and drunk driving means…
less road accidents. A horrific road incident at Bugis in May, involving a speeding Ferrari and a taxi, had Singaporeans up in flames. Although, we were more forgiving when…
the launch of new shopping mall Jem at Jurong East in June was delayed due to the lack of proper fire units. The incident bewildered some 100 shoppers, who left complaints on the mall’s Facebook page. A pretty small number compared to our…
50 Things to Eat Before You Die piece, our annual roundup dining story of the best things to eat in the city, which has hit more than 9,000 Facebook likes since October. Read all about it on is.gd/50thingstoeat if you haven’t already. Thankfully though, not quite to-die-for is…
the dengue outbreak that happened in June, with 842 dengue cases reported in a single week and more than 13,000 infected by mid-July. Only eight casualties were reported, similar to…
our local indie scene. Multi-label boutiques Blackmarket and Hide & Seek closed down in September due to high rental costs, while restaurant-bar Broadcast HQ was forced to shut down in June, due to licensing issues. Debut dance fest 1 World Music Festival was also cancelled in September due to bad ticket sales, unlike…
the fifth and latest F1 Night Race, which featured top acts like The Killers and Rihanna rocking the crowd and one of the most exciting races yet in its history the same month. The season has been so successful, that we’ve signed on for another five years. Although it took more than five years for…
Dick Lee to return to our stages, in November, with his extravagant musical Lightseeker, which is ongoing at Resorts World Sentosa. The veteran singer-songwriter also created quite a stir in September when he held his first solo art show at Utterly Art. Speaking of art…
local artist-photographer John Clang bagged the Design of the Year award at the President’s Design Award in December for his exhibition Being Together: Family & Portraits. The Singapore Biennale returned in October after a two-year hiatus with a stronger line-up of shows than ever before, while arts enclave Gillman Barracks welcomed new art center Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) in November. CCA not only holds art exhibitions, it also holds artists talks and residencies. Equally multi-faceted is…
the URA Draft Master Plan launched in November which outlines the government plans to make Singapore a better city through more homes, de-centralization of business districts, new eco-spaces and a better transport system. But not all of the upgrading projects are as welcome, including…
the controversial construction of a new dual four-lane road that cuts through Bukit Brown. Public up-earthing of the historic graves started in October. On the subject of highways…
the new Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) that opened in December is Singapore’s first under-sea road. Other than Marina Bay, the hip neighbourhood Chinatown is also more accessible than before, with the recent opening of the…
new Downtown MRT lines, including Telok Ayer MRT Station. In celebration of the station’s launch, fashion boutique Doorstep Luxury, located nearby, declared December 7 as Telok Ayer Day and held a fun shopping party. More retail hotspots also abound at…
Jurong East’s seven-story Westgate Mall (see page 17) that houses major brand names including Tim Ho Wan, Royce, COS and…
comeback kid Borders. Some 1,000 people reportedly signed up for membership on opening day. Also making a return to Singapore is…
The Westin Singapore—reincarnated from The Westin Stamford, once the world’s tallest hotel—is now open at Asia Square Tower 2 after a hiatus of more than a decade. It’s the city’s first hotel that’s located within an office building. Speaking of firsts, we also dig…
Debut indie music festival Camp Symmetry held at Gardens by the Bay in November. Proof of its success are the thousands of #CampSymmetry pictures posted on Instagram, many of which are…
selfies, which became Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year. If there was an award for Best Selfie Taker of 2013, we’d hand the crown to 43-year-old MP Baey Yam Keng, a fitness buff who takes shots of himself at the gym or pounding the pavements of…
various marathons, including the Standard Chartered Marathon and Men’s Health Urbanathlon. This year’s running calendar is also packed with more unconventional races like Color Run, Illumi Run and the zombie obstacle dash Run For Your Lives. Surviving the chase of the undead was tough, and we thought…
Batman bin Suparman would save us all from apocalypse. However, the Internet Hero was too busy stealing at Depot Heights Shopping Centre and was caught on CCTV. Singapore’s own spying skills, however, turned out to be less efficient when…
whistle blower Edward Snowden leaked top-secret documents that revealed Singapore as part of the “5-Eyes” intelligent group, monitoring neighboring Malaysia’s communication networks. Perhaps it was miscommunication that had…
furniture giant Ikea suspend its famous meatballs after food authorities in Czech Republic found traces of horse meat. Test results later found them to be unaffected and sales were resumed at 10 cents apiece. Food for thought for the…
Singaporean women considering signing up for the Singapore Armed Forces. In a survey held in October by the Institute of Policy Studies, to gauge public attitudes on National Service, one out of 10 women said that they would take it up. If they do, they’d better hope that catered food during NS includes…
Spanish plates, arguably this year’s hottest cuisine. For a list of what we think is best in town, log on to is.gd/top10spanish. If you’re looking for a last-minute dining date, consider heading to…
Neko no Niwa, a new“cat café”that opened in December, housing more than 10 free-roaming felines for visitors to pet, play, groom and dine with (really). If all else fails however, consider staying home as…
The National Housing Board announced in July that singles over 35 years of age can purchase new HDB flats. Only resale flats were available for hip singles previously—certainly one of the best public policies implemented by the government this year.
