Dio Suhenda, Jakarta – Google has released its Year in Search 2020, which compiles the top trending topics in Indonesia this year based on searches until Nov. 30.

Divided into nine categories, the topics include famous people who died in 2020, national events, song lyrics, films and recipes.

Based on Year in Search's overall trending list, Indonesia's most-searched keywords this year were "coronavirus", "PSBB"(large-scale social restrictions), "pre-employment card", "folded bike", "odading" (fried dough), Glenn Fredly, "hand sanitizer", "Lathi" song by Weird Genius, "omnibus law" and "Google Classroom".

Google Indonesia's head of consumer apps marketing, Fida Heyder, said 2020 was a year of challenges, changes and questions. "However, we can see that Indonesians are tough and resilient in facing these challenges and changes," Fida said in a statement. " The new normal doesn't only indicate tenacity and adaptation but perhaps also gives a new perspective for Indonesia, promotes new habits, improves creativity and creates innovation."

Hot issues dominated headlines over the year such as the omnibus law, recession, pre-employment card, odading (fried dough) that came from a viral advertisement and WFH (work-from-home) are among the trending topics.

Additionally, the list also showed how people were "moved to act" through what they had searched on Google, starting from "how to make hand sanitizer" and "how to sign up for a digital medium-sized business" to "how to be a reseller" and "how to be a beginner YouTuber".

The new normal period showed people's interest in learning new skills, with search queries like Google Classroom, "what is learning quota", "how to enter Google Classroom" and folded bike, among others.

The same period also affected people's way of enjoying entertainment. Short film Tilik is recognized as one of the most popular films throughout this year on Google Search in Indonesia. People also used the engine to search for public figures who passed away in 2020, among them were the late campursari (a blend of traditional Javanese and modern music) maestro Didi Kempot, musician-activist Glenn Fredly and Betawi comedian Omas.

Google had seen a growing interest in Korean entertainment over the past several years, but in 2020 there was an increase in various categories, including songs, actors, television series and recipes. Several top Korean-related topics this year were drama Crash Landing on You, the song "Dynamite" by BTS and the sweet Dalgona coffee. (wir/wng)

Source: https://asianews.network/indonesian-educators-call-for-education-bill-changes