S I N C E 1922

ASIA

RD
TALKORSIES
OUR ST CASTS
AS POD

B O N US R E A D

My Mother
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Became A
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 18 44
nature
Plantus Stinkus
Beautiful blooms they
may be, but names
like corpse flower and
voodoo lily should
serve as a warning.
HELEN FOSTER

52
13 things
About The Magical
CONTENTS World Of Disney
The stories and
characters that
Features have captured our
imaginations for more
18 34 than 100 years.
profile inspiration COURTNEY SHEA
Yasmeen Lari’s Find Your New
Favourite Hobby
Change Of Heart
Pakistan’s first There are myriad 56
leisure and health health
female architect once Be Nice To Your Feet
opportunities to
HERITAGE FOUNDATION OF PAKIS TAN. ILLUS TR ATION: HEIDI BERTON

designed modern steel Put your feet up. Now

PHOTOS: (COVER) GE T T Y IMAGES; (YA SMEEN L ARI) COURTESY OF

and glass towers. Now explore if you keep

an open mind. read our advice on
her building material how to care for these
is bamboo and mud. ANGELA HAUPT
FROM TIME critical body parts.
LISA MURPHY
SYDNEY LONEY

26 64
inspiration photo feature
75 Easy Ways In Abundance
To Improve Your Life It’s time to start
No-effort tips to harvesting the crops.
enhance every hour DORIS KOCHANEK
from morning till
night.
READER’S DIGEST
EDITORS
26 ON THE COVER
A SCAMMER’S TARGET:
MY MOTHER – PAGE 94

rdasia.com 1
 94
bonus read
70 A Scammer’s Target:
health
My Mother
How I Tried To Stop
The callers offered to
Snoring
help solve a problem.
My sleepless partner
Then they brazenly
pleaded for solutions to
stole thousands from
my noisy nights.
JORDAN FOISY FROM THE
my mother.
BECCA ANDREWS FROM
WALRUS
WIRED

78
humour Departments
The Triumph the digest
Of The Book 14 Health
The printed book has 17 News From
a look, a feel, a smell – The World Of HAVE YOU
Medicine VISITED THE
and best of all, carrying
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READER’S
them build muscles.
RICHARD GLOVER
DIGEST
4 Letters
5 Editor’s Note
FACEBOOK
PAGE LATELY?
80 8 My Story
12 Smart Animals
inspiration Our Facebook
40 See The World
Your Job Is What? Differently feed offers
Considering a career 55 Quotable Quotes stories, videos,
change? Unusual
humour advice, humour,
occupations that you
may never have known 32 Life’s Like That quotable
even existed. 50 Laughter, The quotes,
SUSANNAH HICKLING
Best Medicine cartoons, quirky
88 All In A Day’s photographs
Work
and more.
90 the genius section
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

quiz 106 Puzzles

Taste 109 Trivia
How well do you know 110 Puzzle Answers FOLLOW US
the foods of the world? 111 Word Power @ReadersDigestAsia
DORIS KOCHANEK

2 april/may 2024
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

LETTERS
Reader’s Comments And Opinions
s

animals like Freddie the lion can

ic

SEPTEMBER 1977
s
as
Cl

DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

live their lives under proper care.
LOCKED But one can only imagine how
In The dangerous it must be for humans to
Lion’s Jaws
live in such places.
As the enormous lion bit down hard,
Tony Fitzjohn felt sure he was about to die.
Then another lion entered the fray

Tony survived the attack with

BY Arnold Sapiro

T the help of not only his

he 18-month-old lion cub, already bigger
than a Great Dane, leapt out of the thick
underbrush, put his furry front paws up
on Tony Fitzjohn’s broad shoulders and
rubbed heads joyously with his friend. It was Thurs-

fellow human beings,

day, June 12, 1975, and in lion fashion Freddie was
welcoming Tony back to Kora Camp after a two-day
supply trip.

40 december 2023/january 2024

but also Freddie who he

raised from a cub.
Dangers In The Wild Had Freddie not
Sincere and committed intervened, readers
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would probably
people like Tony Fitzjohn in
‘Locked In The Lion’s Jaws’ not have had this
(Dec 23/Jan 24) give their incredible story
all to help ensure wild to read. VASU DEVAN

Gardening Guru growing a 56cm zucchini that won

I read ‘Language Of Gardening’ (My first place at our local agricultural
Story, Oct/Nov 23) with keen interest. show. I am fortunate I can inspire
I work in education and discovered another generation of avid gardeners.
my green thumb after volunteering to NICOLE HEXT
re-establish a large vegetable garden
at my workplace. Running the garden Good Work
during breaks has also allowed me I have been a subscriber for many
to further connect with students. years now. ‘Lives In The Balance’
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

The garden brings so much joy, like (Bonus Read, Feb/Mar 24) left me ➤

Let us know if you are moved – or provoked – by any item in the magazine,
share your thoughts. See page 7 for how to join the discussion.

4 april/may 2024
 EDITOR’S NOTE LUXURY JEWELLERY
PRIZES TO WIN!
Targeted By Scammers
WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT
SCAMMERS, about their ever-
increasing cunning ways to
hook victims and ultimately
deceive with often devastating
results. Scammers make a living
by winning over our trust. This
month’s Bonus Read, ‘A Scammer’s
Target: My Mother’ (page 94), is
a powerful account of how an TOTAL
elderly woman’s life was turned VALUE OF
PRIZES OVER
upside-down by an unscrupulous
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embarrassment and her eventual
recovery. It’s a clear reminder
of how vulnerable we all are to
scammers.
Also in this issue, we share
the work of celebrated Pakistani
architect Yasmeen Lari, who
turned her skills to building better
homes for natural disaster-prone
regions of her home country (page
18), explore the benefits of exercise
(page 14) and taking up a hobby
(page 34). All these great stories
and more. SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR
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Editor-in-Chief Lucky draws to include entries from new,
renewal or gift subscriptions.
Multiple draw entries for multiple years subscriptions.
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

➤ crying at the end. I’ve never enjoyed

one issue so much. Thank you. Keep
up the good work. JOAN ESCHBACH

Gift To Elephants
I was reading with great interest
‘Her Gift To The Elephants’ (Bonus
Read, Dec 23/Jan 24) when I noted
an error – that singer/actor Cher,
had died. The author wrote that an Happy Heels
elephant named Kaavan, had been We asked you to think up a funny
chained in a Pakistani zoo and caption for this photo.
was visited by the ‘late’ Cher in a I always get a kick out of birthdays.
sanctuary founded by Lek Chailert BRIAN THOMPSON

and that she had written a song They told me to have a balanced
about this elephant’s suffering. diet.
JOHN MORGAN
L. LUCAS
Cake is my sole mate.
FIONA HIGGINS
Editor’s Note: We apologise for any Let’s shoe in your birthday!
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concern Newspapers
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by this error. The CHAN JIN MING

singer is, in fact, alive and well at the Upside-down cake anyone?
TERRI PALMA
time of going to press.
Juggling’s a piece of cake.
CLAIRE JOLLIFFE

WIN A PILOT CAPLESS Congratulations to this month’s

FOUNTAIN PEN winner, Brian Thompson.

The best letter each month

will win a Pilot Capless
Fountain Pen, valued at over
$200. The Capless is the
perfect combination of luxury
and ingenious technology,
WIN!
featuring a one-of-a-kind
retractable fountain pen nib,
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

durable metal body, beautiful CAPTION CONTEST

rhodium accents and a 14K
Come up with the funniest caption
gold nib. This month’s winner is for the above photo and you could win
Nicole Hext. $100. To enter, email
[email protected]
or see details on page 7.

6 april/may 2024
 ASIA

CONTRIBUTE
Vol. 125
No. 730 RE ADERSDIGESTASIA
April/May 2024

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Louise Waterson Anecdotes And Jokes

Chief Subeditor Melanie Egan $50–$100
Senior Editor Diane Godley Send in your real-life laugh for
Senior Art Designer Adele Burley Life’s Like That or All In A Day’s Work.
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DIGITAL Head of Digital Content Greg Barton
Got a joke? Send it in for Laughter
Is The Best Medicine!
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Smart Animals
Group Advertising Director, Asia Pacific
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Up to $100
Email: [email protected] Share antics of unique pets
Advertising Sales, Malaysia
or wildlife in up to 300 words.
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rdasia.com 7
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

MY STORY

An
Arrangement
Made In Heaven
The idea of an arranged marriage attracted
disbelief in my adopted country

BY Dr Nargis Ali

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H
aving spent a good two thirds which loosely translates to a CV
of my life in New Zealand as a consisting of an eclectic array of
first-generation, Indian-born information, including qualifications
immigrant, I bought wholeheartedly and a subjective opinion about
into the idea of romantic love, where their physical attributes, such as
one ‘fell’ into an effortless love, beauty, complexion and height
courtship and then relationship with (but not weight!). It gives details
a de facto component preceding about the extended family, names
marriage. However, my family roots of parents, uncles, aunties and their
are middle-class Indian-Muslim, occupations, qualifications and
and such a concept is considered the even the properties they may own.
exact opposite of the order in which This then forms the basis of the first
a relationship should progress. screening, by which a family selects
An arranged marriage works the most suitable-seeming family
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

like this: two families with a to initiate a relationship with. All

marriageable son or daughter send this is done without the respective
out ‘feelers’ in the wider community families meeting each other in order
through their social networks. This to avoid a ‘loss of face’ in case the
is usually through an ism navesi, relationship does not materialise.

