It’s time for my 2021 wrap-up. You know the drill, so let’s get straight into the list of the Bests of the Year: 👇 👇 

1. Best tweet 🐣

• Elon is known for setting the internet ablaze with his tweets, so why did I highlight this one about cooking beans in Chinese? 

• For the unaware, it’s based on a poem from the Three Kingdoms.

• The newly-crowned king was jealous of his younger brother’s talents and worries he might dethrone him.

• The king forced his brother to write a poem to prove his loyalty and this is the poem he came up with.

“Beanstalks burn to cook beans, 

Beans cry in the pot. 

We are of the same root. 

Why are we so eager torture each other?”

• Elon aptly titled it “Humankind”, showing that humanity is not a zero-sum game and the world benefits if we just work together.

• After all, we’re just atoms on this tiny blue speck we call Earth.

2. Best Advice 📝

• I came across this advice from Joey Schweitzer (Better Ideas):

• “By doing something that I hadn’t done before, I started thinking things I hadn’t thought before. Action is a far more reliable source of inspiration than inspiration itself.”

• Coming across a nugget of wisdom that inspires you is extremely rare, instead, start doing something different, your brain will follow through with the rest.

3. Best Podcast Episode 🎧

• Hosted by Sammy Peterson, this episode of “Confessions of the Idiots” had me in absolute stitches.

• The premise of the show is that they will read random confessions from the internet. 

• Absurd confessions full of plot twists paired with hilarious guests and their Aussie banter definitely equates to awesome fun.

4. Best Article 📑

• Whilst Hong applauded Elon’s World Hunger tweet in his issue. I saw it differently. 🥶

• My view is that the UN director is wrong with his statistics and Elon is wrong in picking a fight.

• The feud detracts from the actual issue: Helping hungry people.

• Caitlin Johnstone’s rendition of “The Boy and the Starfish” is brilliant where it reminds us that sometimes it’s just about helping others even if it’s not grand-sweeping.

5. Best Movie 🍿

• Finally, my movie of the year is “Dune”.

• Denis Villeneuve is becoming my favourite director from his work in “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049”.

• He is a master at world-building and establishing a sense of scale to for the world of Dune.

• Stunning visuals paired with Hans Zimmer’s superb score, Dune is truly a sensory treat.

Well, that sums up my fair share on Microdigest’s Awards Week. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my picks or let me know some of your picks. Tweet me! 🐣

Now it's your turn to choose. Who’s your winner for Segment of The Year? 😏

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This series is brought to you by Lee Way (@leewaylau). He will be writing about political & societal issues, history, movies and music on What's Up Wednesday.