In an eventful year filled with stories of war, disaster, soaring temperatures, and scandals, Lianhe Zaobao’s (LHZB) readers voted 诈 and 难 as the local and global Character of the Year in 2023 respectively. The winners were announced on 22 December. The event was supported by key sponsor, CapitaLand Investment.
The Characters of the Year
Ten characters had been shortlisted by the title’s newsroom, taking into account the most frequently searched keywords by users on LHZB’s Singapore and China websites. These are: 诈, 战, 难, 智, 热, 丑), 百, 冲, 洗, and 裂.
At a time when answering the seemingly innocent question “Don’t you remember me?” over a phone call can mark the beginning of a scam, local readers resonated with the character 诈, which symbolises deceit. Aside from monetary scams, 2023 also saw a constant influx of fabricated news that can even reach the national level, meant to undermine the cohesion of rival nations.
On the global level, the character 难, which symbolises struggle and adversity, is a reflection of the increased geopolitical tensions and effects of climate change that have directly impacted the lives of ordinary people.
Behind the event
Over 220,000 votes were collected over 15 days, among which over 30,000 votes came from local readers, and over 180,000 votes came from overseas readers. More than 2,200 entries were received for the lucky draw.
Leading up to the event, LHZB hosted social media contests and various engagements to create buzz and awareness for the campaign on its various platforms, as well as through zbSchools and SPH Media’s Chinese radio stations, UFM100.3 and 96.3好FM.
CapitaLand Investment provided $5,000 worth of prizes for the voting and social media contest. Readers in Singapore had a chance to win the attractive prizes, which included Ascott Star Rewards (ASR) points for those who voted for the winning word, as well as eCapitaVouchers for those who participated in the voting and took part in the social media contest.
This year, LHZB also invited local professional dance director Zhang Xiaoming and her dancers to interpret the meanings of the characters through their dance movements, encouraging the audience to associate and reflect on the events and phenomena represented behind each character. Visual effects further enhanced the portrayal of the characters in the videos.
This is the thirteenth year that SPH Media’s flagship Chinese daily has invited readers to reflect and choose a character that best represents local and international news of the year. The past Characters of the Year include: "涨" (2022), "盼" (2021), "罩" (2020), "港" (2019), "马" (2018), "恐" (2017), "变" (2016), "耀" (2015), "乱" (2014), "霾" (2013), "色" (2012), and "涨" (2011).
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