8 april/may 2024
 My Story

Once the screening is done, the photos of young men and their ism
elders meet each other and ‘size up’ navesis. Each one was accompanied
the other party and judge whether by a letter or a phone call from
a marriage would be compatible my relatives seeking feedback. At
religiously and socially. The bride- first, I found the whole process
and groom-to-be are then introduced humorous, but puzzling. How could
to each other and everything going I guess these men’s virtues, nature
well, are engaged to each other and or suitability just from a photo! My
married after many meetings and friends and I used to discuss each
exchanging of gifts. photo’s merits and demerits before
When I turned 20, dismissing each
my grandmother who HOW COULD proposal based on
lives in India, took on I GUESS THESE both real and imagined
the responsibility of incompatibilities. I
finding me a husband
MEN’S didn’t think the issue
with great enthusiasm. SUITABILITY would come to any
Her decision was a big JUST FROM A conclusion, given
turning point in my life. New Zealand being so
Until then my life in
PHOTO! far away from India,
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therefore the possibility
around work in a government of prospective suitors being sent
agency and study at university. My to meet me – an unchaperoned
New Zealand friends were Indian, female living by herself in Auckland
European, Maori and Pacific (my parents were, by then, living in
Islander. Most of my girlfriends and I Australia) – was remote.
were single and talked openly about When I was 24, I was sent a photo
relationships and finding the ‘right of a man aged 27 who had completed
man’. We lived vicariously through a Bachelor’s degree in computer
friends who were in relationships, programming, ran a computer
offering them advice, believing training institute, measured
ourselves to be quite rational and 1.75 metres and, most importantly,
logical and unlikely to find ourselves was the son of a distant cousin of my
in relationships that wouldn’t work. grandmother. The photo showed an
As time went on, I started receiving attractive, athletic-looking man with
an intense expression. For the first
Nargis Ali completed her doctorate in health time I couldn’t point out any reason
science in Auckland – this story was written
as part of her doctoral thesis. She now lives why I would not find him suitable,
in Queensland with her husband and three so I accepted a phone call from him.
children. One call led to another and then

rdasia.com 9
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

to an online chat and, within six aunts, cousins, cooks, tailors and
months I heard that our wedding jewellers were all engaged in various
had been fixed in India. While I tasks for the upcoming wedding.
should have seen this coming, the The next day I met my husband-
news shocked me. Subconsciously, I to-be. It was a strange meeting. An
was still expecting my New Zealand assortment of his relatives were
version of romance. present and I felt uncomfortable and
My family started putting pressure awkward, like I was on display. The
on me. If I didn’t go through women asked probing questions, like
with the wedding, I would bring ‘Will you work after getting married?
dishonour to his family and the Do you cook? How do you like living
whole community would be insulted by yourself? What do you do in your
after they had ‘given their word’. The spare time?’ So, I didn’t get a good
other issue they raised was, since I look at my husband or meet him
didn’t have a problem with this man, alone until after we were married.
why was I opposed to marrying him? The wedding itself was a long and
By then I could understand both convoluted process of ceremonies
the Muslim Indian and the secular that included giving and receiving
New Zealand versions of marriage gifts and a marriage contract –
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similar to a prenuptial agreement.
love and commitment to be the All my mental planning had led
result of marriage and for the latter me up to the wedding day, but not
the inverse was true. Both concepts beyond. Fortunately, I needn’t have
were right in their own way and both worried because the man I married
had strengths and weaknesses. was articulate, pleasant, well-read,
My dilemma was twofold: if I and his ideas about a man and
agreed to marry this man I was woman’s role matched my own.
buying into a lifetime commitment Despite my misgivings and my
without so much as meeting him in friends’ certainty that it wouldn’t
person, trusting that it would work work out, my husband and I have
out, despite the big culture gap and been happily married for 22 years
the probable differences in our role and have had three children together.
expectations. But if I refused to marry I now believe that some arrange-
him, I would be insulting a family ments are made in heaven!
who had my best interest at heart.
I travelled to India ten days Do you have a tale to tell? We’ll pay
before my wedding and found my cash for any original and unpublished
grandparents’ sprawling home full story we print. See page 7 for details
of wedding preparations – uncles, on how to contribute.

10 april/may 2024
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

SMART ANIMALS
Are well worth our time and trouble

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A Right Galah were all standing under a clear sky

BEVERLEY HARRIS holding hands and concentrating
Many years ago, a group of us ladies intently when a voice behind us
would hold a meditation night at asked, “What are you doing?”
a friend’s home where we would We tried not to laugh, but when
enjoy interesting conversation and, Cocky asked again, “What are you
in a light-hearted way, send love doing?”, we lost all control of our
and healing out to the universe. The composure. The Pedantic One
homeowner (who we referred to as swore at the bird, telling him he’d
‘the Pedantic One’) owned a pet pink spoilt everything. By then we were
and grey galah named Cocky. When laughing heartily. Unfortunately,
ILLUS TR ATIONS: GE T T Y IMAGES

we arrived at the house, we would our hysterics only added to her

stop and chat to the bird, as he liked irritation.
holding a conversation with us.
On evenings when the planets You could earn cash by telling us
aligned, the Pedantic One would about the antics of unique pets or
organise for us to do something wildlife. Turn to page 7 for details
special. On one such evening, we on how to contribute.

12 april/may 2024
 Smart Animals

Priceless Pooch as I realised my husband was

FRANCES RANKIN an hour away at work and I was
It was a hot summer day during two kilometres from the nearest
the millennium drought and the phone.
grass on the farm crunched like Shaken, I slowly regained my
macaroni under my feet. By the composure and returned to the
time I had seen my husband go ute. I’d driven it into the paddock
off to work, my children to school before I realised that the cattle
and finished my chores, it was had already been rounded up
midday before I managed to get by Coco and were ready to come
out to the far paddock to see the through the gate. Little Coco
cows. made it all look so easy.
After I loaded the ute with hay I dished out the hay and checked
to coax the herd through a gate the cows over. All were present
into another paddock, I hopped and accounted for. I called Coco
into the driver’s seat only to back into the ute and as we drove
find Coco, my little red-brown slowly home, she put her head
kelpie-cross, lying asleep on the in my lap and let out a contented
passenger seat. She opened one sigh. I couldn’t help but smile.
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‘worthless’ dog, free to a good
driver’s door open. home, had just proved she was
As I walked across to open the priceless.
paddock gate, I didn’t see what
was lurking in the shadows.
But just as I unlatched the
gate, I saw a blur of rust-red
and brown fur race past
me and leap onto a brown
snake. Seconds later, I
looked down to see a long,
thin brown body, now
headless, wriggling violently
around my feet.
The Eastern Brown snake
is one of the most venomous
snakes on Earth and you do
not want to get bitten – but
I’d come dangerously close.
My heart was pounding

rdasia.com 13
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

HEALTH

A Mental
Workout
Exercise releases
‘hope molecules’ into
the bloodstream

BY Karen Robock

I
’ve jogged through postpartum
depression, relied on Pilates to
help me stretch during stressful
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and I often go for a walk
after a bad day. So it’s no surprise to
me that there’s a link between exercise
and mental health. But scientists have
now made it official: research has
found a direct connection between
movement and mood.
Each time you work up a sweat,
your body releases feel-good
neurotransmitters, or ‘happy
hormones’, including endorphins,
dopamine and endocannabinoids,
the latter being responsible for the so-
ILLUS TR ATIONS: K ATE TR AYNOR

called runner’s high. Now researchers

are also pointing to myokines –
dubbed ‘hope molecules’– as an
important contributor to the mental
health benefits of exercise.
When our muscles contract, chains
of amino acids called myokines are

14 april/may 2024
 Health

released into the bloodstream;

they help your muscles and
organs communicate. Researchers
are looking into the effect of
myokines on the brain. They think
this communication increases
resilience to stress, reduces
symptoms of anxiety and have a
direct effect on depression. A 2021
review in Neuropharmacology
showed evidence that myokines
boost brain function, such as 12 weeks of exercising for 30 to 60
improving memory and mood. minutes a day.
There’s also a growing body of “While exercise is not a substitute
research proving that exercise helps for professional mental health
build key connections between treatment, physical activity can
the networks within the brain, complement and enhance the effects
too, improving overall cognitive of the treatment,” says lead researcher
performance. Studies have shown Ben Singh, a research fellow at the
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that physical activity stimulates https://t.me/PaperMagzine
University of South Australia. He says
creativity, sharpens judgement skills regular exercise in a group setting
and improves mental energy. can boost self-esteem and decrease
It can also help slow age-related feelings of isolation and loneliness.
cognitive decline, possibly even Whether you’re swimming, walking
stalling the onset of Alzheimer’s or doing yoga, getting sweaty is good
disease. A new study published in for your body and mind. But how
the Journal for Alzheimer’s Disease much activity is enough to maintain
Reports found that walking regularly brain health? Experts suggest that
(30 minutes a day four times a week) you aim for a minimum of ten to 30
was enough to measurably improve minutes, three to five days each week.
memory, even in people who have Just ten minutes of light
already been diagnosed with mild movement, like gentle laps in the
cognitive impairment. pool or walking your dog, are enough
A recent study published in the to boost your mood, and the effects
British Journal of Sports Medicine increase for every ten extra minutes
showed that treatment for depression that you move, for up to an hour.
can be much more effective when Exercising beyond 60 minutes didn’t
physical activity is added to the usual provide extra mental health benefits,
care. Participants found benefits after according to Singh’s study.

rdasia.com 15
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

such as spinach and beetroot, or

broccoli and sprouts, plus spirulina,
HEALTH a type of algae.
But is drinking your greens as
healthy as consuming them whole?
All About The short answer is no. “I consider
powdered greens to be a nutritional

Veggie supplement,” says dietitian and

author Maya Feller.

Powders THEY CAN HELP

BRIDGE THE GAP
WHEN YOU’RE NOT
ABLE TO MEET YOUR
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS
FROM FOOD OR
BEVERAGES
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“Many of these products have
Powdered greens can be a added vitamins and minerals or other
nutrients that don’t naturally occur in
dietary supplement green vegetables, so they’re similar to
a multivitamin,” she says.
BY Melissa Greer The crucial element many are

D
missing is fibre. Fibre is good for
ark green vegetables are your gut, helping to keep food
often considered the moving through the digestive
healthiest of foods because system. It’s found in whole
they’re particularly rich vegetables, but most juices and
in essential minerals like iron, powdered greens have little to none.
magnesium and calcium, as well Still, getting your daily servings of
as vitamins C, K and many of the vegetables isn’t always convenient
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

Bs. Now an array of products in a – and that’s where green powders

variety of brands promise all that may come in handy. “They can help
goodness in one scoop of powder – bridge the gap when you’re not able
just stir it into water. The powders to meet your nutritional needs by
are made of dehydrated veggies food or beverages alone,” says Feller.

16 april/may 2024
 News From The

WORLD OF MEDICINE

HEARING AIDS MAY HELP atherosclerosis tend to get it later

PEOPLE LIVE LONGER than men: between ages 64 and 68
Hearing aids can help reduce mortality (for men, it’s 52 to 56). But once a
risk, according to a study in The Lancet woman does have clogged arteries,
Healthy Longevity journal. One reason concluded a study published
is that hearing aids can help to prevent in European Heart Journal –
or slow the progression of dementia. Cardiovascular Imaging, she may
The researchers said there was nearly need stronger treatments to avoid a
a 25 per cent difference in mortality risk heart attack.
between regular hearing aid users and Women’s arteries tend to be slightly
never-users. The scientists followed smaller than men’s, and that could
1863 participants for ten years to explain why the same amount of
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plaque is a greater threat to their
Hearing loss is a common and blood flow. That’s worth considering
undertreated health condition in when a patient and her doctor are
older adults that has been associated choosing a treatment plan, along with
with cognitive decline, dementia and other factors such as age, severity
poor physical health. of the atherosclerosis and other
The scientists did not examine why cardiovascular risks such as high
there was a difference in mortality cholesterol.
risk. However, the increased longevity
may be explained by the possibility THIS BOOSTS BRAIN POWER
that those who wear hearing aids are Exercise is good for the brain. But it’s
more likely to avoid social especially beneficial when
isolation and maintain a done in pleasant
higher level of activity. outdoor surroundings.
ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES

A Canadian study that

WOMEN AND compared before and
CLOGGED ARTERIES after cognitive function
Thanks in part to found improved abilities
oestrogen’s protective in students after they took
effects, women who get 15-minute forest walks.

