S I N C E 1922

ASIA

LIVING WITH
LONG COVID
Fresh
Take Our Fun Challenges
PAGE 66
Bangladesh Tk190 · Indonesia Rp45,000 · Korea W7000 · Thailand B155 · HK$36 · Sri Lanka Rs850 · NT$158 · Pakistan Rs475

PAGE 100

Clever Ways
To Beat
RISING FOOD
PRICES
PAGE 48

SPEARED BY
AN ARROW
A Miracle In
Disguise
PAGE 40
DECEMBER 2022
ISSN 0034-0383

ENGLISH WORDS
Strange Origins
& Surprising Uses
SINGAPORE $9.90
PAGE 24 MALAYSIA RM 15
PHILIPPINES P 199
 CONTENTS
DECEMBER 2022
24 34
PHOTOS: COVER PHOTO (CHRIS TMA S BAUBLE) GE T T Y IMAGES; (L ANGUAGE) RICHARD BORGE; (S TORK) GE T T Y IMAGES
Features
24 40
language drama in real life
So That’s Why The Arrow That
We Say That Saved My Life Twice
Even for those who When the author was
speak it daily, English struck by an arrow
is a fascinating and while gardening, it set
often surprising in motion a series of
language. medical discoveries.
BRANDON SPECKTOR DONNA BARBOUR
34 48
earth’s heroes money
The Hargila Army How To Beat Rising
An endangered stork is Food Prices
getting another lease Consumers are feeling
of life thanks to a the pinch of soaring
biologist and her 400- food prices. We share
plus army of female strategies to save you
volunteers. money while you shop.
LAM LYE CHING ANDY WEBB
ON THE COVER: FESTIVE TRADITIONS – PAGE 100
52
food for thought
Christmas Cakes
Whether fruity, light
and spongy or topped
with marzipan, the
festive season is a time
for cake. Plus a tried-
and-tested family
plum pudding recipe.
DIANE GODLEY
56
relationships
Fade Away
A friendship may come
to an end for a number
of reasons, but is
usually accompanied
by complex emotions.
SARAH LISS
rdasia.com 1
74

CONTENTS
92
DECEMBER 2022

66 80 100
health heart quiz
Living With The Many Festive Traditions
Long COVID Lives of Dabba Put on a funny hat,
Causes of the Recycled yoghurt gather the family
debilitating long-term containers are used as around and attempt
effects many people a receptacle to share our special
suffer after getting food... and love. Christmas quiz.

PHOTOS (3D ART): GE T T Y IMAGES; (MAN IN HAT) COURTESY IG NOBEL PRIZES

COVID are not clear, ARUNDHATI DHARA CAROLINE FRIEDMANN
but more support and FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL

research is needed.
LISA BENDALL 84 104
opinion bonus read
74 The Future A Season Of
Sweetness And Joy
photo feature Awaits You!
Parents and Three very different
Art Is ... A Matter
grandparents share life stories from various
Of Perspective
lessons. LESLIE FINLAY geographical
Watch out where you
locations, but all
walk! These life-like
three-dimensional 92 three tales will fill
your heart with the
street artworks create science
warmth and wonder
an optical illusion that Absurd Science
of Christmas.
may make pedestrians Humorous accolades
AMY WANG FROM
think twice before are awarded at the Ig THE WASHINGTON POST,
stepping out. Nobels every year. JESSICA PEARCE ROTONDI,
NICOLE LEWIN MELANIE EGAN PAUL ROBERT

2 december 2022
 16
Departments
the digest
18 Pets
20 Health
23 News From The
World Of Medicine
115 RD Recommends

regulars
4 Editor’s Note
10
PHOTOS: (RECORDER) AL AMY; (OTHERS) GE T T Y IMAGES. ILLUS TR ATION: (DOG) GE T T Y IMAGES

6 Letters
10 My Story
14 News Worth HAVE YOU
Sharing
16 Smart Animals VISITED THE
60 Look Twice READER’S
73 Quotable Quotes DIGEST
91 Tell Me Why FACEBOOK
PAGE LATELY?
humour Constantly
46 Life’s Like That updated, our
64 Laughter, Facebook feed
The Best Medicine offers stories,
98 All In A Day’s Work videos, advice,
humour, quotable
the genius section quotes, cartoons,
118 What Day Is It quirky
Again? photographs
122 Puzzles and more.
125 Trivia
126 Puzzle Answers
127 Word Power 73 FOLLOW US
@ReadersDigestAsia

rdasia.com 3
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

EDITOR’S NOTE

A Favourite Time Of Year

WITH THE END of another eventful year, it’s with some relief that
we look forward to a few days out of our routines to celebrate another
year closing. If you’re like me, those days between Christmas and
New Year feel somehow shorter than days at
other times of the year. So if you, too, experience
this sense of time distortion, then I’m sure you’ll
enjoy this month’s Genius article, ‘What Day Is It
Again?’ (page 118) by Adam Osth. This common
phenomena is explained by how our minds
perceive time.
This month, we delve into the challenges facing
health professionals when treating people who
develop a new set of health complications after
having COVID-19 (‘Living With Long COVID’,
page 66). Then, conscious of the extra drain on
household budgets at this time of year, we offer
savvy ways to stretch your food dollar further (‘How To Beat Rising Food
Prices’, page 48). Plus, you’ll find a collection of human-interest stories
that help remind us why the festive season is so special (‘A Season Of
Sweetness And Joy’, page 104).
And so we say goodbye to an extraordinary year that was full of
recovery, positive energy and adventures long overdue!
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at

Reader’s Digest, LOUISE WATERSON
Editor-in-Chief

4 december 2022
 Luxury
Jewellery
ASIA

Prizes To Win
Vol. 122
No. 718
December 2022

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Louise Waterson TOTAL VALUE

Managing Editor Zoë Meunier
Chief Subeditor Melanie Egan OF PRIZES OVER
Art Director Hugh Hanson
Senior Art Designer Adele Burley US $10,000
Art Designer Annie Li
Senior Editor Diane Godley
Associate Editor Victoria Polzot
DIGITAL Head of Digital Content Greg Barton

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES
Group Advertising Director, Asia Pacific
Sheron White
Mobile: +61 421 897 140 Tel: +61 2 9004 4407
Email: sheron.white@readersdigest.com.au
National Account Manager, Singapore
and Malaysia
Rifdi Akmal Ramlee Tel: +6018 373 5994 1.12ct
Email: Rifdi.Ramlee@readersdigest.com.au Kings Plains
Advertising Sales, Philippines Sapphire and
Maricarl Garcia Tel: +63939 9248158 Diamond
Email: Maricarl_Garcia@rd.com Pendant
Advertising Sales, Malaysia
Helen Corry Tel: +6 012217 3260
Email: helen.corry@rd.com
Advertising Sales, Singapore
Sheron White Tel: +61 2 9004 4407
Email: sheron.white@readersdigest.com.au
Advertising Sales, Taipei 14ct
Andrew Tsao Yellow Gold
Tel: +886 935 833 866 Fax: +886 277367388 Necklace
Email atsao@triumphal.com.tw
Advertising Sales, Hong Kong SAR
Fibee Chun Tel: +852 97202063
Email fibee.chun@theppnetwork.com
8.84ct
CUSTOMER INQUIRIES Blue Topaz
Online rdasia.com/customer-care Bracelet
Contact Us – Singapore (65) 6955 8633
or friends@readersdigest.asia
Contact Us – Malaysia and rest of Asia
+65 6955 8633* or friends@readersdigest.asia
Administration Office Direct Publishing Asia PTE
LTD, Singapore Post Centre, PO Box 272,
Singapore 914010
*International call rates apply

Published under licence.

SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Reader’s Digest publishes 12 issues a year.
WWW.RDASIA.COM/SUBSCRIBE
PUBLISHED BY DIRECT PUBLISHING ASIA PTE. LTD., COMPANY
NUMBER: 200607506M © 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. REPRODUCTION IN ANY MANNER IN FOR DETAILS AND TERMS & CONDITIONS
WHOLE OR PART IN ENGLISH OR OTHER LANGUAGES PROHIBITED.
PROTECTION SECURED UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL AND GO TO WWW.RDASIA.COM/COMPETITIONS
PAN-AMERICAN COPYRIGHT CONVENTIONS. PRINTED BY TIMES Lucky draws to include entries from new, renewal
PRINTERS PTE LTD, 16 TUAS AVE. 5,SINGAPORE 639340.
MCI (P) 014/12/2021. ISSN 0034-0383. MALAYSIA KDN PPS or gift subscriptions. Multiple draw entries for
1910/08/2019 (026008)
multiple years subscriptions.
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

LETTERS
Reader’s Comments And Opinions

A Constant Companion
The COVID-19 pandemic affected
everyone and engulfed the world in
despair and sorrow. Fortunately in those
testing periods, there was a ray of light
that shone on us readers. Reader’s Digest
accompanied me through lonely times
and helped me escape the walls behind
which I had been confined. So while
I thank you for all the amazing
information and entertainment,
I especially thank you for being a
friend when I needed one most.
MONEEBB YASIN CHAUDHARY

Flying In The ’50s I did a similar trip back to Rhodesia

I was quite amazed reading Keith with my one-year-old daughter to
Knott’s story of his experience flying visit her grandparents. These trips
to London from Salisbury, Rhodesia, were certainly an enjoyable way to
ILLUS TR ATION AND PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

in 1956 (My Story, October), I might sightsee and travel.

have been on the same plane! My
parents both worked for Central
African Airways and that year I flew
to London to train as a nurse. It was
exactly the same trip. Six years later
NICOLETTE ROBINSON
The Show Rolls On
In a world of constant change, the
one constant for the past 60 years

Let us know if you are moved – or provoked – by any item in the magazine,
share your thoughts. See page 8 for how to join the discussion.

6 december 2022
 Letters

has been the Rolling Stones. While

the former wild men of rock ‘n’ roll
have mellowed, their love of blues
music has not – which is why they
are still so loved today. We might not
always get what we want, but we will
always have the Rolling Stones.
MICHAEL WOUTERS

Thank You MUSCLE MOUSE

As a child, I was exposed to We asked you to think up a funny
caption for this photo.
different reading materials, as my
father had a number of magazine In training for the rat race.
CHRIS RAMOS
subscriptions. But I liked Reader’s
Digest the most of all because I I guess you can say I’m quite
the gym rat.
got to read a lot in small doses. I BRADLEY T
still vividly remember that my love I’m not a dumbbell
of reading started in high school I’m Mighty Mouse.
with an excerpt from the book The GREGORY JONES.
Day The Bubble Burst, about the Hope I don’t pull a hamstering.
financial disaster that led to the SAMA AMEENA

Great Depression in the 1930s. I am Mouse – hear me squeak!

LOUISE COMERFORD

Congratulations to this month’s

WIN A PILOT CAPLESS winner, Sama Ameena.
FOUNTAIN PEN
The best letter each month WIN!
will win a Pilot Capless
Fountain Pen, valued at over
$200. The Capless is the
perfect combination of luxury
and ingenious technology,
featuring a one-of-a-kind
retractable fountain pen nib,
durable metal body, beautiful CAPTION CONTEST
rhodium accents and a 14K Come up with the funniest caption
gold nib. Congratulations to this for the above photo and you could win
month’s winner, Liz Beck. $100. To enter, email
asiaeditor@readersdigest.com.au
or see details on page 8.

rdasia.com 7
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Another section I looked forward
to was Word Power. It really helped
me widen my vocabulary. So, yes,
Reader’s Digest is a part of my life. I
wish you a hundred years more.
MARYLOU DEL ROSARIO
Taking Action
I have suspected for some time
now that I may have adult ADHD.
I constantly lose things and am
forgetful and easily distracted,
so I rarely finish tasks. But these
traits have always been put down
as my ‘quirky’, over-the-top (and
frustrating) personality. I wanted
to speak to my GP about this when I
read about it in your September 2017
issue, but like everything I never got
around to it. But after reading ‘Stop
Losing Your Stuff’ (September) and
having just lost another set of house
keys, I am pleased to say that I am
seeing my doctor at the end of this
month. Thank you, Reader’s Digest.
LIZ BECK
Hanging Out The Washing
The story about robots and
technology (‘Robots Gone Wild’,
September) reminded me of the
cleaning robots in shopping malls,
which seem to work well. But I
don’t see any reason to connect
the washing machine to our
WiFi network just yet; perhaps
I’ll change my mind when the
technology can hang out the
laundry, too! HANNU VESTERINEN
8 december 2022
CONTRIBUTE
RE ADERSDIGESTASIA
Anecdotes And Jokes
$50–$100
Send in your real-life laugh for
Life’s Like That or All In A Day’s Work.
Got a joke? Send it in for Laughter
is the Best Medicine!
Smart Animals
Up to $100
Share antics of unique pets
or wildlife in up to 300 words.
My Story $250
Do you have an inspiring or
life-changing tale to tell?
Submissions must be true,
unpublished, original and
800–1000 words.
Here’s how to reach us:
Email: asiaeditor@readersdigest.
com.au
Write: Reader’s Digest Asia
Editorial Department
Singapore Post Centre
PO Box 272, Singapore
914010
Online: rdasia.com/contribute
Include your full name, address,
phone number and email.
Letters: We may edit letters and use them in all
print and electronic media.
Submissions: All submissions become our property on
payment and subsequent publication in the magazine.
We may edit and fact-check submissions. We cannot
return or acknowledge material not accepted for
publication. For terms and conditions, go to www.
rdasia.com/terms-and-conditions/submission-
guidelines. Figures refer to US dollars.
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
MY STORY
The Christmas
That Changed Me
My parents paid far more than they could
afford for the greatest gift of my life
BY Peter White F R O M T H E G U A R D I A N
I
t’s eight o’clock on Christmas
morning, and Uncle Tom says
he wants to listen to the news.
My 11-year-old self is wondering
why on Earth grown-ups would be
interested in the news when there are
important things to be done, such
as handing out presents. And then,
while I am only half-listening to the
radio broadcast, something weird
happens: the boring newsreader
begins talking about a Christmas
message from the Vatican. Hadn’t we
heard that report earlier?
My older brother, Colin, figures
out what’s happening. “Pete, Pete,
it’s a tape recorder! We’ve got our
tape recorder!”
It finally dawns on me: Uncle Tom
and my dad recorded the news and
are playing it back now.
10 december 2022
I think it’s quite rare to experience
real excitement over a present.
Children are as good as adults at
knowing what is expected of them
and simulating joyful surprise,
even when they don’t feel it. But
for me this was one of those rare
moments when my insides gave an
involuntary lurch and the world did
a little somersault.
Colin and I had both been blind
from birth. Now, in the late 1950s,
exciting consumer goods were
coming within reach of the not-so-
PHOTOS: AL AMY, GET T Y IMAGES
rich. At the special boarding school
in Worcester in western England
that Colin and I attended, reel-to-
reel tape recorders were definitely
the gizmos of choice. For blind kids,
they would trump cameras every
time, especially with the rise of rock

‘n’ roll. A recorder of your own was
the height of aspiration. However,
Colin – better informed and more
realistic about family finances than
I was – had no real expectations of
getting one.
I realised, much later, that my dad
probably earned about £8 a week as
a carpenter. The tape recorder my
parents bought us would have cost
more than four times his weekly
Peter White, 74, has been the BBC’s
disability affairs correspondent since 1995.
He was the first totally blind person to
produce reports for television news. Peter is
married and is a father of four.
My Story
wage. They could only afford it by
borrowing the money from Uncle
Tom, who had a thriving grocery
business. I know my mum and dad
would have thought long and hard
before incurring the debt.
The new toy, the size of a small
suitcase, dominated the rest of the
Christmas holidays. Once we had
mastered the controls (Colin was the
technical one, but was surprisingly
patient in sharing his knowledge
with me), we recorded anything and
everything: each other, our parents,
the milkman, the dog ... and we very
quickly learned how much fun we
could have with it.
It wasn’t the first time I had been
entranced by a tape recorder. I vividly
remember walking into a room when
I was four and hearing a child’s
tuneless singing. I stopped dead. “It’s
you,” Dad said. “Noisy, aren’t you?”
It turned out that he had
borrowed a tape recorder because
he and some friends were writing
and performing songs and sketches
for his former school’s concert. So
for the first time, in the same way
that a sighted child might react to
seeing themselves in a mirror or
a photograph, I got the sense of
myself as a separate person who
existed outside my head and was
experienced by other people. It was
both exciting and embarrassing.
I took my first steps down the
path to my career as a broadcaster
when I returned to school after
rdasia.com 11
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
the holidays. I was lucky to be in a
class of imaginative, creative and
radio-obsessed boys, and it wasn’t
long before we started to make our
own embryonic radio programmes.
I would wander round the school
with my rudimentary microphone,
recording my thoughts in the style
of the voices I heard on the radio.
Most of what I talked about came
from my imagination,
although occasionally I WOULD RECORD
we would stage real MY THOUGHTS IN
THE STYLE OF THE
events to heighten
the excitement.
Particularly memorable VOICES I HEARD
was a boxing match
between Mick and
ON THE RADIO
Geoff (respectively
the strongest and the gamest boys
in the class, both totally blind). The
commentary came from the only
boy who had a little bit of sight, in a
very passable imitation of a boxing
commentator.
In fact, the biggest challenge was
not finding things to do with the tape
recorder but wrestling it away from
Colin – it was, after all, a present
for both of us. His generosity on the
first day we got it did not extend to
handing it over to his clumsy brother
at school. “You’ll break it,” he would
say. “You’ll lose it. You’ll scramble up
the tapes.”
To be fair, I did all those things.
On one fraught occasion, I tried to
disentangle a hopelessly knotted tape
while standing in front of an open
12 december 2022
window and managed to get much of
it enmeshed in an overhanging tree.
But ten years later, after I had
started and abandoned a university
law course, I drew on the confidence
gained from those early excursions
into sound and walked into a radio
station, in the hopes of selling myself
as a broadcast journalist. It all nearly
ended there – the receptionist told
me there were no
vacancies and that
I should apply to the
BBC in London. I
prepared to hitchhike
my disillusioned way
back to university.
Then luck
intervened. A producer
at the radio station who was putting
together a weekly programme for
blind people had seen me with my
white cane being ushered into the
lift. He later phoned me at home and
asked if I would return to see him.
Twenty-five years later, I presented
my first report for BBC TV’s Six
O’Clock News, a programme my
dad had never missed. Although by
then he’d been dead for more than
a decade, I like to think he’d have
realised that his inspired Christmas
present had changed my life.
© GUARDIAN NEWS & MEDIA LTD 2022
Do you have a tale to tell? We’ll pay
cash for any original and unpublished
story we print. See page 8 for details
on how to contribute.
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

NEWS WORTH SHARING

Volunteer Guardians Watch Over Sea Lions

O
f the seven known sea lion
species, one is already extinct.
Three others are endangered,
including the New Zealand sea lion,
In 1993, for the first time in
over 150 years, sea lions began
breeding again on the coast of the
South Island. Today, sea lion PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES; SHUT TERS TOCK; AL AMY

believed to number around 12,000. numbers appear to be rising again

That population has dwindled due – and the trust’s ‘babysitters’ can
to disease, climate change and take much of the credit. These
careless fishing practices, volunteers walk the beach in
according to the New Zealand Sea breeding season, checking on the
Lion Trust, an organisation health of families and making sure
founded in 2003 to spread newborns are safe. The colony
awareness, monitor the population, around the Otago peninsula
and promote research. produced 21 pups this year.
COMPILED BY VICTORIA POLZOT

