2016 Dec 30
by Ridhmi Subaseela
With 2017 right around the corner, we can say goodbye to one of the hardest years we’ve had. What could possibly darken a year in which we got a new Harry Potter book (sort of) AND Kim K took a long social media hiatus? Turns out, quite a few things actually. Let’s take a trip down memory lane.
Leo won an Oscar
The year got off to a pretty good start with Leo finally getting his Oscar for his performance in The Revenant. While this was great news, RIP to all the hilarious memes of Leo being shunned by The Academy.
Best GoT season yet!
Continuing on its high note, 2016 gave us an epic season of Game of Thrones. R + L = J was confirmed AT LAST and the writers outdid themselves in the heartbreak department with “Hold the Door!”
Harambe
Ah Harambe. Need I say more? The sad demise of the rare silverback gorilla sparked fierce debates across the globe and launched a thousand memes, immortalising him on the internet (and our hearts). A certain male appendage will always being on display in memory of you, old friend.
Brexit
They did it! The absolute mad men actually did it! 2016 was the year Britain went full mad lad and had the audacity to leave the EU. Ironic that the nation that colonized around a 100 countries suddenly wanted to gain “independence” huh?
The sudden abundance of bubble tea in SL
Bubblelement launched in Colombo and took the city by storm. Clearly inspired by their success, there have been many new bubble tea places popping up all over the country. As if we Lankans needed new reasons to have more tea.
Pokémon Go
2016 was also the year that your obituary could possibly read “Death by Pokémon”, beginning with the launch of Pokémon Go because of all the near ridiculous deaths caused as a result of it. Man, that game caught on so quickly; remember how EVERYONE was playing it at one point?
The return to the wizarding world of Harry Potter
9 long years after Deathly Hallows, we FINALLY GOT OUR SEQUEL AND IT WAS… meh. Its ridiculous fan fiction- esque story had the fandom wanting to obliviate themselves in order to forget atrocities like Panju Weasly. Ugh.
However, the first instalment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise delivered everything it had promised and we’ll also be blessed with 4 more movies so yay!
The 2016 Olympic Games
The Rio Olympics took place in August this year and made for an entertaining few weeks but all the behind the scenes controversy like the US swim team’s fake robbery was sometimes more entertaining than the actual games itself.
The 2016 Sri Lankan Floods
The floods our nation experienced earlier this year in May brought the country together as one and the unity that was brought about was truly touching. While countless Sri Lankans suffered at the hands of the torrential rain and raging floods, it can go without saying that many of us showed our generosity and humanity by copiously providing aid to those in need.
Nonetheless, being the fun loving and generally positive Lankans we are, we still found the silver lining and Lankans managed to do some pretty weird things at this time. Read more on this here.
The Brangelina breakup
In September news broke that Angelina Jolie had filed for divorce from Brad Pitt and it turned out that some people were more emotionally invested in that relationship than they are in their own.
Giniyam Rae
On the Sri Lankan front, IRAJ released his new music video Giniyam Rae and while they had clearly meant it to be “hot”, it brought the wrong kind of giniyam (heat) on itself. The LGBTQ community and its supporters were not pleased. And we also had those who (coming from a country that topped the list for googling the word “sex”) were all up in arms about how our “culture is being destroyed”.
Note 7s were the bomb this year!
Samsung went through what was a waking nightmare for the company when their highly anticipated, geared to be game-changing Galaxy Note 7s started exploding.
The Kim K robbery
The usual media coverage of the Kardashians increased tenfold when Kim K was reportedly robbed at gunpoint in Paris in October. As of that incident she has been completely inactive on social media and now us poor souls have to go about our days without knowing instantly every time Kim eats, sleeps and breathes.
US politics
The American presidential election came to its climax in November with the election of Donald Trump, a misogynistic, racist, climate change denying, joke of a man as the president-elect. This election really set the tone for 2016 and much like this year, it sucked. Here’s looking at you, Bernie for giving the world a ray of hope in the cesspit that was the US election and Hillary.
The loss of lives this year
This year was the absolute worst when it came to letting people live. David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Harper Lee, Anton Yelchin, Mohammed Ali, Prince, Christina Grimmie have been some of the lives we lost. On our shores, Vijaya Nandasiri passed away in August and watching “Sikuru Hathé” and “Yes Boss” will never be the same again. What’s more, we lost W. D. Amaradewa in November as well. Oh and for the hell of it, 2016 just claimed two more victims; Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbi Reynolds. May the force be with them all.
We also mourn the loss of many others around the world. The coordinated suicide bombings in Brussels and the Orlando nightclub shooting claimed lives from the western world and the war in Syria has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.
The controversy surrounding the MMDA
2016 is the year that the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) came into the limelight. Due to the calls for action to reform the MMDA because of its violation of the fundamental rights of Muslim women in Sri Lanka. As per usual we had some men getting all hot and bothered about the fact that *gasp* women were actually demanding for equal rights.
The private bus strike
Our government deliberated the introduction of a 25,000/- fine for several road offenses , which made the biggest rule breakers, i.e the private buses and tuks, go on strike to protest the apparently grossly unfair and unimaginable situation where they would have to actually follow the law.
That World’s Largest Christmas Tree by the sea
There was a lot of controversy surrounding this record breaking tree but now I feel as though we shouldn’t have worried so much. After all, we need to be optimistic and supportive of Lanka’s efforts, right?
The challenges and the memes
To keep our minds off the disaster that was 2016 the interwebz in their infinite creativity gifted us with many iconic challenges including the Water Bottle Flip, the Running Man and the Mannequin Challenge.
And of course what saw us through the difficult times of this year? MEMES! Some of the highlights include Obama and Biden, Evil Kermit, Arthurs clenched fist and the Youtuber’s clickbait one.
2016 was a strange one. Not as much as it was for the kids on Stranger Things but weird nonetheless. Toblerone changed their shape, we found a 17 foot crocodile in Sri Lanka, we use filters to look like dogs and the word “aiyo” made it to the Oxford Dictionary. And if you had a bad year, take comfort in the fact that at least it probably doesn’t even come close to how bad it was for Samsung.
