2016: A Year In Review
North Korea
Various sources have reported that North Korea has launched their very first satellite into the pockets of vacuum above us. Dominant countries like Japan, South Korea and the United States have heavily condemned this irresponsible act that may put thousands of Korean lives in jeopardy.
Despite sanctions imposed by the United Nations (UN), North Korea continued to run their nuclear tests this year, sparking outrage within the committee. It was decided that more sanctions would be imposed on North Korea like cutting off the nation’s oil supply for its reckless and defiant act. Experts have estimated that North Korea has conducted its biggest nuclear test, causing a quake as large as 5.3 in magnitude in September 2016. China was also torn between whether to be portrayed as an antagonist siding with North Korea or pushing for the fall of Pyongyang which may be occupied by allies of the United States, which posed a latent threat towards the Xi regime.
Brussels Bombing
In March 2016, two bombs exploded at Brussels Airport, and one exploded at a metro station. Hundreds of commuters were injured, and thirty-two of them, unfortunately, lost their lives at the hands of terrorists. The incident affected the nation so much that the government declared three days of national mourning. CCTV footage of the airport surfaced after a few hours which depicted the bomb detonating.
EgyptAir Flight 804
In May 2016, an aircraft belonging to an airline, EgyptAir, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, immediately killing all 66 passengers and the crew on board. The black box was later retrieved. Preliminary findings have discovered that there was smoke in the cabin at that time, and damage to the aircraft was found due to the high temperature. In December 2016, traces of TNT were discovered on the bodies of the victims. No further explanation was provided.
Orlando Shooting
In June 2016, a deadly shooting occurred in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The act of terrorism was committed by Omar Mateen who is believed to have been self-radicalised as he had sworn allegiance to ISIS. This attack resulted in the death of 49 innocent people and wounded 53 more, marking it as being both the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT members and most fatal shooting in American history.
“Everyone get out of pulse and keep running [sic]”, a post made by Pulse on the night the shooting occurred.
People around the world expressed their condolences for the victims with the hashtag “#PrayForOrlando”, causing it to be a top trending icon on multiple social media outlets. Local organisations in Singapore also held vigils in solidarity with all those affected by the shooting.
Brexit
In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union during the referendum, attaining 52% of the total votes. Following the results of the referendum, a petition for a second referendum gained almost two million signatures. Some ‘Bremainers’ attempted to stop the invoking of Article 50, which would see Britain officially secede from the EU. Analysts noted that ‘Brexiters’ were fed with false promises and lies from the media as they believed that voting to leave was “taking back control back of their country”, and would rectify problems like mass immigration, low national growth, and more. Minutes after the referendum, the Sterling Pound witnessed a massive plunge in the stock market.
Current Prime Minister, Theresa May, has also stepped up to take the lead of leaving the EU as per the will of the majority. Some have noted that a failure to bring the results of the referendum to fruition would see her risking a loss in the next general elections to the Labour’s Party.
She has promised the invoke Article 50 no later than March in 2017.
Brexit is commonly perceived as a right-wing movement pushing their anti-immigrant rhetoric; an increase in hate crime towards immigrants also briefly surged after the results.
Duterte
The new President of the Philippines, Duterte, was sworn into office on 30th June 2016. He is notorious for his mass genocide against drug dealers. His actions have garnered much public attention, both from Filipino and international audiences.
Reactions to the new leader have been polarised;
some argue that he is on the path to cleansing drugs from the streets of the Philippines, while others contend that Duterte’s actions are an unequivocal violation of human rights and a disregard for human life.
Rio Olympics
In August 2016, Team Singapore swimmer, Joseph Schooling, won a gold medal and broke the Olympic record for men’s 100 meters’ butterfly. The ensuing hype was so intense that hundreds of Singaporeans gathered at the airport to give a huge ‘welcome back’ to our Singaporean champion. He was initially awarded $1,000,000 for his victory but sadly only received $650,000 after taxation. It was later discovered that Schooling’s parents had donated a portion of the prize pool to develop local talent. Paralympic swimmer, Yip Pin Xiu, also brought home two gold medals for her 100M backstroke and 50M split.