14 december 2022

Underwater Sculptures
Helping To Protect Fish
W
hen fishing boats drag
a net along the seabed,
it can scrape away and
destroy marine life. Although
illegal in many parts of the world,
Paolo Fanciulli, who has been
fishing sustainably for decades
off Italy’s Tuscan coast, noticed
the ocean floor turning into a
wasteland and fish populations
shrinking. Although he lobbied
authorities to sink concrete
blocks that would catch and tear
illegal trawlers’ nets, it wasn’t
enough.
In 2013, Fanciulli thought of
a way to add more obstacles to
the sea floor while attracting
attention to the cause: an
underwater sculpture park. Now,
thanks to artists and a donation
of marble blocks, 39 sculptures,
including human figures, are on
the ocean floor.
Trawlers have left the region,
and fish populations are
returning to normal. A bonus:
snorkellers and divers can enjoy
the ‘House of Fish’ installation
any time.
News Worth Sharing
Learning From Our Differences
R
onni Abergel of Copenhagen
has always been curious about
the lives of other people. In
2000, with his brother and friends, he
launched the Human Library, stocking
it with ‘human books’ – volunteers
recruited from often-stigmatised
backgrounds (for example, they may
have been labelled as homeless,
ADHD or obese). “I wanted to create
a safe space where it was OK to ask
other people questions,” Abergel says.
More than 85 countries now have
human libraries, often in actual
libraries. Patrons can check out a
‘human book’ for 30 minutes. “It’s a
chance to see what it’s like to walk in
their shoes and to dispel fear,” says
Abergel, adding that the organisation
trains applicants to ensure they’ll be
open-minded and genuine.
In 2020, the Human Library went
online. Virtual sessions are available
and are typically fully booked.
Abergel says it takes a special kind
of person to volunteer as a human
book. But it has rewards. “This forum
allows them to explain themselves,”
says Abergel.
rdasia.com 15
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
SMART ANIMALS
Have strong instincts and can make deep connections
Clever Crow
BRENDA HUNT
Early on a hot summer’s morning
in 2019, I woke to a tapping sound
on our bedroom window. I pulled
back the curtains to find a crow
standing on the windowsill. It didn’t
move, just stood watching me. Then
it tapped on the glass a few times. I
didn’t understand why until I looked
out across the garden and realised
the birdbath was empty.
I had heard that crows are smart,
but was this bird really asking for
water?
Pulling on my robe, I went outside
to fill the birdbath. I was amazed
to see several more crows, four
magpies and several smaller birds
16 december 2022
all perched around the garden,
watching me.
Once the bath was full, I went
back inside and looked out the
bedroom window. Sure enough,
the crows were enjoying a drink.
The rest of the birds were perched
in the nearby trees, waiting their
turn. I’m still amazed that not only
had the crows figured out that
the human beings living in the
house were responsible for filling
ILLUS TR ATIONS: GE T T Y IMAGES
their water supply, they knew the
window on which to knock.
You could earn cash by telling us
about the antics of unique pets or
wildlife. Turn to page 8 for details
on how to contribute.
Blended And Bonded
JAYNE PARKER
In 2017, my husband-to-be,
Ricardo, brought his beautiful
border collie, Jack, on our first
date. I was swiftly bowled over
by the pair of them. Fast forward
18 months and they’d blended in
beautifully with me and my four-
year-old daughter. Now we were
all ready to take on a new
family member.
A trip to the animal rescue
centre resulted in love at
first sight between our
daughter and a kelpie puppy.
I approached as the two of
them nuzzled and giggled
through the mesh of the
kennel and thought that this
might be the one. found our daughter, bloody-kneed
When this weeks-old puppy saw and a little tear-stained after falling
me come closer, she instantly sat off her scooter.
back on her little mat. She made She was being comforted by
herself as tall and still as she could, young Ruby, who was softly whining
trying to contain her excitement her reassurance. Our daughter
while apparently letting me know looked up smiling, overjoyed that
what a very good girl she was. Smart the dogs had come through for her
dog. It worked. We rescued little in her moment of need. One had
Ruby and our adventures as a family gone for help while the other tended
of five commenced. the wounded. It’s a wonderful
One day, the following spring, example of how our gorgeous
aged almost six, our daughter had working dogs instinctively care for
scootered off out of sight along their pack.
the footpath, flanked as always by As a single mother before I met my
her loyal doggie disciples. Before husband, I never would have taken
long, Jack came tearing back along on the responsibility of a dog – let
the path with an urgent bark, alone two – but now, I can’t imagine
compelling us to follow. We did, and our family without them.

rdasia.com 17
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PETS

The Adoption Option

The why, what and how of adopting an animal
BY Dr Katrina Warren

A
dopting a pet is rapidly becoming the
preferred option for many people wanting to
add an animal companion to their household.
Many rescue organisations have online
searches so prospective pet adopters can browse for a
particular breed, age and sex. Veterinarian Dr Katrina
Warren discusses how to adopt a pet.

AN AFFORDABLE CHOICE. It’s true that many

people are happy to part with thousands of dollars for
Our regular purebred and ‘designer’ crossbred dogs and cats, but
pet columnist, rescue pets have a lot going for them and can be more
Dr Katrina Warren,
affordable to purchase.
is an established
and trusted
animal expert. HOMELESS ANIMALS CAN MAKE WONDERFUL
PETS. People often assume that dogs and cats end up
in pounds and shelters because they’re unwanted or
badly behaved. There are many reasons owners may
need to re-home their pet – divorce, hospitalisation,
lack of suitable accommodation, or the time and
money needed to care for a dog. Some dogs and cats
become lost, are not identified and are never claimed.

ADULT ANIMALS HAVE BENEFITS. Generally only

very young animals are available from breeders, but
shelters have a wide range of prospective pets and there

18 december 2022
 Pets

are many benefits from adopting a

more mature dog or cat. Not starting
from scratch helps avoid much of
the craziness and mess associated
with puppies. They will already
be desexed, microchipped and
vaccinated, so you will have fewer
start-up costs. Most importantly
what you see is what you get – a
young animal’s behaviour may still
be developing, whereas an older
animal’s personality and behaviour
should be evident, so no surprises.
Consider the pet’s suitability for
CHOOSE AN APPROPRIATE your family and lifestyle
ANIMAL FROM A REPUTABLE
SOURCE. You should only adopt should be available, and you should
a dog or cat from a reputable be able to return the pet if things
shelter, pound or rescue group. don’t work out.
Ethical establishments will have a
behavioural trainer to assess the TO KEEP IN MIND. It’s important
temperament of every dog and cat for you to only select a pet that will
before they’re put up for adoption. suit your lifestyle, not a pet you
The staff should ask you lots of feel sorry for. You need to think
questions about your lifestyle so carefully about how you will care
they can advise which dogs and cats for it – there’s a lot of responsibility
will best suit your family. Ongoing associated with managing rescue
behaviour and training advice animals appropriately.

CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE TAKING ON A PET

You should take how much grooming the amount of
into account: the pet will need exercise your pet
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

the type of residence the age of people in will need

and area you live in your home costs such as food,
whether you are the amount of vet check-ups or
permitted to keep a pet company you can unexpected
where you live provide emergencies

rdasia.com 19
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

HEALTH

Water Works
Whether you’re drinking it, getting active or bathing
in it, H 2 0 is awash with health benefits

BY Susannah Hickling

S
tudies show that drinking
enough water fends off health
problems from head to toe.
How much water you should
IT MIGHT PROTECT AGAINST
CANCER AND HEART DISEASE
Water helps convey nutrients,
hormones and proteins around
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

drink depends on many factors: your
weight, the climate where you live
and how often you exercise. Here are
some of the ways your body benefits
from this elixir of life.
the body, and ‘messages’ to the
nervous system. Water also flushes
out our liver, kidneys, bladder and
bowels. In fact, a US study found
that men who drank six 250 ml

20 december 2022
 Health

glasses of water a day halved their impact sports that are great for your
risk of bladder cancer, while another arms, torso and legs, and have the
study suggested that women who added bonus of having a meditative
drink more water cut their risk of quality that can release stress.
colon cancer by up to 45 per cent.
Other research found it also lowers FLOATING HAS THE FEEL-GOOD
women’s risk of a heart attack. FACTOR But if the thought of all that
activity has left you exhausted, you’ll
IT MIGHT HELP YOU LOSE be cheered to learn that floating in
WEIGHT Some research has warm salt water in a flotation tank
suggested that quaffing Adam’s ale has been shown by researchers to
can help you burn kilojoules. At the lower stress and reduce pain, while
very least, it will curb hunger pangs increasing optimism and sleep
and boost your energy. quality.
Both hunger and WE SHOULD
fatigue might be signs
of dehydration, as are ALL BE DRINKING FOR PAIN AND
STRESS, A BATH
headaches. EIGHT TO TEN IS BEST If sensory
GLASSES A DAY deprivation in a
HEALTHY FOODS
HYDRATE YOU, TOO OF THIS LIFE- flotation tank is
not your thing, just
While we should all SAVING LIQUID taking a warm bath
be drinking two to 2.5 will soothe aching
litres of water a day of muscles. A review of
this life-saving liquid, some healthy research from Coventry University
foods also have a high-water content. in England found that a regular
These include smoothies, soup, soak in a hot bath or hot tub, or
cucumber, tomato, watermelon and session in the sauna, can reduce
citrus fruit. blood pressure, blood glucose and
inflammation.
PROVIDES PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
AND RECREATION Swimming is BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
a great no-sweat exercise. Not only WITH A SHOWER Not only will a
does it give you a full-body workout, shower get you cleaner than a bath,
reduce stress and boost your energy, it might have the added advantage of
it doesn’t leave you sweaty, because bolstering immunity from illness. A
the water surrounding you keeps Dutch study where participants took
your body cool. Like swimming, hot-to-cold showers found that they
canoeing and kayaking are also low- had fewer sick days from work.

rdasia.com 21
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
HEALTH
Be More
Memorable
Five simple tricks to
imprint your name, from
our memory expert
Jonathan Hancock
I
thought business cards had
gone out of fashion in the
digital age – but I was wrong. I
attended a conference recently,
and everywhere I looked I saw
people swapping small rectangles of
cardboard, exchanging contact details
in one quick move.
How reassuring to know that your
new acquaintance has a lasting
record of you – rather than having
to rely on their memory.
After all, remembering
names is one of the hardest
learning tasks of all. And,
if someone doesn’t take your
card, there’s little hope of them
knowing your name beyond
this conversation – right?
Well, partly. If you
leave it to chance,
they probably won’t
22 december 2022
keep your name in their head long.
However, there are some easy ways to
imprint your name on their brain.
• Flip their learning ‘switch’.
Everyone’s brain benefits from
knowing when it needs to be in
‘memory mode’. So say something to
signal that this is such a moment –
even if it’s, “Let me introduce myself”.
• Be interested in them. It’s another
great way to nudge people into being
receptive. If they’ve got an unusual
name, ask them about it. Without
even realising, they’ll be automatically
more interested in who you are.
• Keep them focused. Distractions
are the enemy of recall, so try
not to do anything else while you
introduce yourself. And don’t ask
them something difficult immediately
afterwards – otherwise that thought
process will replace your name in
their short-term memory.
• Repeat their name. When they
realise that you know them, they’ll
feel it’s even more important to
remember you.
• Prompt them to practise. Retrieving
information is a powerful way
to embed it in the brain. So
connect with the person again
after your meeting – with a
ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES
follow-up email, for example.
And if you leave enough of
a gap for them to strain
a little to recall who
you are, you’ll have the
greatest impact on their
memory long term.
 News From The
WORLD OF MEDICINE
NEW HOPE FOR AN EPSTEIN-
BARR VIRUS VACCINE
Three million people globally suffer
from multiple sclerosis (MS), a
neurodegenerative disease that has
no cure. A recent Harvard University
study found strong evidence that the
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which can
cause infectious mononucleosis, is
a trigger for MS. In fact, researchers
found that those infected with
EBV were 32 times more likely to
develop MS than uninfected people.
Blood tests also showed the nerve
degeneration that accompanies MS
starts only after EBV infection.
An mRNA vaccine against the EBV
virus is currently in clinical trials.
Reduced rates of EBV infection could
signal the potential for reduced risk
of MS development.
AVOCADOS BOOST
HEART HEALTH
There is now even
more evidence that
avocado is good for
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES
you, according to
a new study in the
British Journal of
Nutrition. An avocado
contains high levels of
unsaturated fats, which
lower ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, as well
as plenty of fibre to keep you satiated
longer than many other vegetables or
fruit. The research found that people
who ate more avocado had lower
body weight and slimmer waists,
which can reduce blood pressure
and diabetes risk.
HEAT WAVES MAY CAUSE
MENTAL-HEALTH EMERGENCIES
As extreme heat waves become
more frequent, experts predict
they could have a major impact on
people’s mental health, especially
for the most psychologically
vulnerable. A Boston University
study last summer found that on
extremely hot days, mental health-
related hospital visits – for stress,
anxiety, schizophrenia and more –
increased by eight per cent.
People with a history
of mental-health
conditions should take
extra precautions
in heat waves. And
everyone should
keep an eye on
mental-health
symptoms, as well as
physical ones, during
extreme heat.
rdasia.com 23
 LANGUAGE

SO THAT’S
WHY WE
SAY
THAT
Fun facts about the language that’s been
confounding speakers for centuries: English

BY Brandon Specktor
I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y R I C H A R D B O R G E

24 december 2022
rdasia.com 25
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
“IF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MADE ANY SENSE,
LACKADAISICAL WOULD HAVE SOMETHING
TO DO WITH A SHORTAGE OF FLOWERS.”
— DOUG L ARSON, JOURNALIST
s a ny one w ho’s s at
t h roug h a n E ng l ish
exam can tell you, as
a language English is
baffling. And yet, some-
how, the average na-
tive-speaker has man-
aged to learn 42,000 words. Granted,
many are of the a, the and but variety.
Still, few of us know how the words
we utter were derived or what they
really mean. What follows is a hodge-
podge (there’s a good word) of fun
facts about the language that gave us
Shakespeare, Hemingway, Dickens
and those idiots on Twitter.
THE STORY BEHIND
THE WORD
id you know that the word
muscle comes from the Lat-
in musculus, which means
‘little mouse’? Apparently, the an-
cient Roma ns t houg ht t hat t he
movement of a muscle, especially
a flexed bicep, looked as if a mouse
were running under the skin. Now
there’s a fun visual. And that’s not
even the weirdest example of a word
with odd, ancient origins creeping
– like mice under our skin – into
modern English. Here are a few of
our favourites.
26 december 2022
QUARANTINE
The first quarantine was in Venice,
Italy, while bubonic plague was rav-
aging the mainland. To help curb
the spread of infection, visiting ships
had to spend 40 days at anchor be-
fore entering the city. (Worst. Cruise.
Ever!!!) The word quarantine comes
from the Italian phrase quaranta
giorni: literally, ‘40 days’.
GALAXY
Thousands of years ago, ancient Greek
stargazers looked up at the sky and
saw a white river of light arcing over-
head. Their reaction? “I could really
go for a glass of milk right now.” The
Greeks named that broad band of
stars galaxías – which stems from the
word gála, meaning ‘milk’. To this day,
we call our galaxy the Milky Way.
AMBULANCE
ILLUS TR ATIONS: MIR AGEC/GE T T Y IMAGES
The word originates from French mil-
itary field hospitals of the 18th centu-
ry. This type of mobile medical cen-
tre could be easily dismantled and
moved from place to place, earning
it the name hôpital ambulant – liter-
ally, ‘walking hospital’. Eventually,
the name was shortened to just am-
bulance. Thankfully, today’s walking
hospitals come with wheels.
 So That's Why We Say That

CANDIDATE
In ancient Rome, the colour of some-
one’s toga could indicate that per-
son’s social status. Politicians wore
gleaming white robes, probably whit-
ened with powdered chalk, to show
the purity of their intentions. This
white toga was called toga candida,
from the Latin candidare (to whiten).
From there, we get the English words
candidate (one seeking office) and
candid (truthful), two words rarely
uttered in the same sentence.
IDIOT
What’s the opposite of a candidate?
An idiot, or idio-te-s in Greek.
Com i ng f rom t he word idios,
meaning ‘private’, an idiot was any-
one who didn’t hold public office.
That later came to mean ‘common
man’ and, much later, ‘igno-
rant person’, which is how
it’s used today. What did the
ancient Greeks call a foolish
person? Moros, which is the
basis for the modern moron.
BARBARIAN
The ancient Greeks loved their lan-
guage more than ouzo and looked
down on those who spoke a ‘less-
er’ tongue. To Greek ears, anyone
prattling on in another language
sounded as if they were saying bar-
bar, the ancient equivalent of blah-
blah. This bar-bar babbling led to
the word bárbaros, meaning ‘foreign
and uncouth’. Barbarian came to us
from there.
DISASTER
From time immemorial, astrologers
have been hunting for divine messag-
es in the stars. Coming from the Latin
dis, meaning ‘asunder’ and astrum,
meaning ‘star’, a disaster means that
the stars are against you and that ill
fortune is close at hand. Just ask the

PUNCH
The original recipe for fruit
punch, as it was mixed in
the 1600s, called for five
ingredients: sugar, spice,
lemon, water and alcohol.
It’s said that the name of the
drink comes from the Hindi
word panch, meaning five.
Watch out for that fifth in-
gredient; it packs a punch.

rdasia.com 27
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
dinosaurs, who were annihilated by
an asteroid (from the Greek word
asteroeide-s, meaning ‘starlike’).
MAGAZINE
Com i ng f rom t he A rabic word
makhzan, meaning ‘storehouse’, the
term magazine was originally used
in the 1600s to describe books. Why?
Because books were storehouses
of knowledge. Eventually, the word
came to describe printed periodicals,
like the little storehouse of knowl-
edge you’re holding in your hand
right now.
WHY DON’T WE SAY THAT?
nglish has no shortage of id-
iom s t hat m ig ht sou nd
strange to foreign ears. (It
was raining cats and dogs? Really?
How many umbrellas did you go
through?) But colourful turns of
phrase aren’t limited to English. Here
are a few foreign imports you might
consider using, pronto.
• Ever think of the perfect witty
comeback a moment too late for
anyone to hear it? In France, you’ve
got the esprit de l’escalier – ‘wit of the
staircase’ (because by the time the
idea comes to you, you’ve already left
the party).
• When someone is daydreaming in
Spain, they are pensando en la inmor-
talidad del cangrejo – literally, ‘pon-
dering the immortality of the crab’.
• Similarly, when someone’s mind
wanders in Poland, they are said to
28 december 2022
be ‘thinking about blue almonds’
(my´slec´ o niebieskich migdałach).
• If you find yourself in a pickle in
Sweden, you aren’t caught with your
pants down, you’re sitta med skägget
i brevlådan – ‘sitting with your beard
in the mailbox’.
• In English, a rare occurrence hap-
pens once in a blue moon. In Italian,
it happens ogni morte di Papa – on
‘every death of a Pope’.
• Travelling in Israel? If you ask for
directions to a town located in the
middle of nowhere, you might get
this less-than-helpful response: sof
ha’olam, smolah, which means ‘at the
end of the world, turn left’.
• Oh dear, did Grandpa forget the
point of another story? In English,
he’s lost the plot; in Mandarin Chi-
nese, he’s ‘adding legs to a snake’
(huà shé tia- n zú).
• Had enough of this international
inanity? Then buzz off! Or, as they
say in Farsi, gooreto gom kon! – ‘go lose
your grave!’
AHIPS! (ACRONYMS
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT)
rom a casual LOL (Laugh
Out Loud) to your bank
card PIN (Personal Identi-
fication Number), acronyms infuse
our lives now more than ever. Some-
times, you might not even realise
you’re using one. For example:
• Did you know that laser is the lazy
way of saying Light Amplification by
the Stimulated Emission of Radiation?
 So That's Why We Say That

WORDS WE SHOULD BRING BACK. NO, REALLY, NOW!

anguage is full of twists and turns – or, as our silver-tongued
ancestors might say, it’s full of crinkum-crankum. Words that
were once common become obsolete, or downright
ridiculous, just a few generations later. Take these 19th-century slang
words that we desperately need to bring back. Can you work out what
they mean in the story below?

