COVER STORY
We’ve dutifully revolved around the Sun for another set of 365 days. And sadly we don’t have much to show for it except a few more scars on the world.
Here are some of the highlights – well, mostly lowlights – of the year:
January
- Zainab Ansari’s murder: The year got off to a heart-breaking start when the appalling abduction, rape, and murder of six-year-old Zainab Ansari in Kasur, by a 24-year-old man who made us all ashamed to be the same species as him (and whose name does not deserve to be remembered or mentioned), shook the country. The assailant was given the death penalty and executed in October.
Also in January, despicable serial child molester Larry Nassar – who was the USA gymnastics national team doctor and was accused of sexual assault by 150 women – was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison, followed later by an addition 40 to 125 year sentence.
Many other men also faced the comeuppance of their sexual misconduct this year. Several were fired from their jobs and positions, while actor Bill Cosby landed in prison.
Meanwhile, Judge Brett Kavanaugh (who was accused of assault by Professor Christine Blasey Ford) was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. And Ali Zafar (accused by singer Meesha Shafi) made millions at the Pakistani box office.
February
- Winter Olympics: The 2018 Winter Olympics took place in PyeongChang, South Korea. Russia was banned for doping, to no one’s shock. North Korea decided to compete, to everyone’s astonishment. Norway predictably won the most medals, followed by Germany and Canada. And Pakistan? Well, we participated. That’s something, right?
- Plane crashes: An aviation tragedy occurred in February when a flight crashed shortly after take-off from Moscow, killing the 71 people on board. A week later, a plane en route from Tehran to Yasuj crashed in the Zagros Mountains; sadly none of its 65 passengers and crew members survived.
Several other plane crashes also happened this year. A flight went down in Nepal claiming 51 lives (March); an Algerian Air Force crash near Algiers killed 257 people (April); a crash in Havana killed 112 and left only one survivor (May); and a plane with 189 passengers on board also crashed off the coast of Java (October).
March
- Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal: There is a downside to posting all your personal details on a website?! You don’t say! Someone did something shady with the endless stream of data you willingly keep putting on social media?! Shocking!! You’re still using said website? But of course!
- White rhinoceros extinction: The death of the last known male white rhinos in Kenya in March this year signalled the functional extinction of the species which had become endangered due to the hunting and poaching of the animals and the destruction of their habitats.
Humans: there’s nothing we can’t destroy! Take that, nature!
April
- Syrian civil war: In case you had momentarily forgotten that humans are capable of horrific things, a suspected sarin chemical attack in Douma killed 100 people and left hundreds more with injuries.
- U.S. immigrants controversy: U.S. President Donald Trump continued to face criticism for his unrelenting focus on building walls instead of building bridges. Among his most controversial plans was the family separation policy, taking immigrant children away from their parents as a way to deter asylum seekers.
The U.S. also grappled with gun violence, as mass shootings – including attacks at Thousand Oaks (12 victims) and Pittsburgh synagogue (11 victims) – continued to steal precious lives. School shootings in particular – like the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 people and Santa Fe High School shooting which killed 10 – caused sadness and led to calls for gun control.
Americans concerned about the state of their country, disturbed by the systemic oppression, and appalled by their government’s actions and policies raised their voices by protesting, rallying, marching for their lives, and standing for what they believed in even if it meant sacrificing everything.
- Avengers: Infinity War release: Thanos earned our ire by snapping those massive fingers and eliminating half of all life across the universe, which was, like, super uncool of him. We fumed for months at this evilness, but then we got stuck in road traffic for two whole minutes that one day and realised he totally had a point. Snap away buddy.
- Avicii’s death: The world kept losing amazing people to depression and mental health struggles. Fans were shocked when Swedish DJ Avicii took his own life at the age of 28. American fashion designer Kate Spade (55) and chef Anthony Bourdain (61) also committed suicide within days of each other in June.
Also, a Pakistani model, Anam Tanoli (26), and a university student (24) were among the many who succumbed to depression in our country.
Mental health remained an international crisis that, for the most part, remained unaddressed. 2018 showed us that we must break the shackles of the self-centeredness that is a side-effect of modern, increasingly-isolating times and reach out to those around us who are struggling, often silently. As Scottish musician Scott Hutchison tweeted before his death from suspected suicide in May, “Be so good to everyone you love. It’s not a given. I’m so annoyed that it’s not. I didn’t live by that standard and it kills me. Please, hug your loved ones.”
We need to do better. We need to be kinder to ourselves and to others.
We need each other and it’s about time we realised it.
May
- British royal wedding: That guy who may or may not be Prince Charles’s son married that grating B-list American actress who went from being utterly irrelevant to instantly world famous at the age of 36, proving that there is no limit to what you can achieve no matter who you are or how old you are; all you have to do is marry some (in)famous rich dude.
Much of the world became obsessed with the wedding activities of the British royals, while the rest of us were like, you do remember these people basically enslaved your ancestors, plundered your resources, and created lasting turmoil in your region, right? Ok then.
Meanwhile, Britain continued arguing with itself about Brexit, failing to reach a deal while the deadline loomed. And when she wasn’t busy entertaining the world with her dancing skills (or lack thereof), Prime Minister Theresa May somehow managed to continue staying in power and survived a vote of no confidence.
June
- Scorpion released: Canadian rapper Drake was inexplicably the most successful artist of the year. His album, Scorpion, released in June, was inexplicably the most streamed album of the year. The Kiki Challenge was inexplicably a thing.
- Saudi Arabia lifts women driving ban: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to join the 20th century by recognising women’s right to drive. After decades of campaigning by the “women to drive movement”, the country finally lifted its female driving ban and officially started issuing licenses to women in June. Several activists, however, remained in detention.