Standing Rock
Initiated by U.S energy company Energy Transfers Partners L.P, the Dakota Access Pipeline was slated to be constructed across four U.S states. The construction of the pipeline was set to cut through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, a site of cultural and spiritual significance to Native-Americans. This prompted what became known as the Standing Rock protests, which drew activists concerned with indigenous American rights, as well as environmental rights campaigners.
On December 4th, Barack Obama denied an easement for construction of the pipeline under the Missouri River.
Presidential Changes to the Constitution
In August 2016, there were some constitutional amendments made to our Elected Presidency, which subsequently eliminated certain prominent candidates such as Dr Tan Cheng Bock. This act was seen as a violation of the rule of democracy and meritocracy. A new racial rule was implemented, essentially stipulating that the next president of Singapore would be a Malay. This move was defended by the government on the grounds that racial balance was needed in order to avoid making a particular race feel unwanted or inferior.
Ironically, no changes were made for the position of the prime minister — all of whom have thus far been Chinese.
Zika
The Zika Virus is an incurable virus that struck fear into the hearts of many around the globe, possessing horrific consequences such as newborns having an unsightly condition known as microcephaly — an abnormal smallness of the head and an underdevelopment of the brain. Individuals who contracted this virus developed symptoms after the incubation period of 3–12 days, which include the fever, rashes, skeletal pain, muscular pain, and conjunctivitis.
On 27th August 2016, Singapore’s local ministry uncovered the very first instance of the virus. It was later discovered that the strains presented were not native to the Americas, but dated back from the 1960s.
Brazilian Impeachment
On 31st August 2016, the Brazilian Senate voted 61 to 20 in favour of impeaching Brazil’s then president. Dilma Rousseff was then successfully ousted as President, putting an official end to her party and her presidency. She was charged and found guilty of administrative misconduct and disregarding the federal budget as she was accused of moving funds between government budgets. Her ratings were at 10% in 2016. She also said the impeachment was a method to forcefully remove her from office before the next election in 2018.
Trump
On 8th November 2016, the Republican nominee Donald Trump won the U.S Presidential Election, thus clinching the role of Commander-in-Chief. This was despite the fact that the entire establishment and media were seemingly pitted against him. He attained 304 electoral votes while his rival, Hillary Clinton, garnered 227 electoral votes. Most notably, Trump flipped multiple states like Ohio, Michigan, and Florida, some of which were considered solid-blue states.
Many news agencies like The Huffington Post and CNN placed Clinton’s chance of winning to be as high as 95% — a statistic that turned out to be wildly inaccurate.
The results of the election sparked protests by disgruntled citizens, causing considerable damage to the cities of New York and California as they marched down the streets, breaking shop windows, committing arson and blocking roads. A sizeable increase in reports of hate crimes was also noted, though some have since been outed as fake or engineered.
Trump’s victory also solidified the presence of the Alt-Right: a movement cited by some as being the modern iteration of White Supremacy, and by others as a voice of reason standing against PC (Politically Correct) Culture.
Korean Impeachment
On 9th December 2016, South Korean President, Park Geun-Hye, was officially suspended from duty. Previously, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans went on peaceful protests to demand her resignation. She was discovered allowing Choi Soon-Sil, her aide, to seek money from businesses for her foundation — a clear conflict of interest. Choi was also said to have directly influenced the state council through Park. The Constitutional Court of Korea will now decide the validity of the impeachment before she will be officially ousted as President.
Russian Ambassador Shot
On 20 December 2016, Russian Ambassador, Audrey Karlov, was shot dead while making a speech in a photo gallery. The shooter was an off-duty policeman who worked in Turkey. The attack was believed to be religiously and politically motivated.
“Don’t forget Aleppo”, the shooter screamed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a response regarding the shooting. “The crime that has been committed is undoubtedly a provocation aimed at derailing the ties between Russia and Turkey, as well as the peace process in Syria. There is only one possible response to this — the strengthening of the fight against terror, and the bandits will feel it themselves,” he said.
Russian Plane Crash
On 25th December 2016, a Russian plane belonging to the Russian Defence Ministry crashed into the Black Sea, instantly killing all 92 passengers and crews on board. No survivors were found, and 12 bodies have been recovered as of today (28th December 2016).
The black box was retrieved, and preliminary investigations have just begun.
This article was co-authored by Beckham Lim & Sean Francis
