Samir Nazareth

Opinion | Politics, pandemic, protests: 13 reasons 2022 was a year to remember

From Britain’s political omnishambles to Hong Kong and the mainland grappling with Covid-19 to Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, 2022 was a year packed with world-shaping events

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A local official shouts at a demonstrator holding a blank sign during a protest in Beijing on November 28. The rare outpouring of public anger over China’s continued lockdowns led to a reversal in the country’s pandemic policies, a decision that will ripple through the domestic, regional and global economies. Photo: Bloomberg

Samir Nazareth

Published: 3:30am, 30 Dec 2022Updated: 4:57am, 30 Dec 2022

Everyone is wearing the perfume of hope that a new year brings. This year was once new, and the moments of joy, sorrow and disbelief made it what it was. Through these 365 days, individuals, leaders and society spoke in ways that left a mark on the year. Here are 13 memorable quotations.

“Thoughts and prayers”. More than 600 mass shootings occurred in America in 2022. Instead of amending gun laws and curbing their bigoted rhetoric to protect American lives, Republican politicians sent their “thoughts and prayers” to victims of mass shootings. Their hypocrisy is rich – protecting unviable fetuses by selecting conservative Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v Wade but unwilling to prevent gun violence that kills children and adults.

“Our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader equally committed to taking this country forward.” As prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson lied, ignored his own advice, turned a blind eye to his colleague’s abusive behaviour and downplayed his ineptitude during Covid-19. He was finally forced to resign. The much-touted Darwinian system selected Liz Truss instead.

“Given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.” Truss, elected by her Conservative peers, holds the record for serving as prime minister for the shortest time in modern British history. During her tenure, she and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng ruined the British economy. Truss ignobly sacked Kwarteng to save herself, but this was deemed tawdry and she soon had to step aside.

“When we look at the approvals, they were done without following the regulations.” After winning a tight election, Malaysia’s newly elected Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered a review of all projects during his predecessor’s tenure. The outgoing prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, says everything is above board. Malaysian politics has been racked by corruption. Former prime minister Najib Rajak was sentenced to 12 years in prison for financial corruption.

“Everyone has a different understanding of ‘0+0’.” Until recently, Hong Kong was mirroring Bejing’s restrictive Covid-19 policy. However, with fears this was making the city less investor-friendly, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s government changed course and inbound travellers were no longer mandated to undergo quarantine.