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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18 april/may 2024
 PROFILE

The former ‘starchitect’ who

designed gleaming towers for
Pakistan’s corporate elite now
rebuilds villages devastated by
natural disasters

YASMEEN LARI’S
Change Of Heart
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BY Lisa Murphy

A
s Yasmeen Lari looked out the f light from Karachi to Islamabad,
car window across the Siran Pakistan’s capital, followed by this
Valley in northeastern Pa- five-hour drive.
kistan, she grieved for what was no Darkness had fallen before her driv-
longer a lush vale with rolling green er pulled into a dimly lit army camp
hills, trees and mountains. It was where the military rescue operation
October 2005, and the catastroph- was based; at 1500 metres it was safer
ic earthquake that had killed some from aftershocks and rock slides than
79,000 people in Pakistan, India and lower ground. When she stepped out
Afghanistan a week earlier had re- of the car she was taken to the com-
duced the valley to mud and rubble. manding officer, who talked to her
The architect was there to help about the villages that needed imme-
lead the reconstruction of settle- diate help. The enormity of the task
ments, but she had never done dis- ahead hit her full force.
aster work before. Lari was filled Lari, who had become Pakistan’s
with anticipation after a two-hour first female architect in 1964, was

rdasia.com 19
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

renowned for designing slick towers OVER THE DECADES , Yasmeen

of glass and concrete. But here, she’d Lari has won many awards and
be drawing plans for earthquake-re- much recognition as an architect,
sistant homes using stone and timber social justice advocate, environ-
debris. Working from a rough cottage mentalist and feminist. While it
near the camp, she’d spend the next may seem like an unlikely path
four months working with volunteer for a girl who was born into a
architects and engineers from Paki- well-to-do family in 1941, she
stan and abroad. had an unconventional upbring-
She would send her draw ings ing. Her father, Zafarul Ahsan,
with the volunteers, who walked was a progressive civil service
through difficult terrain to reach officer working on development
mountain hamlets. There, they’d as- projects in Lahore and elsewhere.
sist displaced families with sorting Her mother, Nabiun Nisa, valued
debris and building new and im- education and took pride in her
proved homes, even as temperatures role as a bureaucrat’s wife who could
plunged and snow began to fall. ride a horse and entertain guests
“You can’t imagine the desolation,” with equal aplomb.
Lari recalls of those early days. Her Zafarul treated his three daugh-
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rive on the scene, were greeted with er, and Nabiun encouraged them to
unexpected hospitality, given the cir- do well in school. Lari became aware
cumstances. On one visit, villagers of politics and poverty after Partition
pulled out their best salvaged chairs in 1947, when Britain ended its rule
and table. “They had lost everything,” of India and carved off a portion to

ALL PHOTOS: COURTESY HERITAGE FOUNDATION OF PAKIS TAN

she says. “But they covered this dam- create Pakistan. Dividing the subcon-
aged table with a beautiful embroi- tinent into Hindu-majority India and
dered cloth. And then they served us Muslim-majority Pakistan resulted in
their World Food Programme food: the displacement of millions.
biscuits, tea and eggs.” Zafarul was made deputy commis-
With each passing day, Lari was sioner of Lahore, which included over-
re-engineering her identity – from seeing refugee camps and creating
‘starchitect’ to humanitarian. The residential areas. At home, he would
profession had been good to her, talk about impoverished women and
but she had become disillusioned the desperate need for housing.
with projects for corporate elites. “I understood for the first time that
And doing disaster-relief work felt there can be adversity, and that peo-
deeply right. So she made it her new ple needed help,” says Lari. “My sis-
mission. ters and I were the first post-colonial

20 april/may 2024
 Yasmeen Lari’s Change Of Heart

Left: Lari outside the women’s centre she designed in Sindh province that was built
to withstand floods. Right: One of Lari’s sustainable shelters

generation. Many women had played in England. Even Karachi, where she
important roles in the struggle for in- started working after returning to
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in 1964, was progressive.
should participate in nation-building.” Building-site contractors might test
Listening to her father talk about her mettle by mak ing her climb
the housing crisis and need for ar- wobbly ladders in her sari, but her
chitects made an impression on Lari. married status and privileged back-
On a family visit to London when she ground kept her mostly insulated
was 15, she applied to architecture from discrimination.
school at Oxford Brookes University. Lari gained inspiration by explor-
She laughs as she recalls her bold- ing the historic areas of Pakistan.
ness. “I was young, and I didn’t have In Kashmir and Sindh she admired
a portfolio, so they told me to learn to the f lood-resistant heritage build-
draw and then come back.” ings made with local materials to
After two years of daytime and withstand extreme weather. And she
evening classes, Lari was admitted loved the winding streets and beauti-
to the programme as one of only five ful terraces in Lahore and Multan. As
women in a class of more than 30. architect for a Lahore social housing
Protected by her family and her project in 1973, Lari listened to the
husband, Suhail Zaheer Lari (who local women and ensured that there
passed away in 2020), Yasmeen Lari were safe, open spaces to raise chil-
experienced little sexism or prejudice dren and chickens alike.

rdasia.com 21
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Yet soon she heard the siren call of headscarf that fluttered in the breeze,
commercial projects – with their cre- she watched as villagers showed off
ative freedom, large budgets and lux- the buildings she had designed. “Our
urious materials. From 1980 to 2000, old buildings used to leak when it
as her buildings rose across Karachi, rained, but these stay dry inside,” one
including the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Fi- villager told Lari.
nance and Trade Centre, the Pakistan The new bamboo structures are
State Oil House and the ABN AMRO covered in a mix of sand and lime
Bank, Lari’s renown grew. She held called limecrete, which holds up
senior positions in national and inter- well in Pakistan’s climate. And wom-
national architectural groups and was en can beautify their new homes by
a keynote speaker at conferences. “It painting designs on them, an aspect
was a very heady feeling,” she says. Lari loves.
Yet she found ways to stay ground- Pakistan’s location and melting
ed. Lari and her husband, a historian, glaciers place it within the top ten
created the non-profit Heritage Foun- countries most impacted by climate
dation of Pakistan to celebrate and change over the past two decades,
conserve the country’s historic archi- even though the country itself emits
tecture, art and culture. Lari helped less than one per cent of global green-
FOR
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house gases. Ironically, rebuilding
But it wasn’t enough to offset her projects funded by government and
growing discomfort with corporate non-governmental organisations
projects. In 2000, Lari retired. tend to use concrete, burnt brick,
“I realised I was just working with metal sheets and other expensive,
rich people,” she says. She could no non-local building supplies.
longer justify fashioning buildings Lari points out that the creation and
out of unsustainable materials like transport of these materials contrib-
polished granite and mirrored glass utes significantly to greenhouse gas
when corruption was rising and mil- emissions, with concrete being one of
lions had limited access to housing, the worst offenders. Furthermore, they
sanitation and water. “Perhaps with don’t perform well in severe weather.
my present work, I am atoning.” In contrast, Lari’s shelters, in-
spired by traditional designs and
IN 2013, LARI was giving a tour of a made with sustainable materials
village in the southern province of such as reed matting, bamboo, mud
Sindh that had been rebuilt after and lime that are sourced locally
monsoon floods so destructive they first, can better withstand disasters.
impacted some 20 million Pakistanis. Bamboo homes on stilts allow water
In a crisp white kameez and printed to flow through, while cross-bracing

22 april/may 2024
 Yasmeen Lari’s Change Of Heart

The Zero Carbon Cultural Centre in Makli, Pakistan’s biggest bamboo

structure, was built by Lari’s Heritage Foundation
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provides strength and flexibility dur- are involved,” says Lari, who favours
ing earthquakes. Lari’s insistence on working at the communit y level.
low-cost, zero-waste and zero-carbon “These are the people who need me.”
buildings reflects her commitment to Lari says this local, cost-effec-
the planet. tive, participatory and zero-carbon
While her passion for sustaina- approach is helping create an eco-
bility has grown over the years, her system of ‘barefoot entrepreneurs’.
faith in traditional relief funding and For example, she has created a pro-
charity models has withered. Over gramme that teaches impoverished
two decades she has learned that the people in Sindh province to construct
approach typically used by govern- buildings, and to create and sell mud
ment and non-governmental organ- bricks, bamboo panels, terracotta
isations alike doesn’t work well. Lo- tiles and other building materials.
cals are treated like helpless victims, Anyone can learn by watching DIY
and megaprojects are developed videos on Lari’s Zero Carbon Chan-
using outside labour. Also, funds are nel on YouTube. Also, workshops led
often siphoned away via administra- by local experts and artisans are held
tive fees. “I have seen too much mis- at a training centre in Pono Markaz
management when intermediaries and at the beautiful, airy Zero Carbon

rdasia.com 23
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Left: Building a Pakistan Chulah (smokeless cookstove). Right: The final result

Cultural Centre in Makli. Built by lo- women are uppermost in my mind,”

cals and Lari’s Heritage Foundation of says Lari. “They are the ones who
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Pakistan, Newspapers & bam-
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really suffer.”
boo structure in the country. T h is fem i n ist i nspi rat ion has
The town of Makli is located about fuelled many of Lari’s designs, which
100 kilometres east of Karachi. Al- now include household innovations.
most half the people in the region For instance, more than 80,000 of her
live in poverty, and many beg at the limecrete and smokeless cookstoves
nearby Makli Necropolis, a UNESCO fuelled with agricultural waste and
World Heritage Site with its nearly half called Pakistan Chulahs, have been
a million tombs and graves. A day’s built and decorated by villagers.
worth of alms might be 100 Pakistani The stoves, which won a UN World
rupees – equivalent to 50 cents and Habitat Prize in 2018, stand higher
not enough to feed a family. But when than flood levels, making them safer
locals learn to create and sell tiles, or- than smoky, open cooking fires on
ganic soap and other products at the the ground; they literally and figura-
Zero Carbon Cultural Centre, they tively lift women up.
make at least four times that much. Another one of Lari’s designs is a
Workers share their knowledge, cre- composting private eco-toilet shelter.
ating more prosperity. About ten per cent of Pakistanis lack a
Women and youth gather at the toilet or latrine and must seek privacy
centre to socialise and learn. “The outside. The eco-toilet provides better

