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| Qi Yu Wu and Joanne Peh at their first appearance as a married couple, at the opening of the Ferrero Rocher Pasticceria Ferrero along Orchard Road in late November. |
An animated film, a sporting event, and a smartphone all piqued the interest of Yahoo Singapore users during 2014, featuring among the top searches of the year. But a single news event – the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines' flight MH 370 came in at number 1. The iPhone 6, high Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) levels in Singapore and the animated movie Frozen also made it to the list of top searches on Yahoo Singapore in 2014.
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| Source: Apple. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. |
Top 10 Searches of the Year:
1. MH370
2. iPhone 6
3. Jennifer Lawrence
4. PSI Reading
5. MH17
6. World Cup
7. Fann Wong
8. CHC Trial
9. Frozen Movie
10. Hong Kong Protests
Yahoo YIR also offers insights into what captured users’ imagination across categories like Singapore’s Top 10 Newsmakers, Most Popular News, Top Sports Searches, Most Popular Celebrities, as well as Most Searched Destinations, among others. The most popular news events for Singapore included the aviation tragedies of MH370 and MH17, the haze, the City Harvest trial, protests in Hong Kong, Ebola and the South Korea ferry disaster.
Most Popular News Events:
1. MH370
2. Singapore Haze
3. MH17
4. CHC Trial
5. Hong Kong Protests
6. Ebola
7. Korea Ferry Disaster
8. ISIS
9. CPF Protests
10. Mobile Air Saga
As one of the most gadget-savvy nations in the world, it comes as no surprise that the highly anticipated iPhone 6 was the most searched tech device this year. Three other Apple products appear in the top 10 gadget searches, including iPhone 5C, iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 plus. Samsung clocked in with two Galaxy devices.
Top Tech Searches:
1. iPhone 6
2. Samsung S5
3. iPhone 6 Plus
4. Samsung Note 4
5. iPhone 5c
6. iPad Air 2
7. Xiaomi Mi4
8. Ps4
9. HTC One
10. Xbox 360
Always in the news, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence made it straight to the top of our most popular female celebrity list. Other local and international women celebrities who made it to the list included first-time moms Fann Wong, Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian, and newlyweds Amal Alamuddin and Joanne Peh.
Most Popular Female Celebrities:
11. Jennifer Lawrence
12. Fann Wong
13. Vivian Hsu
14. Amal Alamuddin
15. Miranda Kerr
16. Kate Upton
17. Kate Middleton
18. Kim Kardashian
19. Shu Qi
20. Joanne Peh
In K-pop crazy Singapore, Hallyu stars Lee Min Ho and Kim Soo Hyun topped our list of most popular male celebrities, followed by the baby Prince George, Justin Bieber and local actor Qi Yuwu, whose engagement and subsequent wedding to Joanne Peh caught everyone’s attention and caused quite the stir.
Most Popular Male Celebrities:
11. Lee Min Ho
12. Kim Soo Hyun
13. Justin Bieber
14. Baby Prince George
15. Qi Yuwu
16. Robin Williams
17. Brooklyn Beckham
18. Jaycee Chan
19. Chris Evans
20. Pierre Png
2014 was a year of major sporting events. Undoubtedly the FIFA World Cup, topped our list of sports searches. The buzz generated by the World Cup was inflated by the inadvertent humour created by the National Council on Problem Gambling’s anti-gambling advertisement. The advertisement showed a troubled boy, "Andy", whose savings were used by his father to bet on Germany, and admittedly unlikely contender which ended up as the ultimate winner of the Cup in real life. The Asian Games and WTA Finals made it to other top searches in sports.
Top Sports Searches:
1. FIFA World Cup
2. Asian Games
3. EPL
4. NBA
5. Manchester United
6. Commonwealth Games
7. Lions XII
8. WTA Finals
9. AFF Suzuki Cup
10. Australian Open
Maria Sharapova was the top searched athlete in 2014 and the only tennis star to make it to a list dominated by football stars including Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Neymar and Singapore's Fandi Ahmad.
Top Athletes:
1. Maria Sharapova
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Vanessa Mae
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
5. David Beckham
6. Neymar
7. Lee Chong Wei
8. Oscar Pistorius
9. Manny Pacquiao
10. Fandi Ahmad
Singaporeans still love the sun, sand and sea. The most searched destinations on Yahoo Singapore this year are popular beach destinations - Maldives, Boracay and Langkawi.
Most Searched Destinations:
1. Maldives
2. Boracay
3. Langkawi
4. Genting Highlands
5. Krabi
6. Bali
7. Santorini
8. Phuket
9. Bandung
10. Penang
The Yahoo Singapore editorial team also identified 10 of the year’s biggest newsmakers who dominated the headlines in 2014. Before this year, few would have heard of Roy Ngerng, the former healthcare programme coordinator behind the socio-political blog The Heart Truths or teen blogger Han Hui Hui. Today, Ngerng has become a household name for taking an active role in the #ReturnOurCPF movement and Han, for her infamous black Wanna Sue Me? shirt and her involvement in the movement.
Jover Chew, owner of Mobile Air, Anton Casey and Quek Zhen Hao have also taken turns making headlines this year for numerous controversies, earning their place in our list of newsmakers. Other newsmakers of the year include Singapore’s swimmer Joseph Schooling, Chinese tour guide Yang Yin, documentary filmmaker Tan Pin Pin, pastor Lawrence Khong, and local celebrity couple Joanne Peh & Qi Yuwu.
Top Singapore newsmakers
1. Roy Ngerng
2. Jover Chew
3. Anton Casey
4. Han Hui Hui
5. Joseph Schooling
6. Yang Yin
7. Tan Pin Pin
8. Lawrence Khong
9. Quek Zhen Hao
10. Joanne Peh & Qi Yuwu
For more of Yahoo Singapore’s 2014 Top 10s, please visit https://sg.news.yahoo.com/