The day after my bachelor KEY:

party, I woke up with the worst
katzenjammer of my life. My
head felt full of slumgullion,
and collywobbles battered my
gut. I looked around the room,
utterly bumfuzzled. The whole
house was cattywampus, with
gubbins of chips and pizza
crusts strewn across the floor.
Light shone slantindicular
through the window. What
time was it, anyway? When
I looked at the wall clock, it
was moving widdershins!
I closed my eyes to shut
out all the flummadiddle –
then I realised: I don’t own
a wall clock! Had I been
hornswoggled, or did I
somehow stumble into the
wrong house??? I rose shakily
to my feet and absquatulated
as fast as I could. I’ve never
felt so crapulous in my life!
katzenjammer: a hangover
slumgullion: meat stew
collywobbles: abdominal pains
bumfuzzled: confused
cattywampus: askew
gubbins: scraps
slantindicular: oblique; a
portmanteau of ‘slanted’ and
‘perpendicular’
widdershins: counterclockwise
flummadiddle: something
nonsensical or worthless
hornswoggle: to trick or deceive
absquatulate: depart suddenly
crapulous: sick from excessive
drinking

rdasia.com 29
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
• Taser might shock you even more.
That’s the Tom A. Swift Electric Rifle,
named after a 1911 young adult ad-
venture novel that was much beloved
by NASA researcher Jack Cover, who
invented the taser in 1974.
• Scuba diving? Hope your Self-Con-
tained Underwater Breathing Appa-
ratus is working.
• Lubricate a greasy wheel with WD-
40 – that’s Water Displacement, 40th
formula – a name straight out of the
lab book of the chemist who invent-
ed the stuff in 1953, after 39 failed
attempts.
• Shop at IKEA? Thank founder In-
gvar Kamprad, who grew up on the
farm of Elmtaryd near Agunnaryd, a
town in Sweden.
• When in Sweden, listen to plenty of
ABBA. The famous pop quartet was
30 december 2022
named after its members: Agnetha,
Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid.
THE POWER OF A
SINGLE WORD
ne needn’t be a blab-
ber-mouth to get a point
across. When a Macedonian
general threatened to attack Sparta in
the fourth century BCE, he warned the
Spartan generals, “You are advised to
submit without further delay, for if I
bring my army on your land, I will de-
stroy your farms, slay your people and
raze your city.” The Spartans replied
with one word: “If.”
Whoa! The Macedonians suddenly
remembered they had to wash their
hair that day and never attacked.
Similarly, in 1944, during the Bat-
tle of the Bulge, German troops

surrounded Allied forces at Bastogne
and ordered them to surrender or
face being wiped out. Brig. Gen. An-
thony McAuliffe sent back this pithy
reply: ‘Nuts!’ And, no, he wasn’t re-
questing snacks for his troops. To-
day, we’d use something a little spic-
ier and almost as short, but the point
got across and the Allies eventually
fought their way out.
Another benefit of brevity? It saves
you on telegram fees. French author
Victor Hugo understood this in 1862
when asking his publishers how
sales of his new book, Les Miséra-
bles, were going. Too low on francs
to send a lengthy message, he in-
stead telegraphed a single question
mark: ?. Having sold all 7000 cop-
ies of the book’s first printing in less
than 24 hours, Hugo’s publishers
So That's Why We Say That
responded in kind – with a single ex-
clamation point: !. Sometimes even
masters of brevity need to employ a
second word to make their point. Take
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of
the US – a man so tight-lipped that his
friends nicknamed him Silent Cal. A
popular story told by his wife, Grace,
recalls Cal sitting next to a young
woman at a Capitol Hill dinner party.
The woman turned to Cal and said, “I
made a bet today that I could get more
than two words out of you.” His reply?
“You lose.”
WE CAN’T STRESS
THIS ENOUGH
ake a moment to admire this
sentence: ‘She told him that
she loved him.’ It’s a simple,
s t r a i g ht f or w a r d pr of e s s ion of
rdasia.com 31
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
adoration. Or is it? It doesn’t take
much to change its meaning. Just
place the word only anywhere in
the sentence. Similarly, the sen-
tence, ‘I didn’t say she stole my
money’ is uncomplicated, until you
rea l ise it has seven mea n i ngs
depending on which word is em-
phasised.
A TRIP TO THE
WORD BUFFET
ynaesthesia is a fancy name
for experiencing one of our
senses through another of
our senses. For example, someone
might hear the word chair and see
the colour green. James Wannerton,
on the other hand, tastes words. As
he told the BBC, “The word college
tastes like sausage. Karen tastes like
yoghurt. Yoghurt tastes, foully, of
hair spray. Most tastes like crisp, cold
toast with hardly any butter on it.”
Scientists aren’t sure what causes
synaesthesia, though the genomes of
synaesthetes (in those who have it)
seem different from typical genomes.
Wannerton says that he first brought
up his strange ability to his parents
when he was about ten, because
the distraction of constant flavours
washing over him made school dif-
ficult. Today reading and writing can
be an adventure for him, what with
his taste buds in overdrive with every
sentence. But sometimes, it’s not so
bad. “I get tremendous joy,” he says,
“out of writing the blandest email.”
32 december 2022
NOW, THAT’S BETTER!
his gem, which we found on
guidetogrammar.org, has
been attributed to both au-
thor Mark Twain and to a letter writ-
ten to the journal The Economist. It’s
called ‘A Plan for the Improvement
of the English Language’ and it just
may resolve many of the issues we
have regarding our fickle language.
In Year 1 t hat useless let ter c
would be dropped to be replased ei-
ther by k or s, and likewise x would
no longer be part of the alphabet.
The only kase in which c would be
retained would be the ch formation,
which will be dealt with later. Year
2 might reform w spelling, so that
which and one would take the same
konsonant, wile Year 3 might well
abolish y, replasing it with i, and Iear
4 might fiks the g/j anomali wonse
and for all.
Jenerally, then, the improvement
would kontinue iear bai iear with
Iear 5 doing awai with useless dou-
ble konsonants, and Iears 6 to 12 or
so modifaiing vowlz and the rimein-
ing voist and unvoist konsonants.
Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali
bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridan-
dant letez c, y and x – bai now jast
a memori in the maindz ov ould
doderez – tu riplais ch, sh and th ris-
pektivli.
Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov
orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lo-
jikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt
xe Ingliy-spiking werld.
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Purnina Devi Barman

(above) with an injured
stork, and (left) holding
an educational talk with
local women

34 december 2022
 EARTH’S HERO

The
HARGILA
Army
PHOTO: (MAIN) GE T T Y IMAGES. ALL OTHERS: COURTESY HARGILA ARMY FACEBOOK.

Behind efforts to preserve the endangered giant stork

is a biologist – and a 400-strong group of women
BY Lam Lye Ching

T
he day is permanently etched in Purn-
ima Devi Barman’s memory. It was late
morning back in February 2007 when
the young wildlife biologist left her
house to drive one-and-a-half hours to Dadara,
a village in the state of Assam in northeast In-
dia. Her research task for the day was to look
for nesting trees of the greater adjutant stork.
Assam alone hosts more than 75 per cent of the
giant stork’s global population.
rdasia.com 35
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

As she walked around

the village looking up
to the towering treetops
searching for nests, she
came across an elderly
man frantically chop-
ping down a large Kad-
am tree that soared well
over 20 metres high.
She raced over and
asked him why he was The ‘Hargila Army’ gives women a voice
cutting the tree down, in conservation issues
pointing out that the
tree was home to many storks. “The a wrinkly pouch that dangles from its
storks are bad luck!” he shouted. His neck, and it stands up to 1.5 metres
rage was fuelled by a lifetime of living tall. They forage in wetlands for fish
below the storks, and the unpleasant and molluscs and animal bones to
mess of rotten food and dung that ac- satisfy their large calcium-rich diet.
companied the long nesting season. Once abundant in Southeast and East
No matter how much Barman Asia, in 2007 the species was listed
pleaded with him to spare the tree, as ‘endangered’ under the IUCN Red
she could not save it – or the nine List (International Union for Conser-
stork nests it housed. When the tree vation of Nature Red List of Threat-
crashed to the ground, so did nine ened Species). Today, urbanisation
tiny white and dark stork chicks. and the loss of nesting trees means
They lay scat tered on t he hard many of the birds live in landfills and
ground, shrieking loudly. garbage dumps. Of the roughly 20 spe-
Their confrontation attracted the cies of storks, the greater adjutant is
attention of other villagers. Barman among the most endangered.
called out to the onlookers to help In the Assam villages of Dadara,
rescue the chicks so she could take Pachariya and Singimari, the storks
them to the nearby state zoo. Instead are known as ‘hargila’ (meaning
of helping, they laughed. bone wallowers) because of their
Four chicks died. Barman man- habit of eating the bones of animal
aged to get the remaining five to the carcasses. Their massive size and ap-
zoo, but only one survived. petite also means that they produce
The greater adjutant stork is not a a large amount of dung, which stains
pretty bird. It has dull grey feathers, a the trees in the villagers’ backyards
large wedge-shaped beak, a bald head, leaving an unpleasant stench, made

36 december 2022

worse by the rotten meat they bring
to their nests to feed their chicks.
Not surprisingly, locals see them
as pests and when at their wits end,
often cut down or smoke the trees
during the bird’s breeding season to
get rid of the nests.
CHANGING ATTITUDES
Back in 2007, Barman was a research-
er at Gauhati University, studying
the foraging ecology, breeding habits
and genetic status of the storks. She
planned to finish her research while
her daughters were still young, but
the incident with the elderly man and
villagers changed things. The anger
of the villagers made it clear to her
that the local stork population need-
ed urgent protection –
and simply focusing on THE CHALLENGE
writing research papers
and books wasn’t going
WAS GETTING THE
to be enough. VILLAGERS TO SEE
“I had to involve the PAST THE SMELL
locals,” she says. “I had
to help them under-
OF THE BIRDS
stand more about the
storks.” That day, Barman stopped
her research and went door-to-door
to talk with the villagers to try to per-
suade them to find a better way to
manage the problems they encoun-
tered with the storks.
“I visited the village often, meeting
locals and nest tree owners and also
started visiting the garbage dumps to
observe the storks.” Six months later,
Barman had a clearer understanding
The Hargila Army
of the cycle of the birds, their breed-
ing habits and non-breeding habitats.
Her greatest challenge was getting
the villagers to see past the smell of
the birds. “Everyone wanted to share
their disgust at their messy dung,
their smelly nests, and [noisy] baby
birds.”
TRUST AND FRIENDSHIP
Despite her efforts, Barman grew
anxious at how difficult it was to fur-
ther her project. She needed access
to nests but the storks’ nests were in
trees in the villagers’ yards – on pri-
vate land. She had to do something to
gain the villagers’ trust – and cleaning
up the storks’ mess seemed the best
approach. “Initially, people laughed
and said I was doing a
silly thing,” she recalls.
Attitudes started to shift
when a group of wom-
en came out to help
Barman clean. Not long
after, she had built both
trust and friendship
with them.
Although the women were happy to
help her clean up, they didn’t attend
the meetings she held to educate the
villagers about the birds. They gave
the excuse that they needed to cook
for their families. “So I started up a
cooking competition to attract them,
which grew into a cooking festival,”
she says.
Word spread about the cooking
competition, and as more women
rdasia.com 37
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
entered their dishes, more also start-
ed to join the meetings. It was here
that Barman talked about the role of
storks in the local ecosystem and how
storks cleaned up the environment
by eating decaying animal carcass-
es. She also taught the women how to
help rehabilitate injured storks. With
more understanding, the women’s at-
titudes improved towards the storks.
FOREFRONT LEADERS
Today Barman has a group of more
than 400 local volunteers who cam-
paign for the conser-
vation of storks. She TODAY, THERE
calls them her ‘Hargila ARE 250 NESTS
WITH AROUND
Army’.
“With 400 women, we
are reaching more than 1000 BIRDS
10,000 households,”
she says. “Our women
IN ASSAM
are now forefront lead-
ers and they motivate the men in the
family to join the conservation effort.”
During the breeding season, from
August to April, instead of cutting
down trees, the women organise
panchamrit ceremonies: a ceremony
to congratulate expecting mothers
with prayers and offerings and a spe-
cial dessert made from milk, yoghurt,
honey and sugar.
The women also take turns to car-
ry out rescues, handing over sick,
injured birds or rescued chicks to a
nearby rehabilitation centre. Some-
times they work with forest rang-
ers and local police, who help by
38 december 2022
transporting the birds to the Assam
State Zoo or local forestry offices,
where their injuries are treated. Some
even help raise orphaned chicks until
they are strong enough to be released
back into the wild. The community’s
conservation efforts are now well
known across the Assam region.
“Our Hargila Army continues to
monitor the nests and look for fall-
en birds,” says Barman. “The local
government provided nets and we
installed these nets under the trees
to help reduce the injury rate of the
fallen babies, but there
is still a strong need
for a specialist rescue
centre near the nesting
colonies.”
Storks are no longer
at risk from the villag-
ers and can be seen
sa fely perched atop
trees in villages in Assam, where
Barman’s conservation work con-
tinues. “When I started my journey
in 2007, there were 27 nests with 500
birds scattered across the three vil-
lages of Dadara, Pachariya and Singi-
mari. Today, there are 250 nests with
around 1000 birds – it is the largest
breeding colony of the storks in the
world,” she says. The global popula-
tion is between 1200 to 1500 birds.
In 2018, Barman completed her
PhD. She continues to grow the Har-
gila Army to protect future conser-
vation of India’s greater adjutant
stork.
ANG ORIGINAL NA PLASTIK,
PLASTIK NA PLASTIK PA DIN!
Orocan Icebox 30L

Orocan
Utility Pail 12L

OrocanPH Also available in

 DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

40 december 2022
The Arrow That
Saved My Life
TWICE
After a freak backyard accident
almost kills her, a woman is taken
on a miraculous medical journey

BY Donna Barbour
I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y M A R C O S C H I N

rdasia.com 41
 fter publishing ‘The Boy With The
Spike In His Head’ (November,
2019) about a ten-year-old boy who
survived a harrowing head injury
caused by a 43-centimetre-long
rotisserie skewer, we received a letter
from reader Donna Barbour. She had her own story
to share, and one that was doubly miraculous.
I T WAS A WARM APRIL EVENING, phone and ran to me. Ed grabbed
and I had returned home from work me by the shoulders to stop me from
early. As I often do after a long day, running and told me to lie down on
I went straight to my backyard and the couch. Then he called an ambu-
did some work in my flower garden lance. I lay there and prayed. I didn’t
before lighting the barbecue to make know if there was any way that I
dinner for my husband and myself. I could survive.
had only just walked a few steps on The next hour or so was a crazy,
the patio when I suddenly felt a hor- jumbled mix of events. The arrow
rifying blow to the right side of my had come from a young man practis-
neck. It felt as though someone had ing with a compound bow, used for
hit me with a baseball bat. I knew hunting, in his backyard. Luckily, he
that no one was in the yard with me, was using a practice arrow, which is
so no one could have hit me. Total- smooth and rounded; a broadhead
ly confused, I reached up and, to my arrow for hunting would have killed
shock and horror, realised that I had me. He lived across the alley and
been shot – with an arrow. was shooting to the north. The arrow
I grabbed the arrow with a death had ricocheted and turned back to
grip where it had pierced my neck the south. It went over two, possibly
and ran inside, screaming my hus- three, fences, through the shrubs
band’s name. Ed was in the back of and an oak tree, between two large
the house talking to our daughter, hanging baskets and into my neck as
Keila, on the phone. He dropped the I walked across the patio.

42 december 2022
 Donna Barbour after surviving the accident (right), and the scan showing the
arrow penetrating her neck

A shot from a compound bow can At the hospital, family and friends
travel up to 321 kilometres per hour, were gathering. I tried hard to reas-
or 92 metres per second. sure them. I kept telling them I was
fine, but the looks on their faces told
WE HAD WONDERFUL emergency me that they weren’t buying it. It was
medical responders that evening. a difficult job since I had an arrow
As they entered the house and sat sticking out of my neck.
down beside me, they were perfect- Soon, they took me back for a CT
ly calm and totally focused. They scan to determine the location of
called for help from the arrow on the in-
the paramedics and I DIDN’T KNOW side. The doctors and
for a medica l heli-
copter from Amaril-
IF THERE WAS ANY nurses began telling
me how lucky I was.
lo, Texas, about 105 WAY THAT I COULD The arrow had gone
kilometres away and SURVIVE between the carotid
the closest city with a artery and the jugular
trauma centre. vein. That space between the two is
As the helicopter lifted off to take 6.35 millimetres or less. The diame-
me to Amarillo, I felt at peace. I had ter of the arrow was larger than the
seen the large number of people space it went through. It actually
outside my house, and I knew that pushed the artery to the side – with-
heaven was being bombarded with out nicking it. There was no bleed-
prayers on my behalf. I felt certain ing at all. Although I didn’t realise
that everything would be fine. at the time how truly incredible this

rdasia.com 43
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
was, I began arguing with them that
I wasn’t “lucky”, I was “blessed”. This
is an argument I have continued to
wage ever since.
As I was being taken back to sur-
gery to remove the arrow, my family
entered a waiting room full of peo-
ple – in fact, there were two waiting
rooms full. Someone told my son,
Kyle, that there was a post on the
site texasbowhunter.com asking for
prayers for me. It turns out a friend
had called her son, who is a bow-
hunter, and told him about the acci-
dent, and he had posted the prayer
request on that website.
The morning after my two-hour
surgery, with my family all gathered
in my room, the surgeon came in. He
44 december 2022
checked the wound and talked to us
about what he had done. Then he told
us something that rocked our world
again. He said that the CT scan had
revealed that I had a brain tumour. I
remember going a bit numb but think-
ing, God works in mysterious ways!
The surgeon said they were almost
certain the tumour was benign, but
it was located in a very difficult place.
A few days later, I went to another
neurosurgeon for a second opinion.
He said that it was a difficult sur-
gery but that it had to be done. The
tumour was about to cross the mid-
line of my brain, which would have
resulted in a massive stroke.
The brain surgery was successful,
and in less than a week I was back
 The Arrow That Saved My Life Twice

home. I was discouraged and feeling
horrible. I had lost a lot of blood from
a bacterial infection, Clostridium
difficile, and was extremely anaemic
and weak. I was beginning to have
symptoms of post-traumatic stress
disorder, hearing the swoosh and
then the thunk of the arrow. Thank-
fully, that didn’t last too long.
All my adventures had taken a toll,
and I needed time to
rest and heal. AGAIN,
weeks before the surgery, I felt at
peace with whatever the outcome
would be. They found it was a very
fragile and difficult aneurysm, cov-
ered with blisters and on the verge of
rupturing, but the doctor successful-
ly clipped it.
Had it not been for that arrow, I
would have died from a brain tu-
mour, a stroke or an aneurysm. And
honestly, the arrow
should have killed me.

NOTHING EVENTFUL I WAS FACING But it didn’t.

happened for a couple UNCERTAINTY
of years. I continued
to tell people that I was not lucky, I
was blessed. I had an MRI each year
to make sure that the tumour was
not growing back. After an MRI in
2015, I was told that there was still
no sign of a tumour, but they had
found a brain aneurysm. Normally,
aneurysms aren’t discovered until
they rupture, and that is almost al-
ways too late.
Again, I was facing uncertainty
and dreading brain surgery. In the
For weeks, ever y-
one gathered around
me when I went to the
supermarket or the post office. Peo-
ple would stop and hug me and even
cry, saying how happy they were that
this had happened. It strengthened
everyone’s faith.
Coincidences? Luck?
I think not. The gentleman who
w rote t he last comment on t he
prayer-request thread on texasbow-
hunter.com summed it up in just two
words. He simply wrote, ‘Amazing
grace’.

A Grey Area
Spelling isn’t always black or white: take the word grey, which can
also be spelled gray. In Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and
the UK, grey is preferred, while in the Philippines and the US, gray
is more common. One exception is greyhound, but why? While
gray and grey come from the Old English word for the shade,
græg, the speedy canine’s name comes from the Old English
grighund, with grig likely meaning ‘female dog’. RD

rdasia.com 45
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
LIFE’S LIKE THAT
Seeing The Funny Side
“What took you so long?”
Taking A Wrong Turn
One of the things they don’t tell
you about your 30s is that you can
hurt your neck by turning to look at
something – which is wild because
that is the neck’s main job.
@ashleyn1cole
Breathe Easy
My uncle was in a hospital for an
operation when a nurse bustled into
his room and asked him, “Do you
use oxygen?”
With an incredulous look on his
face, my uncle replied, “Doesn’t
everybody?”
SUBMITTED BY ROBERT WILLIAMSON
46 december 2022
Scattered Mind
My wife’s friend had given her
husband strict instructions
regarding her cremation. Half of her
ashes were to be scattered in one
place and the other half scattered in
another place. Puzzled, her husband
asked, “Which half goes where?”
SUBMITTED BY BRIAN SPECTOR
Stopping Pattern
I was mired in stop-and-go traffic
CARTOON: PHIL WIT TE
when I accidentally rolled into the
truck in front of me. I apologised
profusely, and after seeing no
damage, the truck driver and I got
into our respective vehicles and
 Life’s Like That

drove off. Until, that is, I hit him

again a minute later while he
was stopped at a red light. This
time, the driver climbed down
from his truck, walked over, and
asked, “How do you stop when THE GREAT TWEET-OFF:
I’m not here?” CHRISTMAS CAROL
SUBMITTED BY ANNE VINCENT EDITION
Twitter users add one word and
ruin a Christmas song.
Too Little, Too Late
I was in the supermarket one I’ll Be Home Quarantined For
morning, carefully picking Christmas.
through the red capsicums, when @SNOWDOG1111

over the intercom a recorded Little Drummer Boy George.

voice loudly announced that day’s @HAMILLHIMSELF

specials. It ended by cheerfully Deck The Inlaws.

imploring, “Have a great day!” @OREGON9095

An older man by the cucumbers I’ll Still Be Home For Christmas.

@SCANDURRO
mumbled, “Too late for that.”
SUBMITTED BY JENNIFER PAULY Jolly Old Saint Nicholas Cage.
@ALYNN1888

Silent But Deadly Night.

@ALANA_SPELLMAN

Feliz Navidad-bod.
@JIMMYFALLON

Baby Yoda, It’s Cold Outside.