24 april/may 2024
 Yasmeen Lari’s Change Of Heart

sanitation and hygiene, and more dig- Arts Biennale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
nity. Lari’s Holistic Villages project Also last year, she won the coveted
builds on all these advances to help Royal Institute of British Architects
villages become self-sufficient. At a (RIBA) Gold Medal. Even King Charles
cost of about US$200 per household, is a fan; one of her shelters can be
villagers can build disaster-resilient found on his Highgrove estate.
bamboo houses, Chulah stoves and Lari insists that anyone who
shared eco-toilets. They have access wants to help the impoverished and
to solar-powered lights, assistance to flood-affected in Pakistan should
produce their own food and training connect with village leaders to help
to start their own businesses. fund things like water pumps, solar
Lari says about 60,000 zero-carbon panels and school computers. “It’s no
holistic houses have been built since longer a matter of giving money and
2010. Next, she wants to scale up and cleaning your conscience – you need
rehabilitate one million households. to create connections,” says Lari. “We
need to believe in people’s capacity to
IN 2022, FLOODS struck again, dis- bring about change. I treat displaced
placing about 33 million people, people as partners, not victims. They
many of them already below the pov- know what to do.”
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age 83, Yasmeen Lari is still
dation organised artisans to supply fizzing with ideas about zero-car-
another of her innovations: prefab- bon designs, flood mitigation, skills
ricated bamboo walls for 3.5-by-3.5- building and self-sustaining villages.
metre quick-assembly shelters. When she accepted the RIBA medal,
Lari now travels regularly from her she said, the honour “has strength-
base in Karachi to Makli, to events ened my mission”.
around the globe and to the UK, Many young architects have told
where she holds a visiting professor- her that they find her work inspiring,
ship at Cambridge University’s depart- which gratifies her. “Architects can
ment of architecture. no longer work for just the one per
Last year she created three stunning cent,” she says. “That doesn’t allow
bamboo mosques that can be disman- them to serve humanity as much as
tled and reassembled for the Islamic they could.”

Plural Number
More English words begin with the letter ‘s’ than
any other letter. ENGLISHCLUB.COM

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 reader ’s digest

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26 april/may 2024
 ART OF LIVING

Reader’s Digest Editors share their best no-effort

tips to make the most of every day

Easy
Ways
To Have A
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ILLUS TR ATIONS BY HEIDI BERTON

rdasia.com 27
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

1. Put a bottle of water by your bed 7. Keep cut-up fruit and vegetables in
when you turn in. In the morning, the fridge so there’s an easy, healthy
drink what’s left for a good start to snack when you’re hungry.
hydration for the day.
8. Make sure to do the things that bring
2. Each day, spend at least ten min- you the most joy at least once a week.
utes of dedicated one-on-one time
with the loved ones you live with. 9. Pay your bills as soon as they come in.

3. Make your to-do list specific. It’s 10. After answering your friend’s
easier to get started when the item question about yourself, always fol-
says ‘Make outline for report’ than low up with a question about them.
when it says ‘Write report’.
11. Do a few rounds of ‘square breath-
4. Print photos that you have on your ing’ at the start or end of the day and
phone as birthday gifts. Printed pho- whenever you’re stressed: breathe in
tos are a rare treat these days. for four counts, hold for four, exhale
for four and hold for four.
5. Call your parents; they want to hear
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you. One day you won’t be&able
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to. 12. Set up automatic transfers to your
savings account on your payday. Any
amount will do.
6. LIFE IS TOO SHORT
FOR UNCOMFORTABLE 13. Work in an office? At 3pm, stop
and have an informal stand-around
SHOES. chat with your colleagues – it’s a good
energy boost.

14. Any exercise is good. A five-min-

ute walk is better than no walk at all.

15. Smell the roses – or any other

flower that’s close by.

16. Strike up a conversation with the

supermarket checkout assistant.

17. Buy a sunscreen you will use; it’s

money well spent.

28 april/may 2024
 75 Easy Ways To Have A Happier Life

25. Smile at people you pass on the

street.

26. Not sleeping great? Cut out caf-

feine after 12 noon.

27. Spend an afternoon at an outdoor

café and watch the world go by.

28. Travelling? Take only carry-on

luggage. You can do it.
18. SEIZE THE WEEKDAY:
DON’T SAVE YOUR BEST 29. Spend a little time outside every
day, no matter what the weather.
CHINA FOR WEEKENDS OR
SPECIAL OCCASIONS. 30. Make your bed before you leave
the house for the day.

19. Exercise first thing in the morn- 31. Choose your battles. They’re not
FOR ing,
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even if you Magazines https://t.me/PaperMagzine
all worth fighting.
nothing else for the rest of the day,
you’ve accomplished that. 32. Follow social media? Take a day
off every once in a while.
20. Keep a pot of rosemary on your
windowsill. It’s delicious in potato 33. For an afternoon pick-me-up, tea
dishes. with a little sugar can’t be beat.

21. Don’t go shopping when you’re 34. Call a friend you haven’t spoken
bored or hungry. with lately.

22. Find a community outside of 35. Learn to say hello in at least three
work and family. other languages.

23. Wear that Speedo or bikini if you 36. Take the time to relax and enjoy
want to. Who cares? your meals.

24. The next time you’re tempted by 37. Take your kids to museums, art
an amazing bargain, ask yourself, exhibitions and concerts, even if
“Do I really need this?” they’re adults.

rdasia.com 29
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

46. If you like to cook, try a new reci-

pe once a week. If you don’t cook, try
a new restaurant.

47. If you have the outdoor space, dry

your laundry in the sun.

48. Doing something repetitive, like

sweeping the floor, can be therapeu-
tic and help take your mind off of
38. DON’T LET BAD stressful thoughts.
WEATHER STOP YOU FROM 49. Don’t forget about your old boxes
ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS; of photos; drag them out, dig in and
JUST WEAR THE RIGHT relive the memories.
CLOTHING. 50. Fuel your car when you are not
39. Pick up some books from your lo- in a hurry to get somewhere. You’ll
cal library to read over the holidays. avoid having to do it on a day when
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a rush.
40. Try cold-water swimming, or
a cold shower, for a natural high. 51. If worries are keeping you awake
at night, try slowly counting back-
41. Cook something from another wards from 100.
culture.
52. For a healthy start to the day, do
42. Write a letter. With a pen. On paper. ten minutes of simple yoga exercis-
es, such as downward dog or cat-cow
43. Turn off your phone at around stretches.
9pm for a better night’s sleep.
53. Celebrate and encourage other
44. Got a large box of mixed leafy people’s talents, even if they’re better
greens? Use the red leaves first. They at something than you are.
deteriorate fastest.
54. Have a nap after lunch. You’ll be
45. For just a few minutes each day, more alert all afternoon.
try learning a new skill, like juggling,
drawing, doing Sudoku or playing the 55. Read poetry. And when you find
guitar. a poem you love, send it to a friend.

30 april/may 2024
 75 Easy Ways To Have A Happier Life

56. In a political discussion with 63. If you have a choice, take your bi-
friends or family, don’t try to be right cycle rather than your car.
at all costs; listen and learn from oth-
er points of view. 64. When faced with a hard decision,
don’t overthink it; the right choice is
57. Hug your children every time you often what’s in your heart.
see them.
65. When you’re wrong, admit it.
58. Visiting another country? Don’t be
afraid to step off the tourist path. Most 66. Cook a good meal for someone.
people in the world are good, like you.
67. Even after an argument, try to
59. Honesty is the best policy (and be part with a smile.
true to yourself, too).
68. Give your partner a massage.
60. Don’t just read the news headlines;
take the time to read the whole article. 69. Always buy quality cookware
(and wait for the sales).
61. Get to know your neighbour by
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70. Explore a street, a square or a hill
you’ve never been to before.

62. FEELING BLUE IN 71. Don’t hesitate to decline an invi-

SUMMER? TREAT YOURSELF tation if you just don’t feel like going.
It’s OK to say no.
TO AN ICE-CREAM CONE.
AND IN WINTER? A BOWL 72. Always keep reusable shopping
OF NOODLES WILL DO bags and an umbrella in the car.
THE TRICK. 73. Pamper yourself: get a manicure,
spa treatment or luxury shave.

74. When in an argument, ask your-

self if you’re hungry, tired, hot or
cold. Resolve that first, then your
disagreement might not seem so bad.

75. Take your shoes off and walk

barefoot in the surf.

rdasia.com 31
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

LIFE’S LIKE THAT

Seeing The Funny Side

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“Sir, did you order the ‘special meal’?”

Turning Over An Old Leaf Getting The Picture

Every autumn my brother’s For my 50th birthday, my artist CARTOON CREDIT: PE TER KUPER/CARTOONS TOCK

neighbour would rake up his friend, Susan, gave me one of her

leaves and pile them in the bed of paintings of a winding path through
his ute. Unable to wrap his mind a forest. It’s an abstract style, with
around why the guy would do the trees twisted into all kinds of
this, my brother finally found the shapes, painted in saturated shades
courage to ask, “Why don’t you bag of green, blue, purple and yellow,
your leaves instead?” and the path cutting through in the
“My way’s better,” said the same colours. It was stunning, and I
neighbour. “I just drive around oohed and aahed as I gazed at it.
town until they’re all gone.” Until, that is, Susan gently took
SUBMITTED BY PATRICK BRYAN the painting out of my hand, turned

32 april/may 2024
 Life’s Like That

it 180 degrees and said, “You’re

looking at it upside down.”
SUBMITTED BY ROSE JAKUBASZE

Posh Pooch
Our dog knows way too many THE GREAT TWEET OFF:
phrases now, so my husband and FRIENDSHIP EDITION
Fun tweets to share with your friends.
I have resorted to talking like
Victorian nobility to get anything
by him. “Have you taken the dog
on a brisk adventure recently?
Would you escort the canine to
the backyard, forthwith? Has he My mum only remembers my
childhood friends based on the
supped yet?” @AWRITESINGER perceived slights they committed
against her 15 years ago. I’ll mention
Worthy Of The Name a name and she’ll just be like “ah yes,
I never thought I would change my the one with the MUDDY SHOES.”
@ROBERTSCHULTZ
name when I got married. I was the
first Dr Newton in my family and Her: I know making friends as an
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is hard. Just try asking questions.
presented with the opportunity to Me (who has not tried to make
say, “Hi, I’m Dr Sleeper and I’ll be friends since Year 3): My favourite
your anaesthetist,” I just couldn’t dinosaur is triceratops. What’s yours?
@ANDREW NADEAU
pass it up! @LINDSAYPNEW TON
20s – Friends talk about best happy
hours in town.
SECURITY 30s – Friends talk about best mortgage
lender in town.
BREACH 40s – Friends talk about best
This woman on gastroenterologist in town, and then
go on to enlighten each other about
the bus was so the gory details of colonoscopy prep.
chatty with my @WHINECHEEZITS
daughter. She got her name,
Liking the same stuff is one thing. But
favourite colour, and our pets’ hating the same stuff? True friendship.
names in under five minutes. I @THISISJENDOLL
got off early before she could get
We are best friends. Always remember
any more of my passwords. that when you fall, I’ll pick you up after
ABBI CRUTCHFIELD, COMEDIAN I finish laughing.@GIRLETWEETS

rdasia.com 33
 INSPIRATION

FIND YOUR NEW

FAVOURITE
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Have more fun. Learn new things.