The Saudi bid to catch up with the rest of humanity also included reopening its cinemas for the first time since 1983.
After kicking things off last year by showing the celebrated timeless classic The Emoji Movie – winner of numerous awards such as the 2018 Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screen Combo, and Worst Screenplay of 2017 – at a state-run cultural centre in December (presumably so that no one would ever want to watch a movie again), the Saudis tried to rectify matters this year by making a significantly better choice and picking Black Panther for the first public film screening in nearly three and a half decades this April.
July
- FIFA World Cup: The country that was banned from the Olympics for doping took a break from (allegedly) poisoning spies and (allegedly) fixing global election results in order to host an international sporting event, because logic! A record three and a half billion people – nearly half the world’s population – watched at least a part of the tournament. Much to England’s disappointment, football refused to come home. France defeated Croatia in the final to lift the trophy. Pakistan supplied the balls because we’re awesome. Well, awesome at making footballs, clearly not awesome at playing with them.
- Thai cave rescue: An international effort managed to successfully rescue 12 boys and their football coach from the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand, following a 17-day ordeal, an incident that gave Elon Musk yet another chance to demonstrate that he is a bit of a jerk. And by “a bit” we obviously mean “massive”.
Earlier in the year (January), Polish climbers managed to rescue a French climber from Nanga Parbat but failed to reach another Polish climber who perished on the mountain.
- Sharif family corruption case: The Sharif family didn’t quite live up to its name as they came under judicial scrutiny for alleged corruption. Nawaz Sharif – who lost his wife Kulsoom Nawaz in September this year – was barred from holding public office for life and received a 10 year prison sentence, while his daughter Maryam and her husband Safdar Awan were handed seven and one year terms respectively.
- Pakistan general elections: Cricketer (-turned-playboy) -turned-politician Imran Khan won the general elections and finally brought tabdeeli to Pakistan. Unfortunately, that tabdeeli arrived in the form of inflation and currency devaluation. Hey, he never said it would be a positive tabdeeli, did he! And even if he did then no worries; rumour has it he’s quite fond of u-turns.
The country also tried to crowdfund a US$14+ billion dam because wisdom.
August
- Grieving killer whale: A whale carried her dead calf for 17 days on a tour of grief, breaking the hearts of people all around the world. We wiped a tear from our eye … while munching on our chicken burgers and chomping on our fish fingers and devouring our veal curry. What do you mean we are hypocrites?!! The animals we kill don’t have any emotions, surely?!
September
- Indonesia earthquake: Nature delivered a terrible jolt when a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Sulawesi and the resultant tsunami caused widespread destruction. The deadliest earthquake of the year killed more than 2,200 people, injuring thousands more, and reportedly damaged 70,000 houses, leaving tens of thousands of people to seek shelter.
Several other natural disasters also claimed lives throughout the year, including the recent volcanic tsunami (December), also in Indonesia, that stole over 200 lives and destroyed hundreds of houses.
October
World: Ok Saudi Arabia, so about Jamal Khashoggi…
Saudia Arabia: Umm, who?
W: The journalist who went to your consulate in Istanbul where your crown prince had him brutally assassinated …
SA: We have no idea what you’re talking about.
W: (produces security camera footage of JK entering consulate)
SA: Oh that guy. No, no, he left the consulate alive.
W: (shows footage of exits proving JK never left the consulate)
SA: Well that’s strange. But we don’t know what happened to him.
W: (plays audio of JK being killed inside the consulate)
SA: Ok, fine. Someone killed him. But it wasn’t us. It was, umm, rogue killers. Or no, it was an interrogation gone bad. Or umm, actually, it was a fist fight. Or, wait, it was, umm …warrior ninjas from outer space!
W: (suddenly remembers its lucrative trade ties with SA) That’s certainly plausible. Those extra-terrestrial ninjas sure are pesky. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. We’re cool. Now about that money and oil…
- Banksy artwork shredding: Banksy’s Balloon Girl auction GBP1.04 million sold! shreeeeed AWESOME! Banksy’s Love is in the Bin.
November
- California wildfires: Wildfires in the U.S. caused extensive damage in the U.S. The Woolsey Fire in California killed three people and destroyed more than 1,600 structures, including the houses of some celebrities as well as several filming locations and historical sites. Heavy wildfires had also wreaked havoc in Greece a few months prior (July), leaving 87 dead and more than a hundred buildings destroyed.
- World War I centenary: Humankind marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I by trying really, really hard to start World War III. While we didn’t succeed just yet, we’re certainly continuing our efforts. With dedication, we’ll surely get there. Just give us time.
December
- U.N. Climate Change Conference: With humanity getting a really bad name for how it’s treating everything on this planet, the world decided it might be a good idea to try and do something positive for a change. 200 nations agreed to rules on implementing the emissions cutting efforts of the 2015 Paris agreement which will come into force in 2020. Because it would be kinda nice if we continued to have, you know, an inhabitable planet with food and such in the future?
Ok, so 2018 did not portray humans in a very positive light, which isn’t exactly 2018’s fault seeing how humans weren’t exactly on their best behaviour in 2018. When we weren’t falling to new lows with things like the falling stars challenge (I mean, seriously people?!), we spent far too much time arguing about whether it was Laurel or Yanni (it was Laurel, I tell you! Laurel!). We often failed to do what was right, and we always thought we had a good excuse for it.
Here’s hoping we can show more empathy in 2019 by creating a world with less selfishness (and less selfies – less selfies would be good too!) and more kindness and love.
Here’s to a better future.
Happy New Year!
- Sameen Amer