@DESIGNOUTLOUD

SPIDEY POWERS
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

My kid asked if he could stop

wearing his Spider-Man costume
outdoors because he’s tired of
people mistaking him for a
superhero. @PAREENE

rdasia.com 47
 MONEY

48 december 2022
 How To Beat
RISING
FOOD
PRICES BY Andy Webb
When I visit the supermarket
it feels like every single item
has become more expensive.
Even if that’s not true across
the board, once you get to the
checkout those extra costs
here and there really add up.
Some staples have jumped up signif-
icantly. According to Morgan Stan-
ley Research, food prices have risen
by 65 per cent globally in the last
two years. So how do you combat the
PHOTOS: IS TOCK
creeping cost of your groceries? Here
are some simple tricks you can try
that’ll reduce your spend and help
you get the best value for your money.
1 PLAN WHAT YOU
NEED TO BUY
There are a few advantages of think-
ing ahead before you get to the super-
market. First up, meal planning is a
great way to ensure you have enough
food for the whole household for
every meal, preventing last-minute
dashes to the more expensive corner
shop for extras.
While planning, check what you
already have so you can use these up
and cut out food waste. If you forget,
a quick trick is to take a photo of your
fridge and cupboards before you go
to the shops.
rdasia.com 49
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Then your plan can turn into a
shopping list. This is a great tool be-
cause, if you stick to the list, you’ll
avoid the ‘special’ offers and treats
that tempt you to spend more than
you originally planned.
You might also be able to take this
a step further by shopping online in-
stead of in-store, removing you com-
pletely from an environment that’s
engineered to make you buy extras
or certain brands.
2
CHANGE WHAT
YOU BUY
We’ve all got our favourite brands
and supermarkets, and it can be hard
to ditch these for cheaper alterna-
tives. But doing this can make a huge
difference. Look for own brand items,
which are often made with similar
recipes but cost less. It’s worth at
least giving it a go and seeing if you
really can tell the difference. It might
be that you end up just swapping one
or two items – but that’s still saving
you some cash.
I also like to check out the ‘price per
unit’ information on the shelf. Often
this will be per gram or per litre and
you’ll be able to see if you can save
money by changing to a different size
pack or different brand. You’d be sur-
prised just how often the smaller bag
is cheaper than the larger ‘value’ op-
tions. Occasionally this can get a little
confusing. For example, you might
see carrots or onions in a bag priced
50 december 2022
per carrot or onion versus loose ones
priced by weight – that’s impossible to
compare!
And don’t forget to check if you can
pick up the same items for less else-
where in the shop. You might find bar-
gain spices in the world food aisle, or
cheaper toiletries in the baby section.
3
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
DISCOUNTS AND DEALS
Special offers can be a huge help, but
you have to be careful. Many, such
as Buy-One-Get-One-Free (BOGOF),
are designed to make us buy more
than we need. But if you are certain
you’re going to use something, then
bulk buying when they’re on offer
will bring savings. I tend to do this
for non-perishables, like toothpaste
or any product that I use every week.
You need to check a discount re-
ally is a discount, too. Often you can
find that multibuy offers only take off
a cent or two. And there could be a
cheaper alternative on the shelf that’s
not part of a promotion.
Coupons are handy and can be
found online and in many super-
market magazines. There are also
cashback apps which offer money
back when you buy certain products
– though only do this if you actually
want to buy what’s on offer. You’ll also
be able to get more and more special
prices via loyalty schemes and apps.
And, I always take my trolley on a
drive-by of the reduced sections in
 How To Beat Rising Food Prices

case I can pick up some

bargains. Of course, only
buy what you’ll actually
eat and check that food
can be frozen if you don’t
think you’ll consume it in
time.

4 PREVENT FOOD
WASTE

Finally, you’ll save a de-

cent chunk of cash by avoiding
throwing out food. There are two
parts to this. On one hand, there’s
forgetting you’ve got something and
it’s gone off before you can use it – so
keep an eye on the dates. And the ex-
tension of this is throwing out stuff
that’s past its date but is still perfectly
safe to eat.
The distinction here is between use-
by and best-before. Use-by dates are
all about safety, so you’ll see them on
things like meat, fish, eggs and dairy.
These dates are important, so eat or
freeze items while they are in date
(though you might get away with a
sniff test on things like milk). Best-be-
fore on the other hand is just a guide
to the quality of the product. As long
as items have been properly stored
they’ll be fine to consume after the
date – they just might not be at their
best. So don’t chuck out those packets
of chips or tinned tomatoes just be-
cause they’ve ‘expired’.
And remember that the freezer is
your friend. You can freeze more than
you imagine. These can include lefto-
vers from the previous night’s dinner
and the last slices of bread or cake
through to bananas (peel and chop
them up first to add to smoothies),
wine (put in ice cube trays and use for
cooking) and hard cheese (if you grate
this before freezing it’s easy to quickly
add to pasta and pizzas).

Swan Song
Commuters on London trains were recently left in a flap after being
held up for an hour in the morning rush hour by a swan that waddled
onto the tracks. “How long does it take to remove a swan? Not
exactly an elephant, is it?” one angry commuter tweeted. Finally the
bird was coaxed into a swan bag and taken to a sanctuary. SKY NEWS

rdasia.com 51
 FOOD FOR
THOUGHT

Christmas Cakes
This seasonal treat has its origins in medieval
times and varies widely around the world
BY Diane Godley

L
ight, dark, moist, dry, heavy,
spongy, leavened, unleavened.
All around the world there are
many variations of the Christ-
mas cake that started in Britain in the
14th century as porridge. Yes, you
read that correctly. Porridge.
pre-Christmas period, or Advent,
was traditionally a season for fasting
when the faithful prepared themselves
for the coming of the newborn King,
and for the celebration of the feast
of Christmas. On Christmas Eve, to
help line their stomachs, many ate
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

In 567, the Roman Catholic Church something called plum porridge, or

proclaimed that Christmas Day to ‘frumenty’. According to Hazel Flight,
Epiphany (January 6), later called a nutritionist at Edge Hill Universi-
the 12 Days of Christmas, would ty, frumenty was made from hulled
be a sacred and festive season. The wheat that was boiled in milk and

52 december 2022
seasoned with cinnamon and colour-
ed with saffron. The 14th century tra-
dition saw people eating the spiced
porridge on Christmas Eve, as well as
meatless days and periods of fasting
on the Christian liturgical calendar,
such as Lent and Advent.
By the 17th century, when other in-
gredients were more easily available,
the recipe underwent a few changes.
Thickened with eggs, breadcrumbs,
dried fruit and beer or spirits, the
porridge started to resemble some-
thing more akin to a pudding. Lat-
er, those who could afford an oven
started baking the pudding, turning
it into a cake.
But it was during the THE CUNNING
reign of Queen Victoria BRITS PROVED
(1837–1901) that the rec-
ipe was fine-tuned to be- THEY COULD
come the plum pudding BAKE THEIR
(plum referred to the CAKE AND EAT
dried fruit) or Christmas
cake that many still enjoy IT, TOO
today.
Christmas pudding should have 13
ingredients, which represent Jesus
and the 12 disciples. These ingredi-
ents include raisins, currants, suet,
brown sugar, breadcrumbs, citron,
lemon peel, orange peel, flour, mixed
spices, eggs, milk and brandy. Bran-
dy was traditionally poured over the
pudding and set alight. “The flaming
brandy is said to represent the pas-
sion of Christ,” says Flight, in an arti-
cle on The Conversation.
However, plum pudding almost
disappeared from the Christmas ta-
ble, when in 1644, the Puritans abol-
ished Christmas in Great Britain.
Until then, the 12 Days of Christmas
had been a continuous feasting and
merrymaking affair, which climaxed
on the Twelfth Night.
But, during Oliver Cromwell’s reign
as Lord Protector of the Common-
wealth of England, Scotland and Ire-
land (1653-58), anyone caught hold-
ing or attending a special Christmas
church service was arrested, accord-
ing to historicengland.org.uk. “Shops
and markets were told to stay open
on December 25, and in the City of
London soldiers were
ordered to pat rol t he
streets, seizing any food
they discovered being
prepared for Christmas
celebrations.”
But the cunning Brits
proved they could bake
their cake and eat it, too.
Food historians report
that people simply covered their
Christmas cake with marzipan or
royal icing to disguise what was un-
derneath.
Fortunately, when King Charles
II returned from exile in Europe in
1660, Christmas celebrations re-
turned, and in 1714, under King
George I, the tradition of eating
Christmas pudding was re-estab-
lished. Apparently, he had sampled a
serving and rather enjoyed it.
Around the globe there are many
rdasia.com 53
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
variations on the theme of Christmas
cake. Today, traditionalists start bak-
ing their BRITISH-STYLE Christmas
cake in November and keep it upside
down in an airtight container, ‘feeding
it’ weekly by pouring a small amount
of brandy, whisky or sherry over it.
In GERMANY, Christmas is celebrat-
ed with stollen – a fruitcake bread with
a marzipan centre and dusted with
icing sugar. Originating in Dresden in
PUTO BUMBÓNG
1474, the unfestive mix
was initially made from
flour, yeast and water – IS A TREAT
as the Catholic church
forbade luxuries like IN THE
butter – and served dur- PHILIPPINES
ing Advent, according to
mashed.com.
However, in 1491, after Prince Er-
nest, Elector of Saxony, entreated
Pope Innocent VIII to revoke the
butter ban, it became more of a cake.
With the later additions of raisins and
marzipan, stollen became the Yuletide
treat it is today.
Next door, the FRENCH Bûche De
Noël, or ‘yule log’, is a fairly recent ad-
dition, becoming popular in the early
19th century. The sponge cake (made
to look like a log) has its origins in me-
dieval France when it was customary
to place a wooden log in the hearth
on Christmas Eve to guarantee a good
harvest in the new year.
In ITALY and Italian communities
around the world, the light, fruit-filled
sweet bread panettone (Toni’s bread)
is enjoyed during Christmas festivities.
54 december 2022
Dating back to the 1470s, legend has it
that a scullery boy named Toni came
to the rescue when he concocted a
sweet loaf made out of leftovers when
the Duke of Milan’s chef burned the
Christmas cake.
If you’re celebrating Christmas in
POLAND, watch out for the makowiec
– this tasty poppy seed confection
could lead to a positive drug test for
opiates, according to mashed.com.
In parts of Eastern Eu-
rope, it is believed that
the seeds bring you luck
and prosperity. As such,
makowiec is made from
a rich paste of ground
poppy seed s, w h ich
is swirled through the cake batter.
Bingeing on makowiec may result
in a positive drug test – although
the seeds probably are not in a high
enough concentration for someone to
feel any opiate-like effects.
In the PHILIPPINES, Christmas is
celebrated with the chewy yet tender
rice cake bibingka. Made with rice
flour, coconut milk, sugar, eggs and
baking powder, bibingka is eaten af-
ter dawn mass on Christmas Day and
is often sold outside churches.
But Christmas in the Philippines
would not be complete without an-
other treat – puto bumbóng. Prevalent
in several Southeast Asia countries, in
the Philippines it is made from purple
glutinous rice – purple representing
the colour of Advent – and cooked in
bamboo cylinders.
 Food For Thought

W hile JAPAN is not a Christian red strawberries. Although lacking

country, they still enjoy the spirit of any religious significance, sharing
Christmas with kurisumasu keki. kurisumasu keki, a symbol of pros-
The light sponge cake is covered in perity, with friends is popular on
whipped cream and decorated with December 24.

GRANDMA O’CONNOR’S PLUM PUDDING

Many Christmas cake and pudding recipes are handed down through
generations. Here’s one still made by our Editor-in-Chief’s family.

3. Using an electric
beater, cream butter
and sugar. Add eggs
one at a time, beating
well after each egg.
4. Dissolve bi-carb in a
little milk, then add
remaining ingredients
into batter, adding fruit
and bi-carb last, and stir
until well combined.
6. Spoon into the
prepared steamer and
Ingredients • 1kg mixed dried fruit secure the lid tightly.
• 250g butter (room
temperature)
(raisins, sultanas,
currents, apricots, etc)
7. Place pudding
steamer into a large pot
• 250g brown sugar • 1 tsp bi-carb of soda and pour in boiling
• 125g breadcrumbs
(about 2 cups) made
• splash of milk water to two-thirds up
the side of the pudding
from day-old bread Method steamer. Bring to a
• 125g plain flour
(3⁄4 cup)
1. Pour spirits over the
dried fruit and let stand
simmer over low heat.
8. Simmer continuously
• 6 tbls rum, brandy or
sherry
overnight.
2. Grease a 2L capacity
for 5 hours, checking
regularly to ensure the
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

• 1 tsp salt pudding steamer water doesn’t boil dry.

• 1 tsp nutmeg with melted butter and 9. Serve hot with ice-
• 1 tsp cinnamon line the base with non- cream, cream or custard
• 4 eggs stick baking paper. and fresh berries.

rdasia.com 55
 RELATIONSHIPS
How to deal with the end of a
BY Sarah Liss
K
im Fry, a teacher in her
40s, tries her best to live
by her values. Fry’s com-
mitment to progressive
causes informs the way
she approaches her family, her job
as an educator and her relationships.
She’s aware that her dedication to
left politics may seem over-the-top
to some people, and she’s fine with
it. Those in her carefully chosen net-
work largely understand – and share
– her principles.
So Fry was alarmed when, well into
the COVID-19 pandemic, people in
her circle started posting conspiracy
56 december 2022
friendship
theories and vaccine myths on so-
cial media. “It was scary,” she says.
“These are people I felt political-
ly aligned with – in some cases for
more than two decades.” Fry shared
resources and tried to engage in
healthy debate. But with one long-
time friend, she says, she found her-
ILLUS TR ATION: HOLLY S TAPLE TON
self fighting a losing battle.
Fr y was astounded to see her
friend voice support for a local group
that was proclaiming anti-COVID
protection measures, while also
seeming to dismiss the presence of
hateful and xenophobic messaging.
In numerous private conversations,
rdasia.com 57
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
her friend held firm. “It was so hard,”
Fry says, sadly.
According to a 2022 report by the
Abacus research group, nearly a
quarter of people had relationships
that were negatively affected by
contradictory views over COVID-19.
Even in normal times, we gain and
lose friends all the time. One 2009
study found t hat adults replace
50 per cent of their social circle every
seven years. But how do you decide
when a friendship has run its course?
And, once you do, what’s the best
way forward?
Be Clear And Accountable
Danielle Bayard Jackson is a certi-
fied women’s coach who specialises
in friendship and communication.
During 2020, she noticed an uptick
in the number of people who came
to her seeking guidance in severing
ties with a formerly kindred spirit.
“People were saying, ‘I see my friends
differently,’” she says. “Cultural and
global events during the pandemic
led many of us to reassess who we
want in our circle.”
Beyond conflicts over core values,
there are many reasons why people
stop being friends: maybe one of you
has hit a milestone (parenthood, say)
and the other can’t relate; maybe you
and your joined-at-the-hip universi-
ty friend drifted apart after gradu-
ating; maybe your work bestie got a
new job and the two of you no longer
bond over office drama. No matter
58 december 2022
the context, clarity is key, says Ba-
yard Jackson: “First, ask yourself why
you’re considering terminating the
friendship. Next: have you verbalised
that to the other person?
Even when you’re parting with a
friend who suddenly seems to have
a different worldview, let them know
what’s going on. Psychologist Stacy
Thomas recommends going point
by point and using ‘I’ statements to
ground the conversation in your per-
sonal point of view, and avoid blam-
ing the other person: “This is my ex-
perience here. This is what I struggle
with. And this is why I don’t believe
it’s healthy for me to continue.”
For Fry, setting firm boundaries
was key. After cutting ties with her
friend, Fry posted a public message
on Facebook to let others know she’d
unfriend anyone who spread disin-
formation.
When To Let It Fade Away
Having clarity about the reasons why
a friendship has ended may not dull
the pain of the split, but it can provide
both parties with a sense of resolution.
In my 20s, I became close to one
of my colleagues. We laughed delir-
iously at inside jokes and frequently
talked on the phone. Our friendship
outlasted our tenure as colleagues,
but at a certain point I realised that I
hadn’t heard from my erstwhile BFF
in ages. I never asked what happened.
“Sometimes there’s nothing to say
or do,” says Thomas. “The person

didn’t do something that was astro-
nomically wrong, but they triggered
something inside us.” If you were
ditched by childhood friends who
switched schools, for instance, you
might be hypersensitive to feeling
abandoned, even if you can’t quite
pinpoint why you were triggered.
Bayard Jackson adds that a gradu-
al fade can be fine – if
both parties are aware NO MATTER HOW
it’s happening. Ot h- A FRIENDSHIP
er w ise t he quest ion
becomes: are you just ENDS, IT HURTS
avoiding the conversa- TO LET GO
tion because you don’t OF SOMEONE
know how to navigate
conflict? YOU LOVE
Even so, t here are
certain situations where ghosting
is the best strategy. Friendships can
take on toxic qualities. According
to one survey, 84 per cent of women
and 75 per cent of men report having
had an abusive friend. These friends
might gaslight you, bully you or re-
veal something you’ve shared in con-
fidence. Prioritise your wellbeing and
quietly cut ties without guilt.
Find A Silver Lining
No matter how a friendship ends, it
hurts to let go of someone you love.
“Human beings are attachment crea-
tures,” says Thomas. “Grief is the
flip side of love.” Struggling to ac-
cept the situation is normal, Bayard
Jackson adds. Counterintuitive as it
may seem, finding something to be
Fade Away
grateful for in the former friendship
can help, and it can also stop you
from fixating on what you could have
done differently.
It can be hard to wade through the
complex emotions that accompa-
ny this kind of upheaval, especially
when you’re the person who’s been
friend-dumped. It’s hard to feel re-
jected by someone who
knows you intimately,
and it’s hard to receive
feedback, no matter
how constructive. “Our
ego doesn’t like it,” says
Thomas. “We feel like
we’ve done something
wrong, like we’ve been
a bad person.”
Bayard Jackson and Thomas both
stress that all relationships, at their
core, are part of how we learn and
grow. If we abandon the idea of ‘best
friends forever’, we can grasp that an
ending isn’t necessarily tragic.
“Take a moment to recognise how
much you’ve learned from this expe-
rience,” says Thomas, and recognise
what you might want to do differently
next time.
As for Fry, she says her experience
has made her more cautious in how
she approaches close connections.
But she also has a deeper appreciation
of the friends who are able to learn
and grow, who have continued to
share her values and who, despite the
upheavals of the pandemic, have been
unwavering in their support.
rdasia.com 59
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

SEE Turn
THEtheWORLD...
page ››

60 december 2022
rdasia.com 61
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

62 december 2022
 ...DIFFERENTLY
Hold On To Your Handlebars
The GP St-Sylvestre is not so
much about being fast as about
having fun on the ski slopes –
but on a mountain bike.
For more than 30 years, this
unusual Grand Prix has taken
place on New Year’s Eve in
Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland.
Five kilometres and 850 metres
of elevation lie between the
start on the Roc d‘Orsay and
the finish line in the centre
of this resort town.
PHOTOS: PICTURE ALLIANCE/KE YS TONE/
VALENTIN FL AUR AUD; PICTURE ALLIANCE/
KE YS TONE/ADRIEN PERRITA Z

rdasia.com 63
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

LAUGHTER
The Best Medicine

CARTOON: SUSAN CAMILLERI KONAR. ILLUS TR ATIONS: VECTEEZ Y.COM.

“It’s the gift that keeps on humiliating.”

Impawsible Task home: “Jen, is the cat there?”

A man hates his wife’s cat, so he
drives it to a park and leaves it. As the
man arrives home, the cat is walking
up the driveway. The following day
he drives the cat to the next suburb,
boots it out, and heads home. Once
again, the cat arrives home before
him. Finally, he drives 20 kilometres,
turns right, then left, and over a
mountain to a thick forest, and leaves
the cat there. Hours later he calls
“Yes,” she says.
“Put it on. I’m lost in the forest,
and I need it to give me directions
home.” CATSAREONT
Mind Your Language
The linguist’s husband caught her in
the arms of another. “Susan,” he said,
“I’m surprised!”
“No, I’m surprised,” she corrected
him. “You’re astonished.” UPJOKE.COM

64 december 2022
 Laughter

Slow Opener
I like to imagine the guy who WO RTH

IN
invented the umbrella was going to

TIN G
S T IGA

VE
call it the ‘brella’. But he hesitated.
ANDY FIELD, COMEDIAN

Crumb And Crumber

I woke up this morning and
my pillowcase was covered in
sticky crumbs.
I shouldn’t have gone to bed
with my hair in a bun.
VIVIENNE CLORE, VIA TWIT TER
Mum’s Hour
No matter what time of day your
working hours are, that’s when
your mum calls and asks, “Are you
working right now?”
MATTY VU, COMEDIAN
You’re A Mean One, Mr Grinch
Maybe the Grinch would be nicer
if someone weren’t singing songs
about how terrible he was every five
minutes at Christmastime.
@BRIANGA AR
What do you call a detective who
just solves cases accidentally?
Sheer Luck Holmes.
What did the detective name his dog?
Snoopy.
Why is it so hard to be a detective in
the North Pole?
Everything is a cold case.
What does a short-sighted
detective wear?
Suspectacles.
What did Sherlock Holmes say to
his sidekick once they had found the
stolen sandstone statue?
It’s sedimentary, my dear Watson!
Why was the detective at the beach?
He was investigating a crime wave!

