13 times Singapore went WTF in 2022

There were plenty of good, bad and the ugly moments that happened this year. But 2022 in particular was filled with WTF stories that we either didn’t see coming, confused us or made us cringe to the core. Here’s a taste of what we endured this year:

Lee Kuan Yew look-alike

Singapore’s late founding father had another moment earlier this year when a video went viral of a man in a coffee shop with an uncanny resemblance to former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. He definitely turned several heads but the fact that he was wearing a singlet and eating at a coffeeshop probably dispelled conspiracy theories that LKY had come back from the dead. 

Beach Road slashing

Gruesome videos of a Chinese woman being brutally attacked by her estranged husband outside a steamboat restaurant on Beach Road quickly circulated through messaging apps and online in April. It scarred many due to the explicit nature of the videos, which showed the man continually slashing at the woman with a chopper while bystanders threw whatever they could to stop him. 

Over S$100,000 has been raised for the victim, who is still in recovery. The man is still facing trial.

Red Lion’s fall

This year’s National Day Parade was mostly joyous except for when a Red Lions parachutist missed his mark and fell pretty hard on the ground while on live national television. The fall was bad enough that he had to go into rehab.

Woman goes Michael Myers on couple

A masked woman (wearing glasses over a facial mask) terrorized a couple who was streaming live on Twitch and told them that they were not supposed to be doing that before kicking their food and drinks. The police were called in all while she trailed them in silence except for making eerie chirping noises. 

Block 420

We can’t be the only ones who are convinced that the design motifs at this newly built estate in Woodleigh Glen resemble cannabis leaves. Others insisted they were maple leaves and some even joked that they were kang kong, aka water spinach.

Joseph Schooling’s cannabis confession

Speaking of cannabis, national swimming star Joseph Schooling ratted himself out by confessing that he had smoked weed while outside of Singapore, even though he had tested negative for controlled drugs during his urine test. He did it while on break from his National Service to train for the SEA Games in May. He was subsequently fined S$10,000 (US$7,061) and is debarred from all major games for two years if he consumes any illegal drugs or breaches any rules in the future. 

The public’s reaction was surprisingly supportive, though some brutal memes were birthed.

19-year-old arrested for father’s murder

A 19-year-old was arrested for the murder of his father, who was found dead in a stairwell of an Yishun block. The 19-year-old displayed a lack of interest in his punishment as said in court that getting the death penalty or life imprisonment “will not make much of a difference.”

He underwent psychiatric assessment and has access to a defense lawyer but the cause of death or possible motives for the killing have not yet been disclosed.

The saga of Titus Low and his penis 

Sex content creator Titus Low got punished by not-so-sex-friendly Singapore after someone found a lewd video of him on a 12-year-old’s phone. Police barred him from using his OnlyFans account to continue sending more photos and videos of his penis to his subscribers but he continued anyways, multiple times. 

He was fined and given a 3 weeks prison sentence, which he has already completed. He told Coconuts in February that he was going to shift his focus to other channels, and maybe even immigrate due to Singapore’s evident lack of support for lewd creators. 

Singapore calls Richard Branson “lame”

Amid the conversations surrounding the death penalty that blew up this year, Singapore chose to ignore speaking to local anti-death penalty activists and instead challenged billionaire Richard Branson after the Virgin founder criticized the nation’s increasing number of executions. Branson declined the offer to debate with Law Minister K Shanmugam and urged him to speak to local voices instead but the Ministry of Home Affairs responded by saying his excuses were “lame.” That made locals cringe.

Road rage duo at Tuas

The infamous incident along the Tuas Second Link bridge in July was unlike any other road rage flareups we’ve seen. It started when a Toyota Alphard attempted to change lanes but collided with a red KIA. A woman got out of the KIA and pressed her body against the Toyota to stop it from moving and later ripped off its license plate and smashed it on the windshield.

Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, the KIA’s driver also got out and instead of stopping the woman, he ran over to flip the Toyota driver off before running back. They were subsequently arrested but their memes will remain online forever.

Singaporean curry chicken by New York Times

Chicken curry doesn’t look like that, according to many Singaporeans upset about the New York Times’ take on one of our beloved dishes. The watered-down brown-colored curry should have been called a chicken Nasi Biryani instead, said the publication, which owned up to the error and admitted that their journalist had messed up. Even the Singapore home cook who provided them with the recipe couldn’t say how it ended up like that.

Disney’s Lightyear marked up to NC16

A Disney film got branded with an NC16 rating because media authorities thought that one brief scene showing a kiss between female characters was too much for the children. It is the first children’s animated film to be given the NC16 rating in Singapore over LGBT content. 

But the film was also deemed problematic in 13 other countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Disney stuck their ground and refused to cut the scenes to appease homophobic censors.

Controversy over cat-killer boy

A boy was caught on surveillance cameras flinging an innocent black cat off the 22nd story of a Boon Lay housing block in December. Residents say there have been at least five cats who died from being thrown down from that block in the past year, though it’s unclear if he was involved in any of the other deaths. According to reports, he said he did it because he “did not receive love and care from his family.” 

Users online have since debated what sort of punishment is appropriate for a young child who does something so horrifying. The matter is still under police investigation.

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