
This was a year wherein people thought the pandemic might finally stop trending on social media, but the virus, as always, had other plans. Learning to live with COVID-19 appears to be the ‘new normal’ now, and as the world began to reopen, COVID-related news, while still prominent, no longer occupied every headline. As people continue to survive and thrive, here are the top newsmakers that made headlines in 2022 as voted in our recent poll covering over 9,000 respondents across the key ASEAN countries - Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Global Political Newsmakers of the Year
Unsurprisingly, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War means that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, tops our newsmaker list, with 33% considering him to be the biggest political newsmaker of 2022, closely followed by his arch foe and Time Magazine person of the year, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky at 31%.
The death of Queen Elizabeth marked the end of an era, and given her longevity and global recognition, she had to feature in the top three at 21%. A natural death of a prominent personality was unfortunately preceded by the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, who features in fourth place at 13%.
China, a country where protests have been unheard of since 1989, recently witnessed public outcries over its zero-COVID policy. What followed was a somewhat relaxation of norms resulting in a full-blown COVID crisis that is showing no signs of abating as the Chinese population begins the long process of building an immunity to the newer COVID strains. President Xi Jinping’s leadership is being tested like never before, and he ranks 5th in the top global newsmakers list but at a comparatively lower 10%.

Global Entertainment and Business Newsmakers of the Year
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar made headlines for sure but often for all the wrong reasons. While star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s popularity and image remains intact, his fallout with Manchester United F.C. post a tell-all interview, and then Portugal’s exit from World Cup 2022 courtesy of surprise story Morocco disappointed many fans and continues to be a talking point in social media. He tops the list of our entertainment newsmaker of the year at 42%.
On the topic of fallouts, the much publicised ‘slapgate’ at the Oscars wherein actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock and followed it with a long public apology ensured that the former made it to the top 3 of our newsmakers list at 20%. Fellow actor Tom Cruise, however, pipped him to second spot (27%), presumably due to the success of his blockbuster film, Top Gun: Maverick.
Malaysian Actress Michelle Yeoh is in the news for a possible Oscar nomination, owing to her work in the much acclaimed “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” While 9% overall felt that she makes it to the top 5, her popularity is expectedly greater among Malaysians, with 18% selecting her. She shares space in the fourth/fifth place with Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX who continues to make headlines but not for the reasons he would have ever anticipated.

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