A DETECTIVE STORY
IT’S THE MOST
PUNDERFUL TIME
11:45: Arrived at crime scene.
11:45: Examined body.
You: I love this time of year! Signs of struggle.
Me: You mean you ‘ove’ it.
You: What? 11:45: Found murder weapon
in drain.
Me: Because there’s Noël.
@TIEMOOSE 11:45: Realised watch was broken.
SOURCES: L AFFGAFF, ONLINE

rdasia.com 65
 HEALTH

More than
two years into
the pandemic,
some patients’
symptoms aren’t
going away. While
experts hunt for
treatments, some
people have taken
matters into
PHOTOS: COLIN WAY

their own hands

BY Lisa Bendall

66 december 2022
Shari Ingalls suffers from
fatigue, uncontrollable
sweating and blind spots
well after recovering
from COVID-19

rdasia.com 67
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
ong af ter recovering f rom
COV ID-19, m idw i fe Sha r i
I nga l l s st i l l su f fer s f rom
fatigue, uncontrollable sweat-
ing and blind spots.
During a night shift in the
ea rly hou rs of December
14, 2020, she was suddenly
gripped by aches and chills.
“I wiped down everything I’d
touched w ith disinfectant,
went home and rolled into
bed,” she says. Ingalls says her
symptoms felt like the worst
flu she’d ever had, but she ex-
pected they’d resolve in a week
or so. Instead, after two weeks,
her heart was still racing, she became
short of breath easily, and pain ra-
diated through her chest to her left
shoulder. Ingalls, who had previous-
ly cycled 11 kilometres to work each
day, couldn’t even keep her balance
while standing in the shower. By
early January, the chest pain was
no better, and with a family history
of cardiac trouble, Ingalls knew she
couldn’t leave it unaddressed. She
went to the ER, but her heart tests
were normal. The doctor told her it
was probably anxiety.
Despite feeling awful, Ingalls re-
turned to her job in mid-January. Yet
even after reducing her shifts, she
was exhausted. Her head ached daily.
Her heart rate shot up to 140 beats a
minute just from bending over to put
on stockings. In the evenings, her
husband and children prepared food
68 december 2022
for her, but she sometimes struggled
to eat because certain meals smelled
to her like rotten garlic or burned
plastic. After, she’d take pain reliev-
ers and sleep for 15 hours.
Ingalls kept waiting to get better,
but it didn’t happen. Her doctor as-
sured her that a resting heart rate of
80 was fine, but Ingalls, whose pre-
vious normal was 60, felt frustrated
instead of convinced. Desperate, she
found a Facebook group focused on
long COVID for people whose symp-
toms persist well after a COVID in-
fection. After learning more about
it, in March 2021, Ingalls asked her
doctor for a referral to a specialist
long-COVID clinic.
ALSO KNOWN AS post-COVID syn-
drome or long-haul COVID, this new
disorder is described by the World
Health Organization as an illness
that follows an infection by at least
three months, is long-lasting and
can’t be otherwise explained. Fa-
tigue, shortness of breath and ‘brain
fog’ – mental function that is so slug-
gish, it’s a challenge to concentrate or
complete tasks – are typical, but a pa-
per published in The Lancet last year
counted 203 symptoms, often coming
and going, that could be attributed to
the condition.
Long COVID caught everyone –
including medical and scientific ex-
perts – by surprise, especially since
it often occurs in people who never
needed urgent medical care for their

initial infection. We’ve known for
decades that patients who are severe-
ly ill with a respiratory disease such
as pneumonia can take months or
years to recover from lung injury or
the trauma of ICU care. But it turns
out that there are numerous others
who had COVID without those com-
plications, who nevertheless seem to
experience prolonged problems.
“We never expected those who
weren’t hospitalised with COVID to
still be unwell after six months,” says
Dr Angela Cheung, co-lead of a Ca-
nadian research consortium trying
to understand long
COVID.
E st i mates of t he
COMMO N
number of patients
affected by the con-
dition var y, but re-
SYMPTOMS
cent reports suggest
that at least a quar- INCLUDE FATIGUE,
ter of people are still BRAIN FOG,
sick one month after
getting COVID, and SHORTNESS O F
at least ten per cent BREATH AND A
have symptoms at the
t hree-mont h mark.
FAST HEARTBEAT
Some studies have pegged it at over
40 per cent, but even if it’s just ten
per cent, that would mean there are
many thousands more people who,
like Ingalls, live with pain, dizziness
and fatigue.
And we’re far from understand-
ing this disorder, let alone curing
it. “Unfortunately, a lot of patients
will say, ‘I’ve done a battery of tests,
Living With Long COVID
I’ve seen numerous specialists, and
everything’s come back normal,’”
says Dr Emilia Liana Falcone, an
infectious diseases specialist who is
researching long COVID.
Since we don’t yet have a test for
long COVID, it adds to its elusive-
ness, making it similar to conditions
such as chronic fatigue syndrome,
which are only diagnosed after oth-
er problems are ruled out. While Dr
Falcone treats patients, she also stud-
ies their blood for clues that might
predispose them to developing long
COVID. She would love to find some
kind of biomarker that
could support an ac-
curate diagnosis. For
one thing, “It would
help patients who are
faced with doubt from
their work colleagues
or family members,”
she says.
W it h few ot her
t re at ment opt ion s
available to her, In-
galls decided to help
herself. She signed up
for an online long-COVID rehabilita-
tion programme, reduced her work-
ing hours, and learned how to pace
her energy. But it was still too much.
Since she couldn’t stand up for long,
her duties had to be modified.
“I had suddenly developed un-
controllable sweating. I had to wear
scrub caps to absorb it, or it would
be running down my face,” she says.
rdasia.com 69
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Eventually she had to go on full leave.
Then, in December 2021, she was
alarmed to notice that her vision was
blurry. “I had to squint to read in-
gredient lists, and I had blind spots,”
she says. “W it h i n
a couple of weeks,
those blind spots got
bigger. Dark curtains
started going across A LOT OF PEOPLE
my vision.”
A neurologist dis- GET BETTER, BUT
covered that the fluid THERE MAY BE A
pressure around her SMAL L SUBSET
brain was high, caus-
WHO HAVE A LONG
COVID DIAGNOS IS
ing her optic nerves
to swell. Medication
has helped to reduce
the fluid and ease
FOR LIFE
some of the vision distortion, but In-
galls can no longer drive. She’s lucky
to have workers’ compensation, but
she misses her job.
FOR DR MANALI MUKHERJEE, an im-
munologist and assistant professor
at McMaster University who is trying
to unravel the mysteries of the condi-
tion, it’s personal. She herself has had
brain fog, dizziness and headaches
ever since her January 2021 infec-
tion. “Everyone’s immune system is
unique in how they respond to a vi-
rus, how they tackle a virus and how
they recover,” she says. Long-COVID
symptoms strongly suggest a dys-
regulated immune system, like an
autoimmune disease in which rogue
antibodies attack the body.
70 december 2022
One t h i ng Dr Mu k her jee has
learned after the first 12 months of
data: “There are a lot of people who
do get better.” That’s consistent with
other studies that have shown recov-
ery in some patients at
three months, others at
six months, still more
after a year. But many
people are continuing
to cope with long COV-
ID after more than 12
months. “I have a feel-
ing there is going to be
a small subset who will
get a diagnosis for life.”
Researchers are also
collecting clues about
who is most at risk.
“We see more women with long
COVID,” says Dr Cheung, but she also
points out that the number may be af-
fected by the fact that men are more
likely to have died from the acute in-
fection. Most people with the condi-
tion are between 40 and 60, although
anyone at any age can have it. A study
published earlier this year in Cell
identified biological factors that may
contribute to a risk of long COVID,
including certain types of auto-anti-
bodies that attack our own immune
system instead of fighting germs,
type 2 diabetes and a reactivation of
the Epstein-Barr virus, which virtu-
ally all of us are exposed to before we
reach 40.
Maybe certain people don’t pro-
duce antibodies the way they should:

a 2022 study in Nature Communica-
tions found that people with long
COVID have unexpectedly low lev-
els of the antibodies IgM and IgG at
times when they should be high to
fight infection. Asthma was also cited
as a risk factor. Ingalls, for one, was
hospitalised for asthma as a teenager.
These findings show that we’re
making progress. Plus we’ve discov-
ered a major prevention tool that is
already in our hands. Studies are
showing that vaccination may re-
duce the likelihood of long COVID by
about 50 per cent. “It’s encouraging,
but it doesn’t bring it down to zero,”
notes Dr Falcone.
THE IMPORTANCE OF having peer
support was Susie Goulding’s moti-
vation for starting the
COV ID Long-Haul- VACCINATIO N
ers Support Group in
June, 2020. “Ever y- APPEARS TO
body thought either REDUCE
you got deat h ly i l l THE LIKELIHOOD
or you got better in a
OF GETTING LONG
C OVID BY ABOUT 50
couple of weeks,” she
says. “Long haulers
weren’t on the radar.
People were saying,
PER CENT
‘This is all in your
head’.”
Today, t he g roup
has around 17,000 members. Gould-
ing partners with multiple research
teams, helping recruit participants
for studies. What’s most gratifying,
though, is knowing that she’s helping
Living With Long COVID
individuals who are grappling with
this distressing condition. “New
members are grateful – it’s this huge
wave of relief,” she says. “They were
so alone, and now they’ve found a
community that understands what
they’re going through.”
Goulding is convinced that they’ve
saved lives by occasionally calling for
police to check on someone’s well-
being, or reaching out to a member
in distress. “People come to the end
of their rope. We do whatever it takes
to get them through a crisis,” she says.
Before he caught COVID, group
member Kirk Brant, a 52-year-old fine
artist, was accustomed to being out-
doors, hunting, hiking and harvesting
wild plants in the bush. Suddenly he
was knocked flat. At one point, he
says, “My breathing
was so laboured that it
was a conscious effort
to suck in air.”
Tremors made it im-
possible to pick up a
cup of coffee, let alone
hold a paintbrush
steady. “I would de-
scribe the symptoms
to a doctor and their
response was, ‘There’s
nothing I can do for
you’,” he recalls.
“It was horrible. I felt forgotten.”
By September 2020, Brant knew
he probably had long COVID and
was relying heavily on advice posted
online.
rdasia.com 71
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Without access to adequate
medical resources, Kirk Brant
relied on patient support groups
Last year, Brant received a referral
to an immunologist, who in turn sent
him to a long-COVID clinic. There,
he sees a physiotherapist for light ex-
ercise designed to build his strength
back while avoiding a relapse of his
symptoms. He also meets with a
psychologist, a dietitian and an oc-
cupational therapist. Some of his
symptoms, including brain fog and
tremors, are better, but not gone.
MORE THAN TWO YEARS after long
COVID first emerged, some people
are beginning to suspect that their
condition might be permanent. “I
would love a full recovery, but I don’t
72 december 2022
know if that’s possible, and doc-
tors can’t tell me if that’s possi-
ble,” says Brant.
“We’re learning more as it’s
evolving,” Dr Mukherjee says.
Even if there are some peo-
ple who end up with a lifelong
condition, she doesn’t expect
it to be as debilitating as, say,
post-polio syndrome. “There
will be ways of managing or
curing symptoms. We’re med-
ically advanced, and there are
lots of people working on this
globally.”
Experts hope one day there
will be medications that tar-
get underlying causes. “There
are a lot of investigations at
the moment, and repurpos-
ing of existing drugs,” says Dr
Fa lcone. W hen cer ta i n
approaches are shown to be effec-
tive, it’ll teach us more about what
is causing long-COVID symptoms.
If blood thinners make a difference
to some people, it might suggest the
presence of tiny clots. If probiotics
help, it could support a theory that
gut bacteria have been disrupted.
“We just have to keep looking where
others haven’t, and keep digging,”
says Dr Falcone.
In the meantime, Ingalls wants peo-
ple to understand the very real conse-
quences of COVID. “You could be
someone with many illnesses already,
or you could be a cyclist like me,” she
says. “This is the great equaliser.”
 QUOTABLE QUOTES

I DREAMED Bach, Beethoven,

OF BECOMING Bo Diddley, it’s the
A BORDER same 12 notes.
GUARD, THEN A That’s all we have,
TRANSLATOR, and it’s up to each
AND THEN A of us to create our
DIPLOMAT. own unique sound.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSK Y Y,
PRESIDENT OF UKR AINE QUINCY JONES, MUSICIAN

I don’t define myself There are no passengers on

by my job. I’m not
just a doctor. I’m not Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.
just a comedian. I’m MARSHALL MCLUHAN, SOCIOLOGIST

not just an annoying

overactor. I persisted
in annoying the WE NEED TO
world for decades, START FROM
and the world
relented. I’m just me.
INCLUSION.
KEN JEONG, ACTOR AS THINGS
ARISE, I HAVE
CONFIDENCE
WE CAN
FIGURE IT OUT. Animals are such
BUT WE CAN’T agreeable friends
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

START AT THE – they ask no

OPPOSITE. questions; they
MEGAN R APINOE,
pass no criticisms.
SOCCER PL AYER GEORGE ELIOT, WRITER

rdasia.com 73
 PHOTO FEATURE

A harmless footpath or is there more to the story?

These 3D street artists see beyond the asphalt

BY Nicole Lewen

74 december 2022
Watch out, a glacial crevasse! In 2008, German street artist
Edgar Müller brought this dramatic ice age scene to the street
at a Festival of World Cultures in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland.

rdasia.com 75
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PHOTOS: (PRE VIOUS SPRE AD) GET T Y IMAGES/DUN L AOGHAIRE; (CLOCK WISE FROM BOT TOM LEF T) DAVID ZINN; 2020 ANADOLU AGENCY/GE T T Y IMAGES; PICTURE ALLIANCE/REUTERS.
Alex Maksiov
conjured up a piece of
urban history on this
staircase in Istanbul,
Turkey, in November
2020. His drawing
shows the famous
Galata Tower, built as
a watchtower in the
14th century.

Sluggo & Co. has

been beautifying the
streets of Ann Arbor,
US, since 1987. The
bright green creature
with the bulging eyes
is one of artist’s David
Zinn’s favourite
creations.

76 december 2022
Who dares to go into the jaws of the great white shark? This lifelike drawing
was a popular photo motif in Fuzhou, China, in 2011. Even more than other types
of art, 3D street art relies on audience interaction.
rdasia.com 77
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

The people are real, the abyss and waterfalls are fantasy. In 2011 artist Joe Hill
created what was then the world’s largest realistic 3D floor painting, covering more
than 1000 square metres amid office towers in London’s busy Canary Wharf district.
For this photo shoot, actors perched above the ‘chasm’.

78 december 2022
PHOTOS: (CLOCK WISE FROM LEF T) PICTURE ALLIANCE/REUTERS; IMAGINECHINA LIMITED/AL AMY S TOCK PHOTO; NIR ALON/AL AMY S TOCK PHOTO.

It took artist Yang Yongchun and his team several weeks to complete these
cities and landscapes. In 2014, they were on display at the Communication
University of China in the Chinese metropolis of Nanjing. When completed,
the 7.5-metre-wide artwork stretched to a length of 365 metres and invited
students and passers-by to marvel and play.

Water splash or raindrop?

An existential question for
the octopus that seems to
emerge from a street in
Jerusalem, Israel. Maya Koch
painted it with chalk at the
Street Art Festival in 2012, so
whatever his answer, the
next downpour washed both
octopus and question away.

rdasia.com 79
 HEART

The Many Lives of

ILLUS TR ATION: JAG NAGR A

80 december 2022
 My mother used recycled yoghurt containers to
share food – and love. Now I do the same

BY Arundhati Dhara
FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL

E
very auntie I know has
a k itchen drawer con-
taining a carefully main-
tained collection of yo-
ghurt dabbas. Dabba is a
pan-Indian word for ‘box’, but it re-
fers to all manner of containers, too.
Like the Hindu concept of reincar-
nation, dabbas live many lives; the
750-millilitre containers that hold
the yoghurt we buy at the supermar-
ket and eat every day are saved and
washed, and washed again.
The reused dabbas end up storing
leftovers, religious offerings and pot-
luck contributions. They pass from
house to house, living in the drawer,
the fridge or the pooja room where
the morning prayers are recited.
Sometimes they are even returned
to their original owners, full of some
other delicious food. This is a fairly
advanced manoeuvre and one only
the elder aunties manage – recognis-
ing their dabba from their friends’
seemingly identical container is
nothing short of miraculous.
I grew up in a community of South
Indian immigrants, and the man-
ufacturer’s labelling on the dabbas
was a source of information about the
families they came from. Rich, fatty
yoghurts might indicate a still-secret
pregnancy, as women are routinely
encouraged to eat everything (and
I mean ever ything) when gestat-
ing. Low-fat – or worse – non-fat yo-
ghurt meant someone’s doctor had
been talking about cholesterol. And
sweetened, flavoured yoghurt? That
was an abomination that didn’t bear
mentioning.
When I was a kid, we ate yoghurt
with just about everything. Every few
days, my mother made her own yo-
ghurt, scalding milk on the stove and
mixing in a spoonful of leftover curd,
leaving it on a warm vent in the kitch-
en to set overnight. Dabba yoghurt
(which was distinct from yoghurt
dabbas because it referred to the con-
tents rather than the container) was
reserved for dinner parties, religious
ceremonies requiring fresh yoghurt
and the rare event of a failed batch of
the homemade stuff.
My mother cut no corners when it
came to food, grinding her own spic-
es and grating fresh coconut by hand
for elaborate meals – after a full day

rdasia.com 81
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
at the office. The leftovers would in-
evitably find their way into yoghurt
dabbas, the refrigerator always full of
options for late-night cravings.
BUT JUST AS EVERY AUNTIE cher-
ished her dabbas, every uncle hated
them. My own father, a generally
laid-back man, meticulously avoided
the drawer of dabbas. “How many of
these things can you possibly need?”
he would ask my mother, exasper-
ated. My mother would shoot him
a look that would surely have killed
a weaker man and then placed her
dabba carefully back in its drawer.
Occasionally my father would get
fed up with the overflowing drawer
and dispose of all the dabbas. But my
mother would simply start the pro-
cess of collecting them again.
When I went away to university, my
mother used to cook food and send
it back with me with strict instruc-
tions to wash the dabbas and bring
them home. I was embarrassed by
my dabbas – why did we need to save
these things? I weighed the options:
if I didn’t recycle the dabbas, would
she still send me food? I knew the
answer was yes, but it was not a risk
I was prepared to take. So, I washed
the oil- and turmeric-stained dab-
bas in the common kitchen and just
scrubbed harder when I felt the eyes
of my roommates on me.
Eventually, I found my own way.
I’m a doctor and have a family of
my ow n. Like my mother before
82 december 2022
me, I’m also the proud owner of an
extensive dabba collection, which
I guard zealously. No matter how
ma ny g lass, m icrowave- a nd
oven-safe containers I have, no mat-
ter how beautiful and functional
they may be, I compulsively collect
yoghurt containers.
They truly are the most versatile of
objects, with uses ranging from food
storage to toys for my children: at the
beach, in the bath, for endless Lego
creations. It is a source of a strange
and unnameable comfort. I don’t
expect them back when I give them
away, but a tiny part of me grieves
when they go. I’m fairly certain that
my friends just recycle them, but I
still secretly hold out hope that they
continue to be passed from house to
house, living their multiple lives and
perhaps finding their way back to me.
When I married my husband, my
mother was concerned. “You know,
you come from very different back-
grounds,” she said. Navigating cul-
tural differences is surely an adven-
ture. But the other night, I heard my
husband yelling in the kitchen, and
the next morning, I found my dabbas
in the recycling bin. I narrowed my
eyes a little as I fished them out,
washed them and replaced them in
their drawer. I was practising my
mother’s death stare.
© 2022, ARUNDHATI DHARA. FROM ‘IT’S FUNNY
HOW MOM’S ANNOYING KITCHEN HABIT IS NOW
MY OWN’, THE GLOBE AND MAIL (MARCH 21, 2022),
THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM
 ONLINE
FIND THESE UNIQUE READS AT

RDasia.com
HOME
9 things house
guests notice
Got guests coming over?
Don’t panic. Here’s a list of things
you should clean before they ring
your doorbell.

