Ng Chee Meng tops the list as Singapore’s most-searched local figure in Google’s Year In Search 2025

SINGAPORE: Ng Chee Meng has topped Google’s list of most-searched trending local personalities in 2025, according to the tech giant’s Year In Search report released on Friday (5 Dec).

The annual review highlights the topics, figures, and events that drew the most attention from Singaporeans over the past year.

Under the category of trending local personalities, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Secretary-General and Member of Parliament emerged as the most searched individual, with search interest peaking between 4 and 10 May 2025.

Ng was involved in controversy earlier this year. In May, a former Ministry of Education trainee teacher described an unpleasant encounter with him during a dialogue session involving approximately 300 teacher trainees, calling his behaviour aggressive and patronising.

Ng was also scrutinised over a photograph showing him with Su Haijin at a private dinner. Ng stated that the dinner had occurred some time ago and that he had no further interactions with Su after investigations began. 

Su, a Chinese-origin Cypriot national, had been arrested on 15 August 2023 in a large-scale anti-money laundering operation and was sentenced in April 2024 to 14 months’ jail for money laundering and resisting arrest.

Su also featured among the top trending local personalities in 2025, ranking eighth on the list.

Actor Ian Fang ranked second after a turbulent year in which he was handed a 40-month jail term for sexual offences involving a minor.

Other names on the list include Alexis Dang, Chee Soon Juan, Gan Kim Yong, Harpreet Singh, Gigene Wong, Eleanor Lee, and the daughter of actor Gurmit Singh.

Google also released rankings across other categories, including trending Singapore news, TV shows, and movies.

“Mortgage quote” topped the list of trending news searches, followed by interest in the iPhone 17.

The SG60 voucher and CDC voucher 2025 were also heavily searched, placing third and fourth respectively, while the Singapore General Election 2025 results appeared ninth.

In entertainment, Mediacorp’s blockbuster drama Emerald Hill drew significant attention and was among the year’s most searched TV shows.

It appeared alongside global hits such as Netflix’s Bon Appetit, Your Majesty and Squid Game, both of which dominated the top TV searches.

For movies, Mission: Impossible led online interest in Singapore, followed by Thunderbolts and K-pop Demon Hunter.

Among the wider top trending searches were the late Barbie Hsu and Charlie Kirk — both of whom died this year — reflecting strong public interest in their passing.

Health-related queries also featured prominently, with “COPD treatment” and “osteoporosis treatment” drawing notable attention.

Meanwhile, the most searched topic in Singapore overall was DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence company.

Ben King, Google Singapore’s country managing director, said the Year In Search offers “a powerful snapshot of what mattered most to Singaporeans”, pointing to trends ranging from AI adoption to entertainment choices.

He added that Google will continue refining Search to deliver faster and higher-quality responses for users.