Here’s how to get started

BY Angela Haupt
FROM TIME

34 april/may 2024
 Find Your New Favourite Hobby

ate Hanselman’s home is And he’s so taken with beekeeping

a shrine to hobbies past that his backyard is now home to
and present. Fencing 20,000 honeybees.
gear sits beside multiple “I really love learning and figuring
pairs of rock-climbing things out, and developing an un-
shoes. “I find yarn every- derstanding of how things tick,” says
where because I love knitting, and Johnson. His hobbies tend to evolve
I have a whole set of embroidery out of curiosity, boredom or need.
stuff,” she says. Plus, stacks of puz- Take the bees: after moving into a
zles, her partner’s golf clubs, and new home with a barren yard, he was
equipment from his flying lessons. concerned about a lack of pollinators,
“Our house is like a full hobby sta- so he planted a garden and became a
tion,” she says with a laugh. Chal- beekeeper.
lenging, fun and engaging hobbies “If you derive joy from your hobby
have the power to make us happier – it doesn’t matter if it’s a board game
and healthier, says Hanselman, who or beekeeping – I’m confident it will
is a nurse. Such pursuits help us grow make you a better person in every
in creative, physical and intellectu- aspect of your life,” he says.
al ways, and can boost self-esteem. But where do you start? We asked
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how to discover the hobbies
with others. Hobbies lead to better you don’t yet know you’ll love.
physical health, more sleep, lower
stress, greater life satisfaction, a larg- ASK YOURSELF:
er social network and improved work HOW DO I WANT TO FEEL?
performance.
“Hobbies live in t he pleasure Hobbies present an escape – they
world, not necessarily the mastery can help you get out of your head and
world,” Hanselman says. “We’re not calm down, says Matthew J. Zawadz-
trying to impress the board, we’re not ki, an associate professor of health
going for a pay cheque, there’s no ul- psychology who has researched the
terior motive. Hobbies are like des- connection bet ween leisure and
sert – and as a baker myself, dessert wellbeing. He suggests asking your-
is the most important part.”
ALL PHOTOS: GET T Y IMAGES

self how you want an activity to make

That resonates with Chris Johnson, you feel. Mentally engaged? Distract-
recreational woodworker, motorcy- ed? Relaxed? Socially connected?
clist, gardener, cook and runner. He It’s also helpful to consider what
has accepted that he’ll never be a your life is missing, like creativity or
master surfer, but that doesn’t damp- physical activity.
en his enjoyment of riding waves. “Recognise that you have different

rdasia.com 35
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

REVISIT
ACTIVITIES
YOU LOVED
WHEN YOU
WERE
YOUNG

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PHOTO: OLGA NIKIFOROVA/GE T T Y IMAGES

36 april/may 2024
 Find Your New Favourite Hobby

needs at different moments, and husband recently went hiking close

that’s OK,” he says. There’s no such to where they live, and someone
thing as one perfect hobby. handed them a pamphlet of plants to
look for along the trail, such as min-
START SMALL er’s lettuce. Instead of tossing it, they
paid attention, and now they have a
Don’t invest a ton of time and mon- new hobby – foraging.
ey in a new hobby immediately. Ease “We’re wired as humans to be cu-
in to figure out if it’s right for you,rious and open, but in a very burned-
advises Rebecca Weiler, a mental out world, we forget that,” she says.
health counsellor specialising in ca- “It’s the first thing to go.” So next time
reer counselling. “You can always do someone hands you a flyer or invites
more later,” she says. If you’re won- you to tag along to an event, seize
dering if paintballing might be a the opportunity. It could introduce
good fit, join an outing or two with you to something you never guessed
a local Meetup group. Or sign up to you’d love.
do a one-time pottery class rather
than a set of eight. TAKE A TRIP BACK IN TIME
It’s also smart to resist the pres-
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sure to overcommit. & Magazines
Hanselman en- Whenhttps://t.me/PaperMagzine
you were a kid, what did you
joyed learning to fence, but the next want to be when you grew up? The
step was competing, and she didn’t answer could point you towards an
want to do that, so she stopped. “You appealing hobby, Weiler says. For
spend enough of your day pushing example, if you wanted to be a pro-
yourself,” she says. “Hobbies are sup- fessional soccer player growing up,
posed to be fun.”

BE OPEN

Keeping an open mind and

not dismissing potent ial
PHOTO: CATL ANE/GE T T Y IMAGES

hobbies – even if they seem

out of your wheelhouse – is
key, says Katina Bajaj, a clin-
ical psychology researcher
and co-founder of a compa-
ny that helps adults tap into
their imagination, creativity
and curiosity. She and her

rdasia.com 37
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

IF A HOBBY
MAKES YOU
HEALTHIER
AND HAPPIER,
EVERYONE
AROUND YOU
WILL BENEFIT
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joining a local team or coaching centre to learn more about a poten-

some neighbourhood k ids could tial hobby, Weiler advises.
reignite a long dormant passion. A lways d rea med of w r it i ng a
The nostalgia doesn’t have to stop novel? Join a fiction writers group.

PHOTO: FR ANCESCO CARTA FOTOGR AFO/GE T T Y IMAGES

there. Revisit activities you loved Fascinated by family history? Take
when you were young, Bajaj suggests, a genealogy class.
like drawing, putting together model
kits, collecting things or building clay TAKE AN ASSESSMENT
figures. “It’s a really helpful place to
start, and it allows you to feel com- Lots of universities offer career as-
fortable,” she says. sessments to help students deter-
Childhood delights can easily mine what to major in and how to
evolve into adult hobbies. navigate their professional lives.
A lso, consider goi ng back to You can also use these tools to glean
school. Check out classes at univer- insights about potential hobbies,
sity or technical college, or sign up especially for those where you’re
for a lesson at a local community starting from square one, Weiler says.

38 april/may 2024
 Find Your New Favourite Hobby

If you’re a university graduate, con- REMOVE GUILT FROM THE

nect with your university’s alumni EQUATION
centre; sometimes they make these
assessments available for free. Or “Give yourself permission to do
you can pay a careers’ counsellor for something that you like,” Zawadz-
access. ki urges – and keep in mind that if
a hobby makes you healthier and
KEEP A LIST happier, and reduces stress, every-
one around you will benefit. Think
Hanselman and her partner keep a of discovering new hobbies as an
running list on their fridge of all the adventure that will add fulfilling new
things that strike them as interest- dimensions to your life, and enjoy the
ing. “Maybe a month from now I’ll process.
be like, Butterf ly garden? Why did “I sneakily suspect that we have
I think that was a good idea?”. Log more leisure and hobbies in us than
potential interests as they come to we realise,” he says.
you, and you’ll have no shortage of FROM TIME (APRIL 20, 2023). © 2023 TIME USA LLC.
options to explore when you’re ready. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED UNDER LICENCE.

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Are These The Oddest World Records Ever?

Guinness World Records has a database of more than 40,000
amazing achievements and record-breaking feats. But there are
also some truly odd ones, too, as a selection from 2023 proves.
Most skips by a cat in one minute: Talented tabby Kit Kat from
Missouri jumped over a skipping rope nine times in a minute.
Loudest burp (female): Maryland woman Kimberly Winter belted
out a belch that was measured at 107 decibels – about as loud as a
motorcycle at full throttle.
Longest tongue on a living dog: Rocky, a boxer from Illinois, had
his tongue measured at 13.8 centimetres.
Most spoons balanced on the body: Abolfazl Saber Mokhtari
of Iran bested his own previous title of 85 when he managed to
balance 88 spoons in various locations around his body. UPI.COM

rdasia.com 39
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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40 april/may 2024
 SEE THE WORLD...
Turn the page ››

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rdasia.com 41
 …DIFFERENTLY

Train Yard
From a bird’s eye view or in the light
of sunset, marshalling yards display
a beauty all of their own. When they
are in operation, they tend to be
noisy as well as dangerous places for
unauthorised persons, as they are
used to assemble wagons weighing
tonnes into trains. This marshalling
yard in Maschen near Hamburg is
the largest in Europe. Up to 4000
carriages are shunted here every day.
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

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42 april/may 2024
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rdasia.com 43
 NATURE

PLANTUS
STINKYUS
FOR More
Time to Newspapers & Magazines
take a walk around https://t.me/PaperMagzine
the world’s
least fragrant gardens
The world’s
BY Helen Foster biggest flower,
the Rafflesia

N
ormally the smell of bloom- horticulturist at the Royal Botanic
ing flowers is a pleasant one, Garden, Sydney. “They can’t move to
PHOTOS AND ILLUS TR ATIONS: GE T T Y IMAGES

but some plants haven’t got reproduce or escape from predators

that memo. Emitting scents of sul- so the scents they produce are either
phur, bad eggs and rotting bodies, to attract pollinators or repel those
the stinkier members of the plant who want to eat them.”
kingdom might never make it into a And with descriptions like ‘smells
bouquet, but for those who care for like mouldy elephants’ being ban-
them, they’re both a source of fasci- died around, you might be surprised
nation – and some fun stories. to discover that you might have eaten
“ S p o i l e r a l e r t . P l a n t s c a n’t some of them, too. Here’s six stinky
walk,” says Paul Nicholson, senior plants to know about.

44 april/may 2024
 Plantus Stinkyus

Amorphophallus
titanum
AKA THE CORPSE
FLOWER
With leaves up to three
metres high, this plant is
already hard to ignore, but,
when the tuber from which
Amorphophallus titanum,
t he t it a n a r u m, g row s
reaches around 15-20 kilo-
grams, it’s mature enough
to flower – and that’s when
the fun really starts.
“The f lowers smell like
a mix of week-old football
socks, cat food lef t out
in the sun and a side of
vomit,” says Paul Nichol-
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enough, “the flower emits
heat which makes the smell
even stronger.”
To the flies that Amor-
phophallus titanum needs The foul-smelling Amorphophallus titanum
for pollination, the odour is (titan arum) lures flies to pollinate
like catnip, which is helpful
as they only flower every couple of Bulbophyllum
years, and for just for 24-36 hours, so fletcherianum
“they need to attract flies from a large AKA THE TONGUE ORCHID
distance to ensure survival,” says Paul. You have to feel for the poor guy
And outside of Western Sumatra charged with collecting samples of
where it naturally grows, a blooming Bulbophyllum fletcherianum, the
corpse flower also attracts tongue orchid, for Sydney’s Royal
humans – with queues Botanic Garden. Because the plants
of cur ious people grow in the mountainous regions of
forming outside any Papua New Guinea, he was hoisted
botanic garden lucky off the side of a cliff, and upon landing
enough to have one. he fell face down into the plant bed.

rdasia.com 45
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

for Wellington County Council in

New Zealand. “They’ll be doing
nothing and then we’ll walk back into
the same greenhouse three hours lat-
er and it will have unfurled and the
whole place smells.”