FOOD + MONEY

15 supermarket foods
that last for years
Some grocery items can last almost
forever if they’re stored properly.
Here’s what will keep – and won’t.

TRAVEL
11 BREATHTAKING
UNDERWATER HOTELS
AROUND THE WORLD
Ever dream of sleeping with fish
swimming past? Check out some
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

amazing marine resorts.

PLUS SIGN UP TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER FOR

ReadersDigestAsia MORE HOT OFFERS, TOP STORIES AND PRIZES!
 Mohan
Sivanand
INDIA
Anna
Polzot
AUSTRALIA

Chia Hoi Kee

SINGAPORE Adrián
Villegas
MEXICO

84 december 2022
 OPINION

The
FUTURE
Awaits Linda van
Amerongen

You!
THE
NETHERLANDS

What advice would older

people like to offer the
younger generation?
We asked, and here’s
what they said…

Philippe
Romon
FRANCE

Marija
LITHUANIA

rdasia.com 85
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

he over 60s have experienced a lot of life – in

the home, at work and as citizens. Some of
these experiences were pleasant, others less so.
Their life lessons offer some valuable insights
that can benefit young people. Reader’s Digest
asked older people all over the world: What
are you proud of? What would you do differently in
retrospect? What are you (still) hoping for? And what is
your advice to the younger generation?

Nurture Your Relationships Never Stop Learning

“Take responsibility in your mar-
riage or partnership. Don’t split
up immediately when difficulties
arise, instead work through them
together. Doing so will strengthen
your relationship and will ultimate-
ly make you happy. This is even
more important when it involves
children.”
Richard Kochling, 74, Germany
“I hope that you develop a hobby at
a younger age so that there’s some-
thing to keep you occupied in your
older days. I also hope that couples
share equal responsibilities in the
kitchen.” Smita Tatke, 61, India
“I hope you tap into your own desires,
and go for it.”
Philippe Romon, 63, France
“Just don’t make hast y decisions
when choosing a spouse.”
Toni Kallio, 64, Finland
“Today, everyone wants to be in IT,
but working with your hands and be-
ing in the trades is very rewarding,
and is a great future because you will
always be in demand. It’s also a way
to be self-sufficient; when you need
some repair work done on your home,
you don’t have to hire someone else.”
Robert Wyebourn, 70, Canada
“Get the best education you can so
that you can do a job that fulfils you.
Then use your skills to the fullest, but
not necessarily working towards a
senior position with more money to
just secure greater wealth for yourself.
Take enough time for yourself, your
health, your interests, your family and
friends.” Michèle Pfenninger, 72, Switzerland
“Great achievements start with ‘little
things’. Heed the ‘little things’, and at-
tend to ‘micro things’. Details are often
the key to ‘winning’.”
Tseng P’eihsiung, 76, Taiwan

86 december 2022
 The Future Awaits You!

“Continue doing what you do so well … But Not At This

with your sport and education.”
Kerry Mckenzie, 70, New Zealand
Keep At It …
“I admire that the under 25s embrace
same sex relationships, accept gen-
der diversity as well as racial diver-
sity, are non-judgemental and have
empathy for others.”
Anna Polzot, 79, Australia
“You are full of energy and vitality,
always willing to help others and take
care of others. I admire that.”
Chia Hoi Kee, 75, Singapore
“I admire in Generation Z, and in
young people today in general, your
confidence and courage.”
Tarja Jäkärä, 62, Finland
“I admire you for being bold about
pursuing your personal ideals and
not giving into reality.”
Tseng P’eihsiung, 76, Taiwan
“I would like you to not pay so much
attention to social networks.”
Carmen Almeida, 67, Ecuador
“I wish that you would not use such
foul language.”
Mohan Sivanand, 70, India
“W hen I had a young family, we
would come back from work, have
dinner together, talk, go for a walk,
read books before bedtime, and
so on. Nowadays, people seem to
be devoting all their time to work,
and when they’re at home together,
they’re just glued to their phones.”
Marija, 78, Lithuania
“In the fight against global warming,
be more active in reality and less on
social networks.”
Janine Goudet,79, France
“Stay curious, take an interest in
t hings and people outside your

“DO NOT GET MARRIED!

LIVE IN A CIVIL UNION.
IN THE PAST, WE WERE
OBLIGED TO GET MARRIED.
ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM!”
JANINE GOUDET, 79, FRANCE

rdasia.com 87
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
bubble. And for heaven’s sake, put
down your smartphone!”
F. Stocker, 60, Switzerland
Keep Yourselves Healthy
“Have discipline and good eating
habits to maintain your health. I have
learned that there would be fewer
sick people if my generation had done
that.” Edith Jiménez, 62, Mexico
“Watch your diet, keep away from fast
food and walk more.”
Anna Polzot, 79, Australia
“Run, cycle, walk, jump, dive, swim,
travel, travel, travel – and enjoy the
multicultural miracles of food and
drink”. Herbert Paulzen, 82, The Netherlands
Keep This In Mind
“Maintain your faith in democracy
and set an example.”
Linda van Amerongen, 71, The Netherlands
88 december 2022
“Spend your money on the good
things you like after saving 30 per-
cent of your monthly earnings.”
Mohan Sivanand, 70, India
“Be patient. Think before acting.
Don’t be impulsive.” Li Shunli, 60, Taiwan
“Don’t depend on the government to
pay your way; pay your own way and
don’t rely on handouts or easy mon-
ey. Don’t wish you’ll win the lotto –
bet on yourself instead. Don’t always
wish things would land in your lap,
because they won’t; you are the only
one who can achieve your dreams.”
Robert Wyebourn, 70, Canada
Get Active In Your
Community
“Our democracy, with all its advan-
tages, can only succeed if we active-
ly shape it. That means taking on
responsibility, for example, in the
“TAKING CARE OF
YOUR HEALTH AS A
YOUNG PERSON
PAYS OFF AS YOU
GET OLDER.”
THOMAS KRAUTER, 70, GERMANY

parents’ council at the daycare cen-
tre or school, participating in an as-
sociation, taking an active role on the
works council or in the trade union,
and of course also in political par-
ties and much more. Yes, that takes
time and energy, but you also get a
lot back from the people you support.
Volunteering gives your life special
meaning and satisfaction.”
Richard Köchling, 74, Germany
“Even with all the progress my gen-
eration has achieved over the last
60 years or so, you need to be ever
more aware that hard fought-for
freedoms can be tenuous – as we
see being played out in the US, one
of the richest countries in the world,
and in myriad poorer ones around
the world. Total power corrupts and
wars, as we see today, happen when
tyrants have too much power.”
Kerry Mckenzie, 70, New Zealand
“Do not lose the awareness that as
citizens you must be tirelessly de-
manding that leaders, legislators and
other political actors do not prevent
society from being more inclusive,
socially more equitable and, above
all, less violent.”
Adrián Villegas, 72, Mexico
Our Money And Yours
“The way wealth and economical
power are distributed on our globe
is a joke. A bad joke. Our genera-
tions failed, there is no other way
The Future Awaits You!
of putting it. You will have to find
ways for more equality, more jus-
tice, more honesty, in your own way
– with the failures of the older gen-
erations in mind.”
Herbert Paulzen, 82, The Netherlands
“Thinking of the costs for state pen-
sions, health insurance, etc, I be-
lieve that your generation will have
to shoulder the responsibility of go-
ing back to the idea of simple living
and high thinking.”
B. Hasan, 69 India
“You should spend your money on
learning, spiritual improvement and
travel to broaden your horizons.”
Li Shunli, 60, Taiwan
What We Can Be Proud Of
“In my generation there were very
important social movements such
as feminist movements t hat a l-
lowed women access to positions of
leadership. So, it seems to me that
women of my generation learned to
value, respect and to educate them-
selves. They also understood that
machismo is allowed and encour-
aged by women. These are lessons
we learned the hard way, but per-
haps that is why we are a generation
of strong, fun, uninhibited women.”
Carmen Almeida, 67, Ecuador
“ We h av e m a n a ge d to re duc e
t he nu mber of wa rs a nd i nva-
sions, mainly thanks to the UN, a
rdasia.com 89
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
mid-20th century idea. Even though
unfortunately they have not been
completely eliminated, most wars
fought since then have been civil
wars.” Mohan Sivanand, 70, India
“We are lucky that many Singapor-
eans were able to access affordable
public housing, subsidised by the
government. The political and so-
cial climate in Singapore is stable
and peaceful. Both are the result of
continuous hard work of past gener-
ations.” Chia Hoi Kee, 75, Singapore
This Is Nothing We Are
Proud Of
“My generation’s biggest mistake is
that we have mercilessly exhaust-
ed resources such as coal, oil and
natural gas for our comfort and the
grow th of the economy, thereby
accelerating climate change. I sin-
cerely hope that future generations
will succeed in slowing down this
90 december 2022
process by abandoning fossil re-
sources altogether.”
Michèle Pfenninger, 72, Switzerland
“I wish we had made non-plastic pro-
duction a priority and offered industry
help in manufacturing their products
in a more environmentally friendly
way.” Wendy, 60, England
“I wish that we had put in more ef-
fort to pay attention to the environ-
ment.” Chia Hoi Kee, 75, Singapore
This Is My Wish For You
“I hope you will be able to realise
your personal ideals.”
Adrián Villegas, 72, Mexico
“For your future, I wish for world-
wide peaceful coexistence, common
peaceful solutions to problems at
hand, thoughtful and respectful be-
haviour. Your generation I trust.”
Beate Schlottmann, 69, Germany
“I WISH THAT
WE HAD PUT
IN MORE
EFFORT TO PAY
ATTENTION TO THE
ENVIRONMENT.”
CHIA HOI KEE, 75, SINGAPORE
 TELL ME WHY...
Poinsettias
Are A Symbol
Of Christmas
BY Claire Nowak
T
here’s no denying that poin-
settias, with their red and
green hues, make bright, fes-
tive decorations. But they’re
native to Central America, particu-
larly southern Mexico, and they’re
actually colourful leaves, not flowers.
So why do we consider them Christ-
mas flowers?
The reason we associate poinsetti-
as with the festive season comes from
an old Mexican legend. A young girl
named Pepita was sad that she didn’t
have a gift to leave for the baby Jesus
at Christmas Eve services. Her cousin
tried to comfort her and said that Je-
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES
sus would love any present from her,
even the smallest one. With no mon-
ey to buy a real gift, Pepita picked a
bouquet of weeds that she walked
past on the way to church. When she
got there, she left the weeds at the
bottom of the nativity scene. All of a
sudden, the weeds transformed into
beautiful red flowers.
From that day on, they became
known as ‘Flores de Noche Buena’ or
‘Flowers of the Holy Night’.
Poinsettias get their English name
from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first
US ambassador to Mexico, who took
them back to US in the early 1800s.
But they didn’t become traditional
holiday decorations until the entre-
preneurial Ecke family started pro-
moting them a century later by send-
ing free poinsettia plants to T V
studios across the US. Eventually, the
trend caught on, and now poinsettias
are among the most popular plants
sold at Christmas time in many parts
of the world.
rdasia.com 91
 ABSURD
SCIENCE
The Ig Nobels celebrate the unusual and imaginative
BY Melanie Egan

92 december 2022
 SCIENCE

n mid-September, howls of laugh- While playing to perceptions that

ter could be heard in science fac- scientists have weird and wacky in-
ulties and labs around the world. sights, the Ig Nobels also foster a
No, it wasn’t an earth-shattering wider, mainstream interest in the
knock-knock joke but the reaction endless fun science offers. After all,
to some of the boldest science science relies on creativity and ex-
discoveries of the year – the Ig Nobel ploration, and even playfulness, and
Prizes. the scientific community finds the
While the prestigious Nobel Prizes research valuable – a fact that itself
mark 121 years this month, their com- has been investigated.
paratively paltry and poorer cousins – According to research by data sci-
the Ig Nobels – first appeared in 1991. entist Andy Wei Kan Yeung from the
Their aim is to celebrate research that Chinese University of Hong Kong,
‘first makes people laugh, and then other academics – great and small –
makes them think’. The brains behind frequently consult and cite Ig Nobel
the awards is Marc Abrahams, editor prize-winning papers.
and co-founder of the Annals of Im- Look no further than world-re-
probable Research, who remains cen- nowned physicist Andre Geim: in
tral to its continued success. 2000 he jointly won an Ig Nobel for
Each year, Ig Nobel prizes are using magnets to levitate a frog; and
awarded across a range of disciplines. then ten years later jointly won the
There are those you’d expect: medi- Nobel Prize in Physics for work on
cine, physics, engineering and biology, graphene, a two-dimensional hon-
plus others chosen at random – on a eycomb lattice nanostructure that
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES, COURTESY IG NOBEL PRIZES

whim of Abrahams and his fel- is the strongest material ever

low judges.
Winning an Ig attracts
high praise among the
lab-coat set, whose
envy over the winners’
pretend banknotes
and paper cube tro-
phies – both presented
by an actual Nobel Prize
laureate (no less) – can’t be
underestimated.
discovered. As Geim says:
“When one dares to try,
rewards are not guar-
anteed but at least it is
an adventure.”
This year, the team
from the Universit y
of São Paulo in Brazil
t hat won t he Biolog y
prize did just that, throw-
MARC ABRAHAMS ing caution to the wind to

rdasia.com 93
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
determine how constipation affects
the mating prospects of scorpions.
Here are some of the more atten-
tion-grabbing Ig Nobel winners over
the years that everyone will enjoy.
EVERYDAY CURIOS
Facial Hair: Good news for hipsters
– beards can soften a blow. In 2021,
University of Utah scientists won the
Peace prize “for testing the hypoth-
esis that humans evolved beards to
protect themselves from punches to
the face”. While the 2020 Psychology
prize went to researchers who found
narcissists stand out in the crowd
thanks to their eyebrows – bushy
and distinct brows reveal an ego so
inflated that they don’t have time to
trim.
Stony-faced Personalities: Ways of
spotting brand personality types
among ... ‘rocks’ landed a team of
New Zealand’s University of Otago
marketing researchers the Econom-
ics prize in 2016. Their study involved
asking students to gaze at a selection
of rocks and report on whether they
saw a ‘gypsy’ or a ‘liberal, attractive
female’. Hmm.
Sock And Footpath Safety: Research-
ers at the University of Otago clearly
94 december 2022
enjoy a ‘rocking good time’. Six years
earlier, in 2010, they took home the
Physics gong for demonstrating that
pedestrians slip and fall less often on
icy footpaths in winter in Dunedin if
they wear colourful socks on the out-
side of their shoes.
Then, in 2021 an interesting di-
chotomy appeared bet ween t he
Physics and Kinetics prize winners.
The Physics trophy went to the Italian
academics who investigated the rea-
sons why pedestrians don’t constant-
ly collide with one another, while on
the flipside physics researchers from
Japan won the Kinetics Prize for their
study into why pedestrians do, in
fact, collide with other pedestrians.
Not wearing their socks properly,
perhaps?
MEDICAL MATTERS
Coconut Casualties: As well as wear-
ing bright socks outside shoes to
avoid others, knowing how to avoid
ILLUS TR ATIONS: GE T T Y IMAGES
serious harm from falling coconuts
is super important. The 2021 Med-
icine prize went to Peter Barss of
Canada’s McGill University for his
insightful medical report titled: ‘In-
juries Due to Falling Coconuts’. Top
of the list: a sore head.

Exploding Colons – Not: Another
Medicine prize went to French re-
searchers Emmanuel Ben-Soussan
and Michel Antonietti in 2013 for
advising doctors who perform colo-
noscopies how to reduce the risk of
their patients exploding. But wait,
shouldn’t exploding patients natu-
rally concern all doctors?
SAFETY FIRST
Hijacker Trap: Fact – it’s a dangerous
world out there. So people returning
to air travel after COVID-19 may won-
der why airlines haven’t adopted the
invention of the late Gustano Pizzo,
who earned the 2013 Safety Engineer-
ing prize for his electro-mechanical
system to trap plane hijackers. It drops
a hijacker through trap doors, sealing
them into a package, then dropping
the encapsulated hijacker through
the plane’s specially installed bomb
bay doors before parachuting them
to Earth to awaiting police. Inspector
Gadget to the rescue?
Bear- and Alien-Dangers: Another
Safety Engineering accolade, this
time in 1998, went to Canadian Troy
Hurtubise for developing and per-
sonally testing a suit of armour im-
pervious to grizzly bears.
Absurd Science
One other reason to be careful –
because the truth is out there – some-
where in the ether. The Psychology
Prize of 1993 was presented jointly
to John E. Mack of Harvard Medical
School and David M. Jacobs of Tem-
ple University. The pair found that
people who believe they were kid-
napped by aliens from outer space,
probably were abducted, even tem-
porarily. They concluded “the focus
of the abduction is the production of
children”. That’s creative.
FUR REAL
Feline Fluidity: In 2017, millions of
cat lovers awoke to the news that
their pets might be liquid, and not
solid as they previously believed. The
source of this confronting news was
Narc-Antoine Fardin’s Ig Nobel for
Physics. He won the gong for look-
ing into the fluid dynamics of cats in
order to determine whether cats can
flow like liquids. Seems they can, if
they move super-fast.
Hello Kitty: Fortunately, cats are able
to tell their owners how they feel
about this finding, thanks to the 2021
Biolog y winners Susanne Schötz,
Robert Ek lund and Joost van de
Weijer. They analysed variations in
rdasia.com 95
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
purring, chirping, chattering, meow-
ing and innumerable other modes of
cat-human communication. Ig Nobel
catcalls also went to Chris Niswander
in 2020 for inventing PawSense, soft-
ware that detects when a cat is walk-
ing across your computer keyboard,
and Sweden’s 2015 winners in the
Medicine category for investigating
whether it is mentally hazardous for
a human being to own a cat. It’s not!
WALK WITH THE ANIMALS
Beastly Disguises: In the interests of
furthering science, two Ig Nobel win-
ners were not satisfied with observ-
ing animals, they wanted to become
them. The 2016 prize for Biology was
awarded jointly to Charles Foster
for living in the wild as, at different
times, a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox,
and a bird; and to Thomas Thwaites,
for creating prosthetic extensions of
his limbs to enable him to move like a
goat, so he could roam the Swiss hill-
sides in their company, which he did
for several days.
Also helping human understand-
ing of the animal kingdom were the
2014 winners who tested how rein-
deer react to seeing humans who
are disguised as polar bears, and the
96 december 2022
2010 Engineering nominees who per-
fected a method to collect whale snot,
using a remote-control helicopter.
Barnyard Fun: And last, but not least,
2003’s Physics winners from Australia
– ‘An Analysis of the Forces Required
to Drag Sheep Over Various Surfaces’.
The same year’s Interdisciplinary Re-
search category winners hailed from
Stockholm University, for their report
‘Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans’.
HARD AT WORK
The Smell Of Success: What may be
welcomed in the workplace, now
many are back in the office, is the
self-perfuming business suit, award-
ed the Environmental Protection
prize in 1999. The tailored suits from
the Kolon Company of Seoul, South
Korea, emit a pleasant fragrance
when rubbed. Better still, is the work
of an international team that devel-
oped an algorithm to help gossipers
decide when to tell the truth – and
ILLUS TR ATIONS: GE T T Y IMAGES
when to lie. This model should be
a handy gauge when deciding if the
office gossip is worthy.
Say Cheese!: And if you have to take
a work group photo? The Mathemat-
ics Award in 2006 went to Australians
Nic Svenson and Piers Barnes from

