This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 27, 2021 - January 2, 2022

During the pandemic, many things went viral, keeping people entertained despite the grim circumstances and — in some cases — extending crucial help where it was needed. Here are a few that caught our attention:

As people were stuck at home, there was a lot of experimenting with weird combinations of ingredients and cooking styles, some of which became massively popular. Here are some notable ones:

a. Crispiest garlic bread: Cut the top off garlic bulbs, place it in an aluminium foil, drench it with olive oil and bake for 40 minutes. After that, squeeze the roasted garlic and mix the juice with softened butter and spices of your choice. Generously spread the garlic butter on baguettes, sprinkle parmesan and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

b. Pasta chips: Boil pasta until it is al dente (still firm when bitten), drain it and add olive oil, parmesan cheese and any spices you like. Toss well and air fry until it is golden brown.

c. Squid Game dalgona candy: In the dystopian thriller Squid Game, debt-laden contestants are forced to compete in deadly children’s games for a US$38 million (about RM160 million) cash prize. In the most iconic second episode, contestants must etch out shapes stamped onto a brittle dalgona candy with a needle and are immediately executed if the candy cracks. 

Dalgona, a classic South Korean snack, surged in popularity after it was featured on the show and after the trend of trying to make dalgona took over TikTok, with #dalgonachallenge racking up close to 23 million views at one point.

d.  Emily Mariko’s salmon bowl

Leftovers don’t have to be boring. Thanks to Emily Mariko, leftovers have now received new appreciation. The 29-year-old is known for starting the “leftover lunch” trend. Her TikTok account has garnered over 38 million likes and 2.2 million followers, owing to her easy-to-make leftover dishes.

Her most viral clip on TikTok shows her whipping up an Asian fusion-inspired plate of shredded leftover cooked salmon and white rice topped with mayo, soy sauce and spicy Sriracha. In the clip, Mariko puts the rice and salmon concoction on a plate, then places an ice cube on top of the rice and wraps the plate with a sheet of parchment paper, after which it is heated up in a microwave.

After they have been steamed and heated, she mixes the ingredients together and adds her sauces. For the final touch, Mariko tops her dish with dried seaweed.

e. 15-hour potato

On Aug 1, TikTok user Poppy O’Toole, who goes by the username of @poppycooks, posted a video of what she called the “15-hour potato” that has since gone totally and completely viral. Poppy’s video has gained 18.2 million views, nearly three million likes, 12,000 comments and 116,000 shares.

Although 15-hour potatoes might seem like too much effort for a dish of potatoes, the dish itself does not involve 15 hours of preparation. All it takes is a cup of rendered fat, four cups of vegetable oil and 1.5kg of potatoes. The process involves slicing, baking, compressing to flatten and refrigerating for 12 hours, then slicing again and frying the sliced squares until they are crisp.

a. Abba’s one breath challenge: TikTok stepped up its music and dance challenges this year. It even managed to prod Seventies Swedish Europop group Abba to release a new album after 40 years. This was possible because several of the group’s songs went viral on TikTok, including Dancing Queen, which was used for the “one breath challenge” by artists and TikTokkers globally. Users were challenged to sing the chorus in one breath. 

b. Dua Lipa’s Levitating and Doja Cat’s Woman: These were just two out of the hundreds of dance challenges on TikTok. These two are the most recent and ubiquitous ones on TikTok, with remixed versions making their rounds. Levitating also had an Indian-remix version that saw Indian classical dancers joining the trend.

In the past year, sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded, with the sales volume surging to US$10.7 billion (about RM45 billion) in the third quarter of 2021 — up more than eightfold from the previous quarter.

An NFT is a digital asset that exists on a blockchain, which is a record of transactions that have been methodically recorded in a network of computers. The blockchain serves as a public ledger, allowing anyone to verify an NFT’s authenticity and owner. 

Among the standout sales is that of “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” — a collage of 5,000 digital images — by Mike Winkelmann, known professionally as Beeple. Regarded as one of the most expensive works by a living artist, it sold for US$69.3 million at Christie’s on Feb 21.

Towards the end of November, TikTok feeds saw an uptick of videos showcasing advent calendars from different brands, counting down the days till Christmas. 

Some notable ones are Chantecaille, Harry Potter, Dior and Mac. But the advent calendar that went viral belonged to luxury French fashion house Chanel for having lacklustre contents. Priced at US$825 (RM3,484), the calender is filled with low-value items, including stickers, mini dust bags, temporary tattoos and a Chanel logo wax seal.

In August, Malaysians participated in an aggressive competition with Thailand and Taiwan, as patriotic netizens tapped on a picture of a cat on their screens, hoping to get more clicks than the other countries. Malaysia was trailing behind the two countries.

This random game was set up as a joke by computer scientists last year and unexpectedly went viral. It is a simple game: tap on the cat’s image, and the cat will open its mouth in an “O” shape and emit a popping sound. 

#BenderaPutih took off in June 2021 after high suicide rates were reported in the country due to the prolonged lockdown. A group of youth in Kuantan, who lost a close friend to suicide, started this movement online to help those in need. 

They asked Malaysians who needed help to raise a white flag outside their homes. Those with means would then offer help to these households. Soon enough, supermarkets and various businesses were giving out free food or offering deals on food bundles to be sent to those in need. Volunteers created websites to identify where white flags were raised, and others drove around to offer help to these households.

A few Malaysian athletes went viral during the Olympics. Swimmer Welson Sim was called the “handsome sunshine boy” by netizens in China, while badminton player Lee Zii Jia became viral on social media for his skills and good looks. Netizens even resurfaced his old Tweet from 2014, “Sorry if I hurt u, I just wan focus my badminton…”, which earned him adoring sighs from thousands of Malaysian girls.

No, #CucukMYAZ is not an official hashtag. It became popular on social media when the AstraZeneca vaccine was first offered in Malaysia, with many chuckling over the homonym of the vaccine’s abbreviated name.

After the mass vaccination programme was rolled out, many Malaysians began sharing photos of themselves at vaccination centres. Videos of Malaysians who got vaccinated while dressed in all sorts of odd costumes also went viral. We had dinosaurs, superheroes and cartoon characters show up to get their jabs.

Steve Burns, the original host of Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues, made an unexpected and highly emotional video to (now) millennial fans of the show, explaining his character’s departure from the show in 2002. 

In a viral clip posted on Nick Jr.’s Twitter account, Burns explains that Steve decided to go to college. He did this in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the show, and in the video, he addresses viewers in the same inclusive and conversational way he used to on TV screens almost two decades ago.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet resigned on Aug 16 after just 17 months in power amid infighting in the Perikatan Nasional coalition and a resurgent wave of Covid-19.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob succeeded Muhyiddin and became Malaysia’s ninth prime minister.

#lawan was born out of frustration at the way the Malaysian government was handling the health, political and socio-economic crises stemming from the pandemic. Unemployment-triggered poverty, rising suicide cases and political hullaballoo led activists to mobilise protestors offline and online via the hashtag.

More than 1,000 people gathered in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, carrying effigies of cloth-wrapped bodies, painted numbers reflecting Covid-19 casualties and cardboard signs highlighting the plight of the people. Those who were not able to be physically present put up #lawan posters with messages such as #hiduprakyat and #kerajaangagal, changed their social media profile to an all-black background, or financially supported those who were fined RM2,000 for joining the public protest.

With all the political movements that occurred in the past year, Malaysians can’t be blamed if they struggle to keep up with what is happening. At this time, some artists and comedians have parodied the current situation in videos and comic strips to bring some laughter to the public. Future students who have to study this period in their Sejarah textbooks will undoubtedly find these resources helpful.

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