Parkia speciosa
AKA THE STINK BEAN
Also known as petai, these beans
that grow in 60-90-centimetre-long
green pods will be very familiar to
those living in Singapore, Malaysia
or Thailand as, despite the smell of
sulphur they emit, they can be eaten.
“Many people believe they clean
the kidneys, and if you eat them your
urine does smell for at least half a
day,” says horticulturist Lilian Kwok
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PHOTO: (BULBOPHYLLUM FLE TCHERIANUM) SMITHSONIAN INS TITUTE, HANNELE L AHTI.

Bulbophyllum fletcherianum,
the tongue orchid

“When they lifted him back up he

immediately lost his lunch and no-
one is quite sure if it was the shock of
being thrown off a cliff or the smell

ALL OTHER PHOTOS AND ILLUS TR ATIONS: GE T T Y IMAGES

of the plants that did it,” says Paul.
Admittedly, the latter is a hot con-
tender as the scent of the tongue
orchid has been described as ‘like a
herd of rotting elephants’. The plant
gets its name from the strips of purple
that make up the flower, which flies
confuse for spoiled meat. “The thing
that fascinates me about these plants
is how quickly they bloom,’ says
Cla re Shea r ma n,
p l a n t c ol l e c -
tions manager The Parkia speciosa is an edible bean

46 april/may 2024
 Plantus Stinkyus

from the National Parks Board

in Singapore.
The strong scent of the bean
is designed to attract animals.
The chewed seed pods they
leave behind grow into new
trees, while seeds they pass
out after digestion germinate
elsewhere.
Petai trees can grow to 45 me-
tres tall so bats and monkeys
can reach the strong-smelling
seeds in the tree tops, but most
animals feast on the beans on
the ground.
“The seed pods fall during
heavy rain and the farmers, or
people who collect them
to sell in the villag-
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es have Newspapers
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quick when this
happens as the
animals get to
them so fast it can Amorphophallus konjac emit a strong,
leave them with unpleasant odour
nothing,” says Lilian.
“And it’s actually quite an expensive someone realised that the voodoo
vegetable, about six [Singapore] dollars lilies were in bloom. These striking
for 200 grams.” purple plants emit a gas-like scent of
rotting eggs – and they were planted
Amorphophallus konjac just above the system that pumps air
AKA VOODOO LILIES through the greenhouses.
One day a panic hit Sydney’s Royal “We’ve moved them now,” says
Botanic Gardens. The greenhouse Paul Nicholson. The good news is
staff could smell gas. Fearing that that, while it might be strong, the
one of the boilers that heat the houses scent doesn’t last long.
was leaking, the gardens were closed “As soon as the plant has been
and emergency services called – but pollinated the smell disappears,”
nothing could be found. And then says Clare Shearman. “It’s just one

rdasia.com 47
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

more example of how clever plants neighbourhood – but then it gets

are. Once it’s done its thing it stops stronger and stronger. “By days two
wasting energy-creating scent.” Con- and three we start to get phone calls
sidering rotten eggs aren’t normally a from people who live nearby asking
delicacy, it might surprise you to hear what the awful smell is,” says Lilian
that the tuber from which the flower Kwok.
grows is the basis of shirataki noo- The good news for anyone living in
dles used in Japanese cooking. the area is that it takes a very particu-
lar set of circumstances for the trees
Alstonia scholaris to flower – a period of rain followed
AKA THE DEVIL TREE by a long period of dry weather, “so
A medium-sized tree, the Alstonia in Singapore it only happens once
scholaris produces small light-green or twice a year,” says
flowers. When they bloom in Singa- Lilian. “But during
pore’s national parks, the perfume, that time the lo-
which is described as smelling a bit cals have to shut
like burnt sugar, gently scents the their windows.”

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The overpowering scent of the Alstonia scholaris travels through neighbourhoods

48 april/may 2024
 Plantus Stinkyus

At least in Singapore the

only concern is the scent. In
India, Alstonia are said to
be the home of demoness-
es called yakshini, hence the
name of the devil tree, and
children will go out of their
way to avoid them.

Rafflesia
THE WORLD’S
LARGEST FLOWER
You wouldn’t t hink t hat a
plant that produces f lowers
spanning close to a metre in
diameter would need to use
smell to grab attention, but,
some species of Rafflesia, the
world’s biggest f lower, can
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“In the Philippines you re- Rafflesia smells like decaying meat
ally have to put your nose inside the
flower to smell it, but in, say Indone- fact that the flower has no leaves, no
sia, the smell is much stronger – and stem and no roots. Instead it’s com-
described as smelling like a cross pletely parasitic, living in the vines
between dead lamb and dead chick- of another plant from which they
en,” says Adriane Tobias, who stud- receive all their water and nutrients
ies the plants at the University of the until, once a year, they burst into a
Philippines. malodorous bloom that stinks out the
Yet neither the size nor smell are surrounding area for about a week.
what’s the most fascinating thing And you thought your neighbours
about Rafflesia; that prize goes to the could be annoying.

Giving It A Good Run

The word run is considered to have the most senses of any English
word – over 600. Examples include different things such as running
a race or checking to see if your fridge is running. THESAURUS.COM

rdasia.com 49
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

LAUGHTER
The Best Medicine

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“I’ll have the spaghetti with meatballs but don’t let the
meat, sauce or noodles touch.”

Tools Of The Trade asks the distraught husband.

CARTOON CREDIT: SUSAN CAMILLERI KONAR

A farmer’s wife becomes ill, and her “I don’t know yet,” replies the
husband sends for the doctor, who frustrated doctor. “I can’t get my
hurries over with his black medical instrument bag open.”
bag in hand. After examining the MEDINDIA.NET
patient, he steps outside the sick
room and asks the farmer for a Wait For it
pair of pliers. A few minutes later, I just burned 2000 kilojoules. That’s
the door opens and he asks for a the last time I leave brownies in the
hammer and chisel. oven while I nap.
“Doctor, what’s wrong with her?” SUBMITTED BY MATT COOPER

50 april/may 2024
 Laughter

Body Of Art
I read that Michelangelo painted the FESTIVAL FUNNIES
Sistine Chapel on his back. It must
have been difficult reaching the bit
between his shoulders.
@GLENNYRODGE

Number Crunching The yearly Edinburgh Festival

When you hear a statistic, always ask attracts some of the world’s best
about the other side of the statistic. standup comedians. Here’s a choice
For example, 44% of marriages end in of their 2023 one-liners.
divorce. Now, that’s a scary number. I started dating a zookeeper, but it
But it’s not so scary if you look at it turned out he was a cheetah.
LORNA ROSE TREEN
from a different perspective. If 44% of
When women gossip we get called bitchy;
marriages end in divorce, that means but when men do it’s called a podcast.
56% of marriages end in death. SIKISA
DON MCMILLAN, COMEDIAN Getting mythology wrong is my
Hercules ankle.
Remember When You… OLAF FALAFEL
FOR Siblings
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I have an unconscious bias. I’m biased
like external hard drives for your firmly towards being unconscious.
LEILA NAVABI
memories and personality. @JZUX
The UK is so small, they’ve got to keep
all their lakes in one district.
Laughing Stock LIZ GUTERBOCK
A born and bred city slicker is in
Everyone says your 20s are all about
the country when he sees a field finding yourself. If that’s true, your 30s
of animals and says to the farmer, are about wishing you’d found
“What a strange-looking cow. Why somebody else.
GINNY HOGAN
doesn’t it have horns?”
“There are several reasons,” the What does Kylie sing while counting
sheep? I can’t get ewe out of my head.
farmer replies. “Some cows get their ALISON SPITTLE
horns late, others have their horns My relationship with my mum is like the
cut off, and still others never grow evolution of payment technology – we
horns.” went from physical contact to electronic
“And this particular cow?” the city only, then it was contactless.
KUAN-WEN HUANG
slicker asks.
Last year, I had a great joke about
“Well, the reason this cow doesn’t inflation. But it’s hardly worth it now.
have any horns is because it’s a AMOS GILL
horse.” L ANCASTERFARMING.COM

rdasia.com 51
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

13 THINGS

About
The Magical
World Of
Disney
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BY Courtney Shea

1 2
Disney turned 100 in 2023, and M icke y Mouse, created i n
today looks a lot different from 1928, was not the first Disney
the tiny animation studio it once character (that distinction be-
was. Americans Walter Elias Dis- longs to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit),
ney and his brother Roy originally but he is certainly the most popular.
launched the Disney Brothers Car- Minnie Mouse followed in 1930. In
toon Studio with a series of short films 1978, Mickey, who celebrated his
about a girl and her cat. Today, the 50th birthday that year, was the first
Walt Disney Company is, after Apple, animated character to earn a star on
ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES

the world’s second-largest multina- Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and ac-

tional mass-media and entertainment cording to market researchers, he is
conglomerate. In the century that it’s more famous among children glob-
been making films, Disney has earned ally than Santa Claus. The iconic
135 Oscars. Walt Disney himself holds ‘mouse ears’ remain Disney’s most
the record for the most Academy popular piece of merchandise, with
Awards earned by an individual – 22. annual sales of US$3 million.

52 april/may 2024
 13 Things

3
I n a case of life imitating art, reported in a tabloid, even spawned
the voice actors behind Mickey a related conspiracy theory that the
and Minnie met and fell in love 2013 hit Frozen was so named to redi-
while on the job. Wayne Allwine voiced rect internet searches about Disney’s
Mickey from 1977 to 2009 – a record final resting place. Plenty of people,
32 years in the role. He met Russi Tay- including Disney’s daughter, have
lor, the voice behind Minnie, in 1988, confirmed that Walt was cremated,
and the two were married from 1991 but the internet just won’t ‘Let It Go’.
until Allwine’s death in 2009.

7
The Marvel Universe is one of

4
Snow White and the Seven Disney’s highest-profile acqui-
Dwarfs, which hit theatres in sitions, purchased in 2009 for
1937, was Disney’s first full- US$4 billion and now worth more
length film and the first ever animated than US$59 billion. Surprisingly,
feature made in full colour and with movies account for just 11 per cent
sound. It took three years to produce of Disney’s total revenue. Television
and was three times over budget, and media networks are the biggest
eventually costing U$1.5 million. In- money-makers at 35 per cent, fol-
siders even nicknamed the project lowed by theme parks and merchan-
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the film dise at 33 per cent. Streaming servic-
earned more than US$8 million dur- es (Disney+) account for 21 per cent.
ing its initial release.