CSIRO who calculated the number
of photographs needed to (almost)
ensure that nobody will have their
eyes closed or blink. Advised Barnes:
“For groups of less than 20: divide the
number of people by three if there’s
good light and two if the light’s bad.”
EATING RIGHT
A Diet Diary: We are what we eat, and
for Dr Yoshino Nakamatsu, photo-
graphing every meal he consumed
and analysing it for 34 years won him
the 2005 Nutrition Ig. If your egg is
too hard at breakfast, turn to the 2015
Chemistry winners who invented a
chemical recipe to partially un-boil
an egg. Genius! But perhaps ingenui-
ty should go to Leonard Fisher who in
1999 won the Physics prize for discov-
ering the best way to dunk a biscuit.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Fat Cats: Moving to more prosaic
matters, the 2021 Economics prize
Absurd Science
went to Professor Pavlo Blavatskyy,
of the Montpellier Business School in
France, for his finding that the obesi-
ty of a country’s politicians is a good
indicator of that country’s corrup-
tion. Also, perhaps stating the obvi-
ous were 2003’s Psychology winners
for their discerning study of ‘Politi-
cians’ Uniquely Simple Personalities’.
More disturbing, however, and not
so funny, was Donald Trump, Boris
Johnson and Vladimir Putin sharing
the Medical Education prize in 2020
for demonstrating that the leaders of
countries can have a more immedi-
ate effect on life and death during the
COVID-19 pandemic than doctors
and scientists.
ALARMING INVENTIONS
Rise And Shine: Calculating the ideal
density of airborne wasabi to help
raise sleepy-heads during a fire or
other emergency led a group of Jap-
anese researchers to invent t he
wasabi alarm. This ensured them
the 2011 Chemistr y prize. W hile
adding more hours to a productive
day was 2018’s Economics winner
Gau r i Na nda, who i nvented a n
alarm clock that runs away and
hides, repeatedly.
rdasia.com 97
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK
Humour On The Job
“Stop serving table 3 complimentary bread.”
That’s The Job For Me!
For some, naming a newborn is a
personal decision. For others, it’s a
business opportunity. Meet Taylor A.
Humphrey, professional baby namer.
After parents fill out a questionnaire,
she supplies them with a bespoke
list heavy on names like Florian
and Balthazar with nary a Larry or
Mary among them. For example, she
suggested a couple name their child
Parks because they had their first
kiss in a town called Parker.
Humphrey’s fee starts at US$1500.
Last year, she helped name more
than a hundred kids. A $10,000
98 december 2022
option involves selecting a name
that will be on-brand with a
parent’s business. NEW YORKER
CARTOON: DAN MISDE A; ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES.
Wise Words
“If A is a success in life, then A equals
x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and
z is keeping your mouth shut.”
ALBERT EINSTEIN, PHYSICIST
Parlour Trick
At work, I served a little girl some
ice cream and her mum said,
“Honey, what do you say?” And she
looked me dead in the eyes and said,
“I love you.” @NOUR ABADIII
 All In A Day’s Work

You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet PART OF THE FAMILY

Before country singer Willie Nelson’s
long-time harmonica player, Mickey
Raphael, officially joined the band,
he’d show up at gigs and just start
playing. After a while, Willie got
confused, Mickey said.
“One day, Willie asked Paul
English, our drummer and band-
leader, ‘What are we paying Mickey?’
“Paul goes, ‘Nothing; he’s just
coming to sit in.’
“Willie replied, ‘Well, double his
salary’.” TEX AS MONTHLY
Keeping Busy?
When I arrived at church one Sunday
morning, I bumped into our pastor.
“How are things at work?” he
asked.
“Father,” I said, “I’m so busy that
every morning I make a list of five
things that I have to do that day. If I
make it to number three, it’s a good
day.” The pastor nodded knowingly.
“I’m the same way with the Ten
Commandments.”
SUBMITTED BY VICTOR BERRELLEZ
SCENE: Veterinarian’s office …
CUSTOMER: Why do you have
my dog’s name before my last
name on the check-in sheet?
ME: That’s so we know who it
belongs to.
CUSTOMER: It sounds like I’m
married to my dog!
ME: It’s more that we’re trying
to say that you’re the pet’s
parent.
CUSTOMER: Are you saying I
gave birth to a dog?
ME: Sorry, the computer prints
it this way.
CUSTOMER: Then black out the
name so nobody thinks I’m
married to him!
NOTALWAYSRIGHT.COM

First Steps
My colleague’s daughter called
him at work to ask for help on a
school project: a timeline of her life.
Unfortunately, it went off the rails
with the very first question: “Dad,
when did I start walking?”
He answered, “Walking to where?”
SUBMITTED BY LISSETTE CUADR A

rdasia.com 99
 Festive
Traditions
Do you know how people around the world celebrate
Christmas? Test your knowledge with some Yuletide fun
BY Caroline Friedmann

100 december 2022

 QUIZ
QUESTIONS
1
In Nor way, w itches and ev il
spirits roam the streets on Christ-
mas Eve. At least that’s what su-
perstition says. But the locals know
how to protect themselves from these
creatures by ...
a) hanging garlic on windows
and doors
b) drinking holy water
c) hiding brooms
d) decorating their homes with
Christmas wreaths
2
O ne of t he mos t u nu s u a l
Christmas decorations comes
from the US, where an edible
pickle is hidden in the branches of
their festive tree. Before gifts are
given out, children and guests look
for the pickles. Whoever discovers
them ...
a) may open their gifts first
b) receives an additional gift
c) is lucky in the coming year
ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES/IS TOCKPHOTO
d) must hand back one gift
3
In Italy, children look forward
to presents on December 25
a nd Ja nua r y 6. In t he new
year, Befana, a good-natured witch,
goes from house to house and dis-
tributes small gifts and sweets to
well-behaved children. What does
she have in store for the naughty
children?
a) a piece of coal
b) a rod
c) a lemon
d) a sour sweet
4
In Venezuela’s capital Cara-
cas, going to church and the
Christmas fair is a tradition for
many families. But they don’t go on
foot or by car, but on ...
a) a donkey
b) a moped
c) roller skates
d) a bicycle
5
The Irish show their tough side
at Christmas. Many gather for a
Christmas swim on the morn-
ing of December 25. They step into
the frigid Atlantic waters to ...
a) impress the opposite sex
b) raise money for a good cause
c) atone for their sins
d) clear their sleepy heads
6
In Poland, when people sit
dow n to a Christ mas feast
with family, traditionally hay
is placed under the tablecloth as a
symbol of the manger. What else is
usually on the table?
a) a photo of the Pope
b) a crucifix
c) an empty place setting
d) a bowl of seasonal fruit
rdasia.com 101
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
7
A strong odour can be smelt
coming from many homes in
Iceland over the festive season.
The smell comes from a traditional
dish called kæst skata, or fermented
skate fish. Why do the Icelanders let
the fish practically rot before they
eat it?
a) To destroy the bones in the fish
b) To allow for the alcohol in the
ferment to break down
c) They love the intense taste
d) It makes it edible
8 10
A huge feast is traditional-
ly served at Christmas across
Fra nce’s Provence reg ion.
The crowning glory is traditionally
13 desserts that represent Jesus and
his 12 apostles. In addition to fruit,
pastries, nougat and cakes, four sim-
ple desserts of nuts, figs, raisins and
almonds are placed on the table. What
do they symbolise?
a) the Archangels
b) the cardinal virtues
c) the Catholic monastic orders
d) the end of the calendar year
9
Music is an integral part of the
Christ mas and pre-Christ-
mas period. Some songs are
In Italian folklore, Befana is a
witch-like woman who visits
children to distribute gifts on the
morning of the Epiphany, January 6
102 december 2022
popu la r a rou nd t he world l i ke
‘W hite Christmas’ sung by Bing
Crosby. To this day, this song is
considered the world’s best-selling
Christmas hit. It was written in 1940
by composer Irving Berlin, which is
surprising, considering that he ...
a) was just 11 years old at the
time
b) could neither read nor write
sheet music
c) was deaf
d) hated snow
One of the oldest Christ-
mas markets in the world
takes place in Vienna, Aus-
tria, and is said to date back to the
14th century. The Christmas market
has existed in its present form since
1764. In 1978, the stall operators went
on strike for a short time. What new
regulation of the local Market Board
were they protesting against?
a) the ban on selling mulled wine
b) the renaming of the market to
Wintermarkt
c) the reduction of hours
d) an air tax for each stall
103 rdasia.com
c) Traditionally, Norwegians hide
1 all broomsticks so witches and
evil spirits can’t ride them through
villages and towns at Christmas
time.
a+b+c) Whoever finds the Christ-
2 mas pickle first receives an extra
gift, can unwrap their presents first,
and is said to have good luck the fol-
lowing year. It is unclear who started
this custom, although some claim
that the Christmas pickle is an old
German tradition.
a) Befana brings a piece of coal to
3 naughty children. Of course any
little ones that receive one don’t get
real charcoal, but a black-coloured
sugary sweet.
c) In the 1950s, people in Caracas
4 started celebrating Christmas
with friends and neighbours out-
doors by blocking off streets. Chil-
dren and young people enjoyed roll-
er skating on the blocked-off streets,
starting the tradition. Today, young
and old skate through the city to
Christmas mass.
b) Christmas swimming has a
5 long tradition in Dublin. In recent
years it has also become popular in
Festive Traditions Quiz
ANSWERS TO
many other places in Ireland and is
now used to raise money for charity.
c) An additional place setting on
6 the table is reminiscent of the
deceased in Poland, and also for an
unexpected guest because, according
to the Polish people, nobody should
be alone at Christmas.
d) Skate fish do not excrete their
7 uric acid through the kidneys, but
store the toxins in the flesh. It must
therefore be stored and fermented for
at least four weeks so that the toxins
can escape.
c) The so-called ‘four beggars’
8 symbolise the monastic orders of
the Catholic Church. The nuts stand
for the Augustine monks, figs for the
Franciscans, raisins for the Domini-
cans and almonds for the Carmelites.
b) Irving Berlin (1888-1989) could
9 neither read nor write sheet mu-
sic. He composed his melodies and
had others write them down.
d) In 1978, Vienna’s Market
10 Board imposed an air tax on all
market stall operators who decorated
their stalls. After a day of strikes, the
air tax was abolished for good.
 BONUS READ

104 december 2022

 A Season Of
Sweetness
And Joy
A wish list that found its way to ‘Santa’.
A mother’s eerie premonition.
An unlikely Christmas far from home.
These three wonderful stories will remind
you of the true spirit of Christmas
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

rdasia.com 105
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Toys To
The World
The man who found a child’s
Christmas wish list and
decided to play Santa
BY Amy Wang
FROM THE WA SHINGTON POS T
T
he spot of red was what first
caught Randy Heiss’s atten-
tion on December 16, 2018.
He was hiking the remote
expanse of land behind his ranch in
Patagonia, Arizona, a town near the
US-Mexico border, when he spotted
a balloon on the grass – or at least
the tattered remnants of one. Heiss
walked towards it w it h his dog,
thinking he should pick up the latex
pieces and throw them away.
That’s when he noticed the bal-
loon’s string was attached to a piece
of paper.
‘Dayami’, it read on one side, in a
child’s writing. A hand-drawn bow
accompanied the word.
Heiss flipped the paper over. It was
a numbered list, all in Spanish. “My
Spanish isn’t very good, but I could
see it was a Christmas list,” he said.
Heiss was charmed. He suspected
that a child had tried to send San-
ta Claus a Christmas wish list by
106 december 2022
balloon, something he used to do
himself when he was a kid. Nobody
had ever returned the letters Heiss
had sent aloft, but he wondered
whether he could find the girl who
had sent this one.
It would be difficult, but he had a
few clues. About 32 kilometres to the
southwest, just across the border, was
the city of Nogales, Mexico, with a
population of about a quarter million.
“Based on the prevailing wind, I
was pretty sure that’s where it came
from,” he said.
Heiss brought the note home to his
wife, who is fluent in Spanish and
helped him translate the list. They
determined that Dayami, probably a
girl, had asked for an Enchantimals
doll and dollhouse, clothes and art
supplies, among other things.
Heiss then posted on Facebook
about his quest, attaching photos,
hoping some of his friends in Nogales
might know the girl’s family.
A few days passed with no leads;
Heiss worried that time was running
out before Christmas. On December
19, 2018, he decided to send a private
Facebook message to Radio XENY, an
AM radio station based in Nogales.
To his surprise, someone from the
station called him back right away.
Heiss’s wife helped explain the situa-
PHOTO: YA SU+JUNKO
tion to Radio XENY host Cesar Barron,
who talked on the air about the quest
to find Dayami and posted about it on
the station’s Facebook page.
The next morning, Heiss awoke
to another message from Radio
XENY. They had located Day-
ami, an eight-year-old girl, and
her family, who indeed lived in
Nogales. Would they be willing
to meet at the radio station?
“It just changed my entire
day,” Heiss said. Instead of going
to his office, he went shopping
with his wife.
T he y b ou g ht j u s t a b out
everything on Dayami’s list ex-
cept for the dollhouse (it was
sold out). They also bought a few
other toys for good measure, as
they had learned that Dayami
had a younger sister, four-year-
old Ximena.
Then the Heisses drove for
45 minutes, crossing the bor-
der into Nogales. They arrived
at the Radio XENY offices with
presents by the armload – and
finally met two very excited lit- For years, the girl had
tle girls.
Their parents explained to
been sending a letter to
the Heisses that Dayami had Santa by balloon
been writing a letter to Santa
and sending it by balloon for years, experience,” Heiss said, adding after
but this was the first time anyone had a pause. “Quite healing for us.”
found the note. Ten years ago, Heiss, 61, and his
“Their eyes were wide open with wife lost their only child, a son.
wonder,” Heiss said of the two sisters’ They have no grandchildren. “Being
reactions. “Like, Oh my gosh, this re- around children at Christmas has
ally did work!” been absent in our lives,” he said.
Not wanting to spoil Santa Claus “It’s been kind of a gaping hole in our
for the girls, Heiss and his wife told Christmas experience.”
them they were “Santa’s helpers”. He has since reflected on what a
“It was a beaut if u l, beaut if u l miracle it was that he spotted the

rdasia.com 107
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
balloon at all, let alone that he was
able to locate Dayami and her family.
“We now have friends for life,”
Heiss said. “And, for a day, that bor-
der fence with its concertina wire
melted away.”
LUIS VELARDE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST (DECEMBER
21, 2018), © 2018 BY WASHINGTON POST,
WASHINGTONPOST.COM.
The Woman
In The
Red Coat
When my mother died,
I thought I’d never enjoy
Christmas again. Then my
father began dating a
woman who shared a
surprising link to my
holiday traditions
BY Jessica Pearce Rotondi
C
hristmas at my house meant
fresh pine boughs wrapped
around the banister with vel-
vet ribbon, candles in every
window, and homemade dinners for
20 cooked by my mother. She grew up
as the only girl in a house full of four
brothers, so when she had a home of
her own to decorate and two daugh-
ters to dress up, she didn’t hold back.
108 december 2022
Christmas was a month-long ritual
we waited for all year, running er-
rands in our matching red coats.
On Christmas Day, we’d open the
wreath-covered front door to wel-
come cousins and aunts and uncles.
Over the years, the dining room ta-
ble – from my father’s own childhood
as one of 13 siblings – was adjusted
to expand as partners, then spouses,
then kids crowded around, my moth-
er holding court over us all.
I always took for granted that
someday my own kids would gather
at that same table and enjoy the tra-
ditions that had been passed down
each December. Life had other plans.
Mum found her tumour on my 21st
birthday. She was just 53. She died
three years later, on October 29, 2009.
I was only 23.
Three years after her death, I made
my annual pilgrimage north to my
childhood home for Christmas with
my dad and sister. We were all put-
ting on brave faces, but I couldn’t
stand the bare banister or candle-less
windows. I channelled my inner
mother and marched up to the attic
to hunt for Christmas ornaments.
From the attic window, the moon-
light on the snow outside made the
trees look beautiful. Mum and Dad
had built the house on an old Christ-
mas-tree farm. “Isn’t it wonderful to
be surrounded by Christmas all year
long?” she would joke. Now her words
seemed more like a reminder of what
we once had. Dad planned to put the
 house on the market in summer.
Up in the attic, I headed to-
wards a box labelled ‘Christ-
mas’. As I moved aside wooden
cranberry strands, a yellowed
envelope caught my eye. The re-
turn address on it was a famous
publishing house in Boston.
My mother had been an ed-
itor before I was born but had
given up her dream of being a
writer when she had kids – or
so I thought. Inside was a nev-
er-published manuscript for a
children’s book, dated Febru-
ary 10, 1993. I calculated that
I would have been seven, my
sister four.
The manuscript was titled The
Evil Stepmother (Who Wasn’t).
It’s the story of a little girl who
loses her mot her to cancer.
Her father soon remarries, and
at Christmas, the girl returns ‘White Christmas’ was
home to find her stepmother
crying with an ornament in her
the closest sound on
hands: a star with a woman’s Earth to Mum’s voice
photog raph. The stepmot h-
er reveals that she lost her mother, Christmas the year before I was born,
too, and always misses her most at inspire it? She wasn’t around to ask.
Christmas. There was no stepmother, evil or
I read Mum’s book under the bare otherwise, in our lives. I packed the
PHOTO: MACKENZIE WILLIAMS

bulb in the attic, surrounded by her
things, and wondered why she had
been moved to write it. She was years
away from her own diagnosis at the
time. Did part of her always know?
Did losing her brother, whose dog
tags were returned from Vietnam at
manuscript away, located the orna-
ments I came for, and forgot about
Mum’s book in the craziness of the
house move that summer.
Without the home that had been
the anchor for so many memories,
I detached myself from all things

rdasia.com 109
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Christmas. I even began to avoid
the colour red. Most of all, I avoided
Christmas music. I shopped online to
ensure a carol couldn’t catch me un-
aware.
That changed in December 2017.
Dad told me he was seeing someone.
Could he bring her to Christmas?
“Of course,” I said, stunned but
happy.
We hugged each other shyly when
we first met. Soon, she had Dad and
me laughing. It was going so well that
the three of us went shopping to pick
out gifts. That’s when the song ‘White
Christmas’ began to play over the
store’s speakers. I froze.
It was what Mum sang to me as
a child to get me to sleep; hearing
The author (second from right) and her
stepmother in their red coats
110 december 2022
the song was the closest sound on
Earth to her voice. The earrings I
was holding in my hands blurred as
tears streamed down my face. I was
mortified. Dad was mortified. I left
the earrings and ran for the safety
of the car, hoping Dad’s girlfriend
didn’t notice.
We got home, and I went to my
room to pull myself together. There
was a knock on the door: Dad’s girl-
friend. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
She told me that Christmas was
hard for her, too. That she had been a
caregiver for her mother as she slowly
slipped away from Alzheimer’s.
“Do you see this coat?” she asked,
referring to the red swing coat I had
complimented earlier. “It
was my mother’s. Your dad
tells me your mother also
had a red coat. Maybe we
can wear them together
sometime?”
She handed me a small
package. I unwrapped the
tissue paper to reveal the PHOTO: COURTESY OF JESSICA PE ARCE ROTONDI
earrings I had been holding
at the store. I remembered
the long-ago scene from
Mum’s book, and I hugged
this woman who made my
dad happy, who was offer-
ing us a second chance at
Christmas.
A year later, my sister and
I were maids of honour at
Dad’s wedd i ng. T hen I

hosted my first Christmas in New
York. We decorated with ornaments
old and new before taking in the
city’s Christmas lights. My stepmoth-
er and I walked arm in arm down
Broadway Avenue in our mothers’
robin-red coats, cherished reminders
of the stylish women who raised us.
© 2020 BY JESSICA PEARCE ROTONDI. SHE IS THE
AUTHOR OF WHAT WE INHERIT: A SECRET WAR AND A
FAMILY’S SEARCH FOR ANSWERS.
His First
Christmas
Far from home, a
newcomer finds warmth
and joy among strangers
BY Paul Robert
I
t was mid-December 2015 when
18-year-old Froghuddin Sayedy
turned a corner onto Roncalli-
platz, the square in front of Co-
logne Cat hedral. He stopped in
amazement, not because of the over-
whelming sight of Germany’s largest
cathedral; he’d seen it before. It was
because a huge tree, maybe 25 me-
tres high, had appeared. How could it
have grown there so quickly? he won-
dered. And why were there lights on it,
and decorations? The Afghan refugee
had no idea what Christmas, Christ-
mas trees, or pretty much anything
in this cold country were. When he
A Season Of Sweetness And Joy
had crossed the border in August, he
spoke only Dari and Pashto (the offi-
cial languages of Afghanistan), plus
some English. “I thought I might be
somewhere in Russia,” he says. But
on the way to a refugee centre, he rec-
ognised the German flag; he’d seen it
on troops in Afghanistan. It was now
the flag of his new home.
Sayedy grew up as the son of a
fruit grower in western Afghanistan.
“I went to the village school until I
was 12,” he says. His education came
to an abrupt halt when the Taliban
blew up his school (the kids weren’t
in it at the time). Sayedy says they
didn’t like that it educated boys and
girls together. “After that, I worked in
a shop.”
One day, Taliban fighters came to
find recruits. “I have five sisters and
an older brother who is a doctor,”
he says. “They told my mother they
needed doctors, and that they need-
ed me to learn how to make bombs.”
The family decided the brothers had
to flee. The elder one headed north,
to Kazakhstan, but Sayedy, a cousin,
and five other teens aged 14 to 18 fled
Taliban enlistment by heading west,
for Europe. “We heard we could get
an education there,” he says.
Sayedy’s group travelled through
Iran and Turkey, then north to Bul-
garia, through Serbia, Hungary and
Austria, and finally into Germa-
ny. Along the way, they walked and
hitchhiked, and for several hours,
rode from Hungary to the German
rdasia.com 111
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

border with dozens of other ref-

ugees in the back of a truck that
had no light or fresh air. “Close
to the border the driver opened
the door and let us out.”
The seven teenagers were
sent to various German cities
for registration. “We all cried
when they split us up,” says
Sayedy. He was moved between
ref ugee cent res, eventually
boarding a bus for Cologne, a
city he had heard of. There, he
looked for people who would
help him learn German. He
also filled out an Aktion Neue
Nachbarn (New Neighbours
Campaign) form, which brings
refugees into contact with Ger-
mans. “A young teacher, Julia,
invited me for Christmas din-
ner at her parents’ home,” he
remembers. “I had no idea what
Christmas was.” Sayedy’s new friend
On December 26, Sayedy
arrived at the home in nearby
told him about
Mönchengladbach. “The whole Christmas traditions
family was there,” he recalls.
“Julia stayed beside me, because she holy month of fasting. Muslims join
was the only one who spoke English. friends and relatives to eat, exchange
They were all very nice people. But gifts, and donate to charity.
I wondered, Why would they grow a “Everything was strange for me,”
tree in the living room? Then I saw says Sayedy. “I tried raclette for the
that it didn’t have roots. Julia ex- first time. Everybody had a little pan
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

plained the tradition of bringing a cut
tree indoors for Christmas and deco-
rating it. She told me that Christmas
is similar to our Sugar Feast.” The fes-
tival marks the end of Ramadan, the
and they explained what to do with
the food and the cheese. And then we
had stuffed goose and red cabbage,
which I had never had before. I loved
it all.”

