2018 Dec 26
Ah 2018! What an eventful roller coaster ride it has been, not only for Sri Lanka, but around the world too! For those of you who love to reminisce, here’s Pulse helping you catalog the year by bringing you the most viral events that took place this year.
1. 2018 FIFA World Cup Trophy
The 2018 FIFA World Cup Trophy was brought to Sri Lanka early this year and kept for display at BMICH for two days. The trophy tour covered six continents, across 52 countries with Sri Lanka being the first stop after its departure from London.
2. Prestige to Mother Lanka
In May this year, Johann Peiris successfully summited Mount Everest in his second attempt, making him the second Sri Lankan to summit the world’s highest mountain!
Postdoctoral Researcher at Stanford University, Hasini Jayatilake made it to the 30 Under 30 list on Forbes for discovering a signaling pathway that controls how cancer cells metastasize through the body and a way to block that pathway.
3. The Royal Family
Two huge events occurred this year with regard to the Royal Family: the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a baby boy, and Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, making her the Duchess of Sussex, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy in April this year, making him their third child. They named him Louis Arthur Charles, and he is known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge. Awww!
All over the world, people watched the Royal Wedding swooning over how beautiful it was, and yet how simple the bride was dressed. Amidst much controversy while defying many stigmas, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married making it a glorious yet humble affair.
4. The Rise and Fall of the Colombo Landscape
The iconic Green Cabin branch in Colpetty closed its doors in July, making all our parents sentimental and nostalgic. However, there is a silver lining as the other outlets remain open to indulge in some good chocolate cake.
The 67 year long running business, William Grinding Mills halted operations in June this year. It was always the trusted go-to place for a variety of condiments and as such, Galle Road will surely miss this treasured site.
In contrast to the above, the much awaited international standard mall, Colombo City Centre opened up this year.
5. Memes, Challenges and Viral Conflict
2018 was the year most of us found our one true love: memes.
While memes have been around for quite some time now, in 2018 its mere existence has progressed. The “is this a pigeon” meme reached new heights this year and the “Savage Patrick”, “Frustrated LeBron” and “Squinting Woman” memes are among some of the latest additions, or rather became more viral this year. Not forgetting, of course, the one that took Sri Lanka by storm: the accent meme.
The most ridiculous of all: the Kiki Challenge; the perfect opportunity to get knocked down by a car whilst jamming, for those of you who had a death wish.
6. Social Media Ban
Early on this year, the government banned our very sources of information: social media. Namely, Facebook, Instagram, Viber and Whatsapp. Forget about any incident going viral, what could it possibly go viral on? Behold, the Virtual Private Network. Desperate times called for desperate measures, so each and everyone of us became an IT expert with our trusty sidekick: the VPN. Speculation as to its illegality had some of us not using it but thankfully in just over a week the government lifted the ban and we were able to go back to our social butterfly ways.
7. SL Ranked Top Country for Travel by Lonely Planet
World renowned travel guide, Lonely Planet puts forth its lists of best countries, cities and regions to visit in the following year. This year, Sri Lanka made it to the No. 1 spot in Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Countries to Visit in 2019 list, and we could not be more proud of our beautiful pearl of an island. Unfortunately, this was closely followed by the fall of the government, causing everyone to question whether 2019 would indeed be great for travel to Lanka.
8. Constitutional Crisis
So the year was going great, with some minor pitfalls here and there, and then BAM! We have two Prime Ministers. Wut? The constitutional crisis hit Sri Lanka like a ton of bricks, unfortunately making our country a worldwide joke.
It began with MS appointing MR as Prime Minister before formally dismissing RW as Prime Minister, resulting in two concurrent Prime Ministers. It was absolute chaos with the statute stating one thing, Google stating another, and all citizens going haywire (with reason) on social media. To make things worse, the Parliament was dissolved by the President leaving Sri Lanka, a democratic nation, with no Parliament or legal grounding.
However, the Supreme Court subsequently suspended the President’s controversial decision to dissolve the Parliament and opined that it was unconstitutional. The 225 member Parliament reconvened and held a majority vote in favour of RW, following which MR signed a letter of resignation, and lo and behold we now have one Prime Minister, folks. Although, the political, social and economic repercussions stemming from the crisis still exist, law prevailed at the end of the day.
9. The One Where Joey Visits Sri Lanka
The F.R.I.E.N.D.S fandom in Sri Lanka went ballistic upon finding out that Matt Le Blanc, a.k.a Joey Tribbiani was in the country shooting for Top Gear. A picture, which a fan took with Le Blanc went viral, making fans frantically make plans for a meet and greet with the man himself. However, his trip was short-lived unfortunately, and a lucky few got to meet him in Kandy, where he was rumored to be shooting.
10. Nas Daily in Lanka
The popular social media personality and vlogger, Nas made a trip down to sunny Sri Lanka and we even got a chance to give him a taste of the true Lanka. Check it out below!
As eventful as this year was, we can’t wait to see what 2019 is yet to bring us. Until then, Happy New Year everyone! Let’s all hope for a less confusing yet eventful 2019!