8
The idea for a theme park was

5
Fresh off this success at age 37, conceived as ‘Mickey Mouse
Walt purchased a new home for Park’ on a 3.2 hectare proper-
his parents in 1938, but tragical- ty, but when Disneyland opened in
ly, faulty wiring led to the death of his 1955 it stretched over 64 hectares.
mother, Flora, from carbon monoxide Collectively, Disney theme parks –
poisoning. One popular fan theory with international locations in To-
is that this intense loss is the reason kyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Shang-
for the ‘dead mother phenomenon’ in hai – welcome more than 115 million
films such as Bambi, The Jungle Book, visitors each year.
The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the

9
Beast and many others. Beneath many Disney parks is
a network of interconnected

6
According to lore, the body of tunnels for the transportation
Walt Disney was cryogenically of staff and merchandise. The idea
frozen following his death in came from Walt, who was irked after
1966 at the age of 65. The rumour, first spotting costumed characters in the

rdasia.com 53
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

wrong themed areas while making university. Once fake skeleton tech-
their way to their intended location. nology improved, the remains were
The largest system of these tunnels replaced (and given a proper burial).
exists at the Magic Kingdom in Or-

12
lando, Florida, extending across Work i ng at Di sne y la nd
3.6 hectares and costing more to in California has been a
build than the theme park itself. launching pad for many
celebrities. Steve Martin honed his

10
The success of 2003’s Find- sleight-of-hand skills at Merlin’s
ing Nemo produced a less Magic Shop in Fantasyland, Kevin
than picture-perfect side Costner worked as a skipper on the
effect when kids started ‘freeing’ Jungle Cruise and Robin Williams
their pet fish by flushing them down per for med as a m i me on Ma i n
the toilet – and leading to emergen- Street.
cy plumbing calls. Other unwel-

13
come trends? There was amphibian Disney characters have of-
kissing – and a spike in child salmo- ten been inspired by real
nella cases – following 2009’s The people: Jessica Rabbit was
Princess and the Frog. a tribute to 1960s pin-up Rita Hay-
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worth. Illustrators looked at photos

11
Disneyland’s Space Moun- of then-teenaged actress Alyssa Mi-
tain in California, which lano to create Ariel in The Little Mer-
was constructed in 1975, maid. The vultures in The Jungle
was designed in consultation with Book were inspired by another fab
a NASA astronaut. And if you were four: the Beatles. Aladdin’s toothy
among the first visitors to ride Pirates grin comes direct from Tom Cruise.
of the Caribbean in 1967, those skel- And the titular garbage compactor
etons and skulls weren’t just props in Wall-E is rumoured to be named
but real human remains acquired in honour of Walter Elias Disney
from the medical centre at a nearby himself.

Eggs-hausted Penguins
It’s a challenge for all new parents: getting enough sleep while
keeping a close eye on their newborns. For chinstrap penguins in
Antarctica it means thousands of mini-catnaps a day, researchers
report in Science. To guard their eggs and chicks, the penguins nod
off – but only for about four seconds at a time. AP NEWS

54 april/may 2024
 QUOTABLE QUOTES
PLEASE Make sure
REMEMBER you know
THAT LIFE IS
PRECIOUS,
what you
AND YOU ARE
really want
PRECIOUS to do and
AND TREAT do it.
YOURSELF LISA [L ALISA MANOBAL], SINGER

ACCORDINGLY.
DR LIBBY WEAVER,
NUTRITIONAL BIOCHEMIST
Art is not what you see, but what
you make others see.
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EDGAR DEGAS, ARTIST

There cannot
be a one-
size-fits-all
for modern
relationships.
They are
Books stories, with
help kids to characters, roles, True
explore the protagonists, intelligence
world. They auxiliaries, requires
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

are the real beginnings,

middles, ends. fabulous
ambassadors.
GENE LUEN YANG, ESTHER PEREL, AUTHOR AND
imagination.
CARTOONIST PSYCHOTHER APIST IAN MCEWAN, AUTHOR

rdasia.com 55
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST HEALTH

We can be
pretty hard on
our feet, so
let’s show them
some love

BY Sydney Loney

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ILLUS TR ATIONS: ELISE CONLIN

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

THE BUNION BLUES, AND

Walking. OTHER WOES
If foot pain limits your activity and

Hiking. lasts more than a week, says Paul

Langer, a sports-medicine podia-
trist, it’s time to see a podiatrist or

Jogging. an orthopaedic surgeon. If feet – the

body’s foundation – aren’t perform-
ing properly, they throw everything

Biking. else off, adds fellow podiatrist Hart-

ley Miltchin. “They’re like the base of
the Tower of Pisa. When they’re off,
the tower leans.”
Unaided, we can’t do any of these Bunions are one of the most com-
things without our feet. So why, when mon foot problems preventing people
our quality of life is directly related from being active. Almost a third of
to being active, do many of us ignore us have one. It’s the bony bump that
these two vital parts of our body? can form when the big toe becomes
Spanish scientists expressed con- misaligned; that causes the tip of the
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toe to move inwards and the joint at
pants from 15 to 69 years) over a rise in the base to stick out sideways. Bun-
foot issues and how poor foot health ions don’t go away on their own.
a f fec t s ever y t h i ng f rom physi- Troy Gubb had always been ac-
cal activity to the overall health of tive, but about a decade ago, in his
able-bodied people. early 40s, he developed a bunion on
“Foot problems can reduce quality his left foot. When the manager for
of life, lead to loss of balance, make it a communications and media com-
difficult to put on shoes and increase pany removed his skates after play-
the risk of falling,” the authors wrote ing ice hockey, his foot was red and
in the journal Scientific Reports. “All of inf lamed. After a round of golf, it
this can affect activities of daily living, throbbed. Eventually, he had to give
including the desire to go outside.” up hockey, then golf, then running.
Meanwhile, a 2017 study, also in He couldn’t even take Carl, the family
Spain, of able-bodied university stu- bulldog, for a walk.
dents found that poor foot health “The end of the line was last au-
not only prevented them from being t umn,” he says. “I was limping
physically active but also increased around with a cane and I couldn’t put
their risk of becoming socially iso- pressure on my foot.” He began look-
lated as a result. ing into how to deal with bunions.

58 april/may 2024
 Be Nice To Your Feet

The condition is generally caused surgeon makes cuts along the bone
by a combination of genetic predispo- to realign the joint and inserts pins
sition and footwear, says Dr Kathleen or screws to hold the bone in place.
Gartke, an orthopaedic surgeon who Sometimes a small piece of the big
has performed many bunion-remov- toe’s bone might need to be removed
al procedures. “Fashion is not kind to help straighten the toe.
to feet,” she says, adding that wearing The good news is that the pro-
tight or narrow-toed shoes, high heels cedures often require only a local
or shoes with no support is OK now anaesthetic. And what was once a
and again, but “not all day, every day.” painful recovery can be better man-
If you notice a bony bump form- aged with a continuous nerve block:
ing at the base of your big toe, try that’s when an anaesthetist puts a
spending more time in shoes that small tube into the back of the knee
don’t crowd your toes. Dr Gartke that delivers local anaesthetic into
also recommends wearing a toe the nerve that connects to the foot in
spacer (available at most pharma- the bunion area.
cies) between your first and second
toe to help keep them straight. It can HAVING STRONG
also help you identify shoes that you
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when you are wearing the toe spacer. AND ANKLES REDUCES
Bunions tend to worsen over time. OUR RISK OF FALLING
If they become so painful that they
interfere with your daily life, consider
having them surgically removed. “All “The tube can remain in place for a
bunions are not created equal and so few days and provides excellent pain
there are dozens of different proce- control,” says Dr Gartke. Full recov-
dures available,” Dr Gartke says. “An ery – when there is no more swelling
X-ray will help your doctor decide or tenderness – takes from four to six
on the one that best addresses your months, depending on the procedure
problem.” and the severity of the bunion.
The most common are exostec- Gubb had surgery to bring the big
tomy (or bunionectomy) and os- toe back into alignment. He trains
teotomy, and they’re usually done other podiatrists, as well as ortho-
in tandem. The surgery takes from paedic surgeons, in the procedure,
45 minutes to an hour. Exostecto- during which he uses precision in-
my involves shaving off the bump of struments to make small cuts in the
the toe joint. Then an osteotomy is bones to bring the big toe back into
done to solve the underlying issue. A alignment.

rdasia.com 59
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Six weeks after his surgery in April Another common culprit for foot
2022, Gubb was golfing again. He pain is osteoarthritis, which is typ-
only wishes he’d addressed his foot ically attributed to wear and tear.
pain ten years earlier. “One in six people over the age of 50
have arthritis in their feet and, with
OTHER CAUSES OF PAIN 33 joints in each foot, that can be
Apart from bunions, Langer says, the an issue that limits activity,” Langer
other common causes of foot pain says. Treatment includes medica-
that drive people to his clinic include tions (such as acetaminophen and
plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis nonsteroidal ant i-inf lammator y
and osteoarthritis. drugs), physical therapy, cortisone
Plantar fasciitis is a stabbing heel injections or even joint replacement.
pain common in runners and danc-
ers. It is caused by inflammation of KEEP YOUR FEET HAPPY
a band of tissue – the plantar fascia Sometimes, taking care of your feet
– that runs along the bottom of your and preventing problems begins else-
foot, connecting your heel to your where in your body. Dahlia Fahmy, a
toes. It’s not a muscle, tendon or lig- physiotherapist, describes the body as
ament, so it’s rigid and can’t stretch. ‘a kinetic chain’. Every move we make
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a chain reaction in our mus-
the tissue, causing pain. In people cles, tendons, ligaments and joints.
who overpronate (roll their heel in- “The foot is the driver of all move-
wards when they walk) it’s worse be- ment,” Fahmy says. “When the foot
cause that creates even more tugging. hits the ground, everything else in
Langer says that an off-the-shelf in- the body changes, and if a foot is dys-
sole may help to relieve strain on the functional, it can drive everything up
plantar fascia. If that fails, orthotics the chain to be dysfunctional, too.”
may be considered. Stretching, phys- The key to a healthy, stable foot, says
iotherapy and icing the area can also Fahmy, is strength in the glutes and
help relieve symptoms. mobility through the hips and calves.
Achilles tendinitis is an overuse “Our feet need help from their friends
injury that causes pain in the Achil- above to keep them working properly.”
les tendon, which connects your calf Langer agrees, and frequently
muscles to your heel bone. Resting sends his podiatry patients exercise
and over-the-counter pain medica- information and referrals to a physi-
tions help, as do physio stretching otherapist to work on strength-train-
and strengthening exercises. Or- ing calf muscles, quads, hamstrings
thotics that elevate the heel can also and glutes, as well as the upper body.
relieve strain on the tendon. He points out how important it is to