112 december 2022

 A Season Of Sweetness And Joy

From then on Sayedy gradual- Sayedy also volunteers as an in-

ly learned German and the peo-
ple’s ways. Sometimes he has been
shocked, like the time he was intro-
duced to the female director of a ref-
ugee organisation – and she held his
arm. “I stiffened completely,” he says.
“In Afghanistan, you don’t even look
an unknown woman in the eyes.” He
called his brother in Kazakhstan to
tell him what happened. “My broth-
er explained that this didn’t mean
anything, that this was normal in
Germany.”
Now, Sayedy is a legal resident of
Germany and works as a sous-chef
in a Cologne restaurant specialising
in southern German dishes like white
sausage and schnitzel. “I’m the chef
when the chef is not there,” he says
with pride in his voice. He learned to
cook through an organisation called
Über den Tellerrand (Outside the
Box), which brings immigrants and
native Germans together through
com mu na l mea ls. “Nex t yea r I
want to go to Switzerland to learn
more, and one day I hope to be good
enough to work in a restaurant with a
Michelin star.”
terpreter. “When I first arrived, Ger-
man volunteers helped me learn the
language. Now I can give something
back. I speak Dari and Pashtun, and I
understand Farsi and Urdu, so I help
new refugees from Afghanistan, Pa-
kistan and Iran.”
And, he loves Christmas. Every
year he invites his Afghan friends,
including those he arrived with, and
his ‘German family’ – close friends
he has made since he arrived in
Germany. He puts a Christmas tree
in his flat and cooks stuffed goose
with red cabbage for everyone, up
to 30 people.
“Last year I could receive only six
guests at a time, because of corona-
virus restrictions, so I cooked sev-
eral meals.” He’s hoping to host a
bigger group again this year.
Sayedy understands the Christian
significance of Christmas.
“Back in my home village, my un-
cle always told me that there are
hundreds of religions in the world,
and since nobody knows which is
the right one, you just have to make
sure that you are a good person.”

Legendairy Flavours
Londoners basking in this year’s hot summer were treated to a
pop-up store offering ice-cream made with traditional British
favourites. Flavours included baked beans, Heinz Tomato Ketchup,
Quaker Rolled Oats and HP Sauce.
THE ICE-CREAM PROJECT

rdasia.com 113
 RD RECOMMENDS
PHOTO: COURTESY 20TH CENTURY S TUDIOS. © 2022 20TH CENTURY S TUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Avatar: The Way Of The Water CGI Sci-fi
J
ames Cameron’s 2009 Avatar is
the highest-grossing film of all
time, so it’s surprising it’s taken
13 years for the sequel. Set more than
a decade after the events of the first
movie, Avatar: The Way Of The Water
returns to see Jake and Neytiri with
a family. In the previous film, Jake
(Sam Worthington), a former human,
befriends the Na’vi after becoming
a part of the Avatar Programme. He
eventually takes their side in their
conflict with the humans and leads
COMPILED BY DIANE GODLEY
Movies
them to victory, meanwhile falling in
love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and
leaving his human body to become
one of the Na’vi.
In this incarnation, the humans
return to wreak havoc on the planet of
Pandora, and Jake leads the Na’vi army
into battle to protect it. The live action
scenes were filmed in New Zealand,
which were then overlayed with CGI
(computer generated imagery) to
transform the characters and seascape
into an amazing fantasy world.
rdasia.com 115
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

The Lost King Drama Comedy

B
ased on true events, this is the story of one woman’s search for King

PHOTOS: COURTESY (THE LOS T KING) TR ANSMISSION FILMS; (BONES AND ALL) WARNER BROS. PICTURES.
Richard III’s remains, which had been lost for over 500 years. Amateur
historian Philippa Langley (Sally Hawkins), whose unrelenting
research is met with incomprehension by her friends and family, and
scepticism and bemusement by experts and academics, refuses to be
ignored. She takes on the country’s most eminent historians, forcing them
to think again about one of England’s most controversial kings. And in
2012, her search leads unceremoniously to a car park in Leicester.

Bones And All Romantic Horror

B
ased on the 2015 book of the same
name, this coming-of-age movie
is both tender and haunting.
Abandoned by her mother, Maren
(Taylor Russell), a young woman on
the margins of society, sets off on a
journey of self-discovery, when she
meets Lee (Timothée Chalamet), a
disenfranchised drifter. Together they
embark on a road trip through the
back country of the US. But Maren
has terrible urges she can’t control,
and a trail of pain and tragedy follows
her like a ghost. With Lee’s help, she
desperately tries to take control.

116 december 2022

 RD Recommends

Podcasts
Double Deception
The wife of a wealthy dentist is dead. Then
suspicions start to surface that he may have had
something to do with it – especially as it bears eerie
similarities to the death of his former girlfriend
some 14 years earlier. This is a compelling account
of the crimes and their investigation.

Science Friday
Dubbed brain fun for curious people, this podcast
looks at new frontiers in science, medicine and
technology from microbes to outer space. Recent
topics have covered COVID-19’s lingering toll on the
heart, new insights into the genes of jellyfish and why
NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid.

Story Pirates
A podcast for kids, Story Pirates takes tales written
by children and turns them into sketch comedy and
catchy songs. It’s most appropriate for ages five to
12 and is zany, imaginative and lots of fun. It might
even inspire your own kids to start writing sketches
or stories, too.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SCI FRI; S TORY PIR ATES; BBC SOUNDS

Adventures Of A Young Naturalist

By David Attenborough
Allow the soothing tones of David
Attenborough to take you on his world
trip in 1954 searching for rare and
elusive animals. Some of his observations
might be outdated now, but his respect for
the natural world is not. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds

HOW TO GET PODCASTS To listen on the web: In a search engine, look up

‘Story Pirates’, for example, and click on the play button. To download: Download an
app such as Podcatchers or iTunes on your phone or tablet and simply search by title.
TO LISTEN TO RD TALKS GO TO
www.rdasia/podcasts and click on the play button.

rdasia.com 117
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

T
he holidays are coming
and chaos is upon us. You
may be navigating crowd-

THE
ed car parks in the heat,
shuff ling from one holi-
GENIUS day party to the next, not to mention

SECTION
trying to avoid recently arrived rel-
atives. Amid this chaos, you might
Sharpen Your experience time a bit differently.
Mind You might forget what day it is.
New Year’s Eve might sneak up on
you when Christmas felt like it was
just yesterday. And before you know
it, the holidays are over, the nuts and
chocolates are gone, and the rela-
tives have packed up and left.
That’s not the only way your
sense of time may be a bit distort-
ed over summer.
While sitting around and re-

WHAT
flecting on past holiday seasons,
you might find last Christmas feels
just like yesterday. In fact, it might
DAY feel more recent than something that
happened a few months ago.
IS IT While it might seem like there’s
a temporal vortex every December,
AGAIN? these distortions make sense when
you understand how the mind per-
ceives time.

HOW DOES THE MIND

PERCEIVE TIME?
The mind can’t perceive time di-
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

BY Adam Osth rectly. We don’t have watches, hour-

F R O M T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N glasses or calendars in our heads.
Fortunately, the mind is quite good at
approximating things it can’t meas-
ure directly.

118 december 2022


Our vision does this regularly. We
can’t measure depth with our eyes,
but we can approximate how far away
objects are using various cues in our
environment. Objects further away
are smaller in our visual fields, less
textured, and move less than objects
closer to us. While this isn’t perfect, it
serves us well enough for us to navi-
gate our environments.
Our minds do something similar
with time. We use cues from both
our environment and our memory to
indicate how much time has passed.
T he r e a r e of t e n a
number of cues in our
THE HOLIDAY
PERIOD MIGHT
environments that sig-
nal what day it is. If you
work nine to five, work- FEEL LIKE ONE
ing or commuting only LONG WEEKEND
happens on weekdays;
going out for brunch or EVEN THOUGH
playing tennis during YOU KNOW
the daytime only occurs THAT’S NOT
on weekends. Our minds
combine each of these
THE CASE
cues to give us a sense of
what day it is.
Many of these cues are disrupted
when we go on holidays. We’re no
longer working, which means the
events that normally signal to our
minds it’s a weekday are gone.
Several of the things we do on hol-
idays, such as going to parties and
having big dinners with our rela-
tives, are things we usually only do
on weekends, but can occur any day
of the week on holidays.
The Genius Section
This disrupts our mind’s reference
points for what day it is. This is why
the holiday period might feel like one
long weekend even though you know
that’s not the case.
WHERE DO
MEMORIES FIT IN?
There are many cases where we lack
external cues to give us a sense of
how much time has elapsed. Fortu-
nately, we can use our memory to
fill in the gaps.
You don’t need a memory scien-
tist to tell you that more
recent memories tend to
be more v iv id and de-
tailed than older mem-
ories. So, the vividness
of a memory is another
cue we use to figure out
how long ago an event
occurred.
I might see somebody
who looks familiar but I
can’t recall their name or
how I met them. It’s prob-
ably safe for me to say I didn’t meet
them very recently.
Usi ng memor y to gauge t i me
would work consistently if memories
always got worse as time progresses.
However, there are circumstances
where memory for an event can im-
prove with time. A great deal of ex-
perimental research has found mem-
ories for certain events improve when
we return to the conditions in which
the memories were formed.
rdasia.com 119
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

T h i s i s be c au s e w e you may have received or

form memories by link-
ing various aspects of an
event – the location, the
people at the event, the
music we were hearing
– together in our minds.
When we attempt to re-
member something, we
use various aspects of
the event to retrieve the
others, much like using a
Google search.
REMEMBERING PAST
HOLIDAYS
In the holiday season, we often re-
turn to the circumstances where
previous holiday memories were
formed. We’re often surrounded
by t he sa me people, eat ing t he
same food, and hearing the same
holiday songs.
This gives our minds addition-
al cues to retrieve memories from
past holiday seasons, such as gifts
arguments that happened
over the dinner table.
So, you might find your-
self remember ing a lot
more memories from past
holidays in greater detail
and v iv idness t han be-
fore. Because t he mind
uses vividness as a basis
for time perception, this
might have the effect of the
last festive season feeling like it was
just last week, instead of a year ago.
If your sense of time goes a bit
hay wire over the holidays, don’t
worry. When you return to the struc-
ture of your daily life, your sense of
time and memories will go back to
normal.
Adam Osth is a senior lecturer
in psychology at the
University of Melbourne.
REPUBLISHED UNDER A CREATIVE
COMMONS LICENCE.

Once Upon A Time, Around The World

“Once upon a time ...” These familiar words signal to readers
and listeners of all ages to settle in – it’s story time. In English,
versions of the phrase can be found as early as 1380, and
since then it has appeared everywhere from Charles Dickens’s
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

A Christmas Carol to the title of a recent hit TV show. Other

languages have their own intros. In West Africa, a tale might
begin: “A story, a story. Let it go, let it come.” In Arabic, the
formula goes: “There was or there was not ...” And in Chile, you
get this reminder: “Listen to tell it, and tell it to teach it.” RD

120 december 2022

R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PUZZLES
Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind
stretchers, then check your answers on page 126.
       
Crossword
 
Test your general
knowledge.
 

   


DOWN
 
1 Long and thin (7)
  
2 Hawaiian island (4)
  
3 Excision (8)
4 Prosperous (10)
   
5 Skinny (4)

CROSSWORD: CROSSWORDSITE.COM. SUDOKU: SUDOKUPUZZLER.COM.

6 Maintenance (6)
 
7 Short nap (5,5)
8 Rosy (7)
14 Path of a projectile (10)
ACROSS
19 Large amount of 15 Replace (10)
9 Highland (7) money (4)
10 Burst violently (7) 19 Monasticism (8)
21 Purchases (4)
11 Tennis tie (5) 20 Serviceman or
23 Follows orders (5) servicewoman (7)
12 Clogged (9) 25 Republic containing the 22 Tack maker (7)
13 Keeps (7) northernmost point in
Africa (7) 24 Move up or down
16 Medieval castle and through computer
fortress in Wales, UK (5) 26 Discouragement (9) text (6)
17 Butt (4) 28 Intended (5) 27 Catch sight of (4)
18 Mountain lake or 30 Winter hat attachment (7) 29 Flat-bottomed
pond (4) 31 Thrash (7) river boat (4)

122 december 2022

 BRAIN POWER
brought to you by
Puzzle
Answers
PAGES 126

5 9 2
3 2 4
1 7 9 3
8 1 4 5
4 9 7 6
3 6 2 1
7 2 3 1
5 1 6
1 7 4
Sudoku
HOW TO PLAY: To win, you have to put a number
from 1 to 9 in each outlined section so that:
• Every horizontal row and vertical column
contains all nine numerals (1-9) without repeating
any of them;
• Each of the outlined sections has all nine
numerals, none repeated.

IF YOU SOLVE IT WITHIN:

15 minutes, you’re a true expert
30 minutes, you’re no slouch
60 minutes or more, maybe numbers aren’t your thing

"Write, Erase, Rewrite"

R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Puzzle
FAMILY FUN Answers
PAGE 126

Spot The Difference

There are ten differences. Can you find them?

Odd One Out

One of these lizards
ILLUS TR ATIONS: VECTEEZ Y.COM

has different
markings from the
rest. Can you tell
which one?


124 december 2022
 The Genius Section

TRIVIA
Test Your General Knowledge

1. Music experts and computer 8. Match, Team and Twilight are

scientists finally completed races in what sport? 2 points
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 10 with 9. After leading roughly 80,000 men
the help of what? 1 point for nine years, a woman named
2. The Exorcist (1973) was the first Ching Shih (also known as Zheng Yi
horror film to be nominated for Sao) retired from what occupation
Best Picture at the Oscars. But in 1810? 2 points
which was the first to win? 1 point 10. The Greek anthem is based on
3. What is the only land mammal which 158-verse poem by Dionysios
native to New Zealand? 2 points Solomos? 2 points
4. Riddle: what kind of measuring 11. With English, Tok Pisin and
device might make use of sand, Hiri Motu as official languages,
shadows, candles and hands? what Oceanic country is the most
1 point linguistically diverse in the world?
5. In Mayan culture, it was 1 point
believed to have special 12. What two countries
powers; today, many people are smaller than New York’s
enjoy it roasted. What is it? Central Park, which has an area
1 point of 340 hectares? 1 point
6. Musicians Sheryl Crow, 13. What does the imaginary
Sting and Gene Simmons Wallace Line, in the
all had what job before Indonesian archipelago,
becoming famous? separate? 2 points
1 point 14. Which classic
7. A nephrologist is 15. Which famous book by J. M. Barrie
specialised in which magician, who died in opens with the line “All
organ of the body? October 1926, was born children, except one
1 point Erik Weisz? 1 point grew up”? 1 point
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

16-20 Gold medal 11-15 Silver medal 6-10 Bronze medal 0-5 Wooden spoon
12. Vatican City and Monaco. 13. Asian and Australasian fauna. 14. Peter Pan. 15. Harry Houdini.
6. Teacher. 7. Kidney. 8. Sailing. 9. Piracy. 10. ‘Hymn to Liberty’. 11. Papua New Guinea.
ANSWERS: 1. Artificial intelligence. 2. The Silence of the Lambs. 3. The bat. 4. A clock. 5. Turkey.

rdasia.com 125
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PUZZLE ANSWERS
From Page 122

Sudoku Spot The Difference

4 8 5 7 9 3 2 6 1
3 9 6 5 2 1 8 7 4
2 1 7 8 4 6 9 3 5
7 6 8 1 3 4 5 9 2

CROSSWORD: CROSSWORDSITE.COM; SUDOKU: SUDOKUPUZZLER.COM ; ILLUS TR ATIONS: VECTEEZ Y.COM

1 2 4 9 5 7 6 8 3
9 5 3 6 8 2 1 4 7
8 7 2 4 6 5 3 1 9
5 4 9 3 1 8 7 2 6
6 3 1 2 7 9 4 5 8

Crossword

Odd One Out

Answer: D

126 december 2022

 The Genius Section

WORD POWER
A Piece Of Cake
We’ve whipped up a batch of tasty terms
related to baking. Will you take the cake, or eat
humble pie? Once you’ve savoured this quiz,
turn the page for the answers.

BY Sarah Chassé

1. meringue – A: lemon custard. 9. compote – A: fruit cooked in

B: whipped topping. C: spicy syrup. B: vanilla buttercream.
eggnog. C: biscuit crumb base.

2. sieve – A: halve. B: mix. C: sift. 10. pâtissier – A: piping bag.

3. bain-marie – A: water bath.
B: wedding cake. C: steamed bun.
4. crêpe – A: rolled cookie.
B: thin pancake. C: Danish pastry.
5. unleavened – A: made without
yeast. B: preservative-free.
C: unsweetened.
6. cardamom – A: almond paste.
B: flower garnish. C: gingery spice.
B: pastry chef. C: baking
competition.
11. dredge – A: coat by sprinkling.
B: flavour with tea. C: whisk by
hand.
12. zest – A: cranberry relish.
B: cracked peppercorn. C: citrus
peel.
13. tandoor – A: savoury dumpling.
B: clay oven. C: golden fig.

7. infuse – A: light on fire. 14. minced – A: kneaded.

B: steep in liquid. C: heat gradually. B: drizzled. C: chopped.

8. profiterole – A: candied pecan. 15. ganache – A: soggy crust.

B: plum pudding. C: mini cream B: Italian cherry liqueur.
puff. C: chocolate icing.

rdasia.com 127
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Answers
1. meringue – (B) whipped topping.
A classic meringue has just two
ingredients: egg whites and sugar.
2. sieve – (C) sift. “Don’t forget
to sieve the flour – we don’t want
lumpy batter,” Dad said.
3. bain-marie – (A) water bath.
To avoid a cracked cheesecake,
try baking it in a bain-marie.
4. crêpe – (B) thin pancake.
Use a spatula to slide carefully
under the crêpe and flip it over,
cooking the other side.
5. unleavened – (A) made without
yeast. Unleavened bread is flat and
comes in many varieties, including
chapati, matzo and tortillas.
6. cardamom – (C) gingery spice.
For this loaf cake recipe, we’ll
need cardamom and shredded
coconut.
7. infuse – (B) steep in liquid.
To make rolled oat cookies fancy,
add raisins infused with rum.
8. profiterole – (C) mini cream
puff. My grandmother always
made beautifully decorated
bonbons and profiteroles.
128 december 2022
9. compote – (A) fruit cooked
in syrup. Would you like some
raspberry compote on top of your
ice cream?
10. pâtissier – (B) pastry chef. After
winning a TV baking competition,
Omar became a famous pâtissier
and cookbook author.
11. dredge – (A) coat by sprinkling.
Greg dredged the fish fillets with
bread crumbs before popping
them into the oven.
12. zest – (C) citrus peel.
I add orange zest to my muffin
mix for extra zip.
13. tandoor – (B) clay oven.
Anika cooks her Christmas goose
in her tandoor.
14. minced – (C) chopped.
Should we add some minced
walnuts to this scone recipe?
15. ganache – (C) chocolate
frosting. Pour ganache over the
cooled cake, making sure to
spread it evenly.
VOCABULARY RATINGS
5–9: Fair
10–12: Good
13–15: Word Power Wizard
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC ASIA PTE LTD 307 Alexandra Road Mitsubishi Electric Building Singapore 159943 Tel : (65)6470 2600
www.MitsubishiElectric.com.sg