Taiwanese public vote for chaos … in word of the year poll
- The character topped the vote in a contest run by a newspaper to find the word that best summed up the year – the second time it had topped the list
- Filmmaker Ang Lee who nominated it said he hoped that one year people would feel that ‘harmony’ was the most appropriate choice
The Taiwanese public have voted 2019 as the year of chaos.
Around 80,000 people took part in a newspaper poll to decide the character that best summed up the year, picking the winner out of a selection of 42 words chosen by academics and high-profile figures such as the filmmaker Ang Lee.
United Daily News, which has been running the contest for the past 12 years, reported that “chaos” got 10,323 votes, followed by “lies” with 6,819. “Worry”, “surprise” and “anxiety” also featured in the top 10.
Last year’s character of the year was “fan” or “turning over”, preceded by “unclear” in 2017, “suffering” in 2016 and “change” in 2015. “Chaos” is the first repeat winner, having also been selected in 2008.
Feng Chi-tai, chair of the CTBC Foundation for Arts and Culture which helped organise the contest, said “everyone should have the boldness not to allow the chaos to bring turmoil to the mind, and to have the intellect to bring order out of chaos”.
The newspaper said the choice of “chaos” reflected global developments, including the six months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong, the US-China trade war and Taiwan’s strained relations with the Chinese mainland.