60 april/may 2024
 Be Nice To Your Feet
strengthen the mus-
cles of the foot and
a n k le. “Nu merou s
s t ud ie s s how t h at
having strong feet re-
duces our risk of fall-
ing and helps offset
the natural deterio-
ration of muscle that
starts around age 50.”
Sc ient i st s at t he
University of São Pau-
lo in Brazil concluded
that strong feet can
reduce your risk of
running-related in-
juries by more than
50 per cent.
To keep h is ow n
feet fit, Langer trains
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his legs and the small muscles in his through the world. “We don’t often
feet with hill running and something think of our feet as sensory organs,
called toe yoga. “The idea is to first but they send a tremendous amount
activate the muscles of the foot, then of information to our brains to help
progressively integrate the muscle us maintain balance, adapt to differ-
activation into more challenging ent surfaces and move efficiently.”
movements, like going from sitting to He compares what happens when
standing, then standing on one foot, we walk on a soft, sandy beach versus
then hopping, then running.” a concrete footpath: sand is unstable
A good pose to start with: stand so and requires much more energy to
your weight is evenly distributed be- move over than a firm, flat surface,
tween your big toe, pinky and heel. such as concrete. He says that our
Then lift all five toes off the f loor, feet provide the sensory input that
spread them as far apart as you can, allows our brains to change the limb
and then lay them back down, one stiffness of our legs, helping us opti-
toe at a time. mise our movement patterns for var-
Langer, who has run more than ious surfaces.
25 marathons, has long been fas- Wa lk ing outdoors has severa l
cinated by how our feet carry us health benefits for our feet, one of

rdasia.com 61
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

the most important of which, says College of Podiatry is a senior lectur-

Langer, is the variety of terrain. “Un- er in clinical biomechanics at Staf-
even terrain forces our joints to bend fordshire University in the UK. She
and flex to adapt, and it requires our has based much of her research on
muscles and neurologic system to her own passion for shoes and her
work harder to provide power and interest in the impact they have on
balance.” All of this helps us main- foot mechanics (sneakers are her fa-
tain our range of motion, strength vourite, though she does own a pair
and balance. of heels or two).
Regardless of the surface you do it
on, walking offers a myriad of health IF SHOES AREN’T
benef its. Ca nad ia n resea rchers
found it’s one of the best – and most
COMFORTABLE AS SOON AS
preferred – forms of exercise for peo-YOU PUT THEM ON, THEY’RE
ple with osteoporosis. Plus, a study BEST LEFT ON THE SHELF
published in September 2022 in the
Journal of the American Medical As-
sociation Internal Medicine analysed “Research shows that shoes af-
activity-tracker data from 78,500 peo- fect how we function,” Branthwaite
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for says, “and influence our movement
30 minutes a day led to a reduced risk and how much pressure we put on
of heart disease and cancer. our feet.”
If shoes aren’t comfortable the mo-
THE RIGHT SHOES ment you put them on, they’re best
Despite research touting the bene- left on the shelf. “The concept that
fits of extra cushioning, Langer says you can wear a shoe in, or that it will
there is no magic shoe that is ideal for stretch, is nonsense,” she adds.
most people. One of the biggest mis- Branthwaite, who also has a po-
takes people make, he says, is relying diatry practice, recommends that
on reviews or salespeople for recom- shoes match the shape of your foot.
mendations on the ‘best’ shoes. So if you have a square-ish foot, for
“Comfort is extremely important, example, look for similar-shaped
but comfort is complex and can’t be shoes. And arch support is key. Some
quantified,” he says. “For example, I brands are developing styles to ac-
like a cushy – but not too cushy – fore- commodate common foot issues,
foot and a wide, round toe box.” Trial such as bunions.
and error, and gut instinct, are his se- Branthwaite also advises patients
crets to successful shoe shopping. on what to wear to solve foot prob-
Helen Branthwaite of the Royal lems, whether it’s more cushioning

62 april/may 2024
 Be Nice To Your Feet

for heel pain or smooth inside seams turned 70 and was finding walking
for bunion sufferers. “Sometimes increasingly difficult. She had devel-
the shoe becomes the treatment,” oped Achilles tendinitis and was also
she says. rolling over on her ankles.
One of Branthwaite’s patients was After a few unnerving falls, she
suffering from such severe arch pain went to Branthwaite for help. The
that she could no longer walk her first thing the podiatrist did was have
dog, so Branthwaite had her replace Parkinson change her shoes (replac-
her flimsy ballet flats with sturdy, ing slip-on flats with shoes that had
supportive boots. a Velcro fastening and a sole with
In 2021, French researchers studied more contact area to help with sta-
the use of shoes specifically designed bility). Then she added a heel-raising
to improve balance and stability in insert so Parkinson would be better
everyone from athletes in training to balanced.
people over 65. They noted that more Not only did her Achilles tendinitis
than 30 per cent of people older than disappear, but Park inson began
65 fall each year, and falls account walking outside again, even tackling
for 90 per cent of hip fractures. The the occasional hill. “Within about
researchers concluded that the shoes 50 metres of our home, my husband
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can access a country lane. Or
people feel safer and more stable we drive to a historic site where we
when walking. can walk for a couple of kilometres
Gillian Parkinson, a retired speech and reward ourselves at a little café
and language pathologist, can attest at the end,” she says. “Therapeuti-
to the difference a change in foot- cally and psychologically, walking
wear can make. Parkinson recently does me good.”

Snakes On A Plate
Hong Kong’s Pizza Hut recently set internet tongues hissing with
the launch of one of the wackiest toppings yet – a unique snake
soup pizza. It was created in collaboration with the famous family-
owned snake soup restaurant Ser Wong Fun. Steeped in tradition,
snake soup, known as seh gung in Cantonese, has a broth of
chicken and pork and uses the flesh of two to five snake breeds.
The pizza combines shredded snake meat, black mushrooms and
Chinese dried ham and was greeted with mixed reactions
from customers. SCMP.COM

rdasia.com 63
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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S A sea of cranberries. October is

harvest time in the cranberry fields of
Massachusetts, US. Strictly speaking,
these are bogs because the plants
only thrive on peat soils with a good
water supply. But they are very
persistent and continue to produce
berries even after decades.

64 april/may 2024
 PHOTO FEATURE

In
Abundance
A rich harvest is usually the reward of hard work

BY Doris Kochanek
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PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES/DIGITAL VISION

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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T Pretty heavy! Did the blond kid
grapes are ripe, things have to happen make a good choice with his pumpkin?
quickly. In the past, crowds of harvesters That depends on what it is used for. The
cut the delicate grapes from the vines. specimen may be perfect as a decorative
Today they are replacing so-called full object. However, when it comes to
harvesters in many places, like here at a pumpkins for consumption, it is best to
Spanish winery. The machines supplant choose relatively small ones – but they
30 to 40 workers. have to be ripe.

66 april/may 2024
 In Abundance

PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

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These SIn a nutshell. Before machines were
lavender fields are in India. Since around available, people relied on animals to
2010, farmers there have been work in the fields and to help with
cultivating the fragrant plant, which is harvesting. This is still the case in some
traditionally grown in the Mediterranean countries today. Some farmers in
region. Climate change has made the Thailand have monkeys bring down the
cultivation of traditional crops nuts that grow high in coconut trees – a
unprofitable in many places. practice criticised by animal activists.

rdasia.com 67
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST W Every grain counts. In Jiangsu
Province in eastern China, a farmer
spreads out harvested rice to dry. The
People’s Republic grows and
consumes the most rice in the world.
In many families, mifàn – cooked rice –
is served at every meal. Like other
nations, China is striving to increase
harvest volumes and is relying, among
other things, on the know-how of its
National Rice Research Institute.

X Harvest without sowing. Almost

nothing tastes better with pancakes
than maple syrup. The lion’s share of
the aromatic delicacy, with a taste
reminiscent of caramel, comes from
Canada and the US. The harvest
doesn’t take much effort: tree sap
oozes all by itself from a tap drilled into
the bark of the sugar maple tree. All
you have to do is catch it. The juice is
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then heated and filtered, and the
syrup is ready.

WPerfect for newbies. Radishes are

easy to care for and usually reward
even novice gardeners with a
bountiful harvest. They are therefore
particularly suitable for introducing
children to the joys of growing and
harvesting. The fact that you can dig in
the earth makes things even better.

X Salad from the shelf. The

production of food is essential for
humanity. But it also consumes
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

valuable resources such as water and

requires huge areas. New types of
cultivation could provide a solution.
Like these vertically arranged salad
beds that provide the plants with a
nutrient solution.

68 april/may 2024
 In Abundance

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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70 april/may 2024
 HEALTH

How I Tried
to
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Snoring
I wanted a quick fix to my wheezing inhalations
punctuated by loud and erratic noises
ILLUS TR ATIONS: HAYDEN MAYNARD

BY Jordan Foisy
FROM THE WALRUS

rdasia.com 71
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

think of myself as a good sleeper. Give me a large

book and a horizontal position, and I could fall
asleep strapped to the top of a bullet train. Sleep
has been a constant ally, a friend. When I was
a teen, it was a refuge. I used to pray for sleep;
its temporary oblivion was a welcome respite from
anxiety and obsessive thoughts. It was a pause, not a
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to it. Every time I fell asleep,
there was a chance of resurrection, to wake up new.
My girlfriend, Allison, however, snoring; my lungs moving the air,
does not think I’m a good sleep- my soft tissues. Those are the guilty
er. She knows the truth. At night, I parties. When Allison is flipping my
thrash around and scream. Occa- sleeping body over and plugging its
sionally, it sounds like my breathing nose, or occasionally smothering my
stops. Worst of all for her, I snore. face with a pillow, who is she smoth-
Badly. She’s shown me a video of it, ering? How unimportant is the self
and it’s horrifying: my thin, wheez- to our life when we are sleeping –
ing inhalations are interrupted by a something we spend a third of our
wrenching tear of a noise, like some- life doing – that it can be completely
one ripping a carpet inside a cave. absent?
We sometimes get into little fights I tried treating my snoring with
when I wake up. She’s had a terrible the junk-drawer solution of buy-
sleep and is justifiably annoyed. She ing ever y a nt i-snor ing dev ice I
can’t stay mad for long, though, be- could: nose strips, mouth guards,
cause who is she mad at? Certain- nasal spray – anything that prom-
ly, it was my body, not me, that was ised snoring absolution. Nothing

72 april/may 2024
 How I Tried To Stop Snoring

worked. Every time there would be processes and saves our memories.
a glimmer of hope, when we would It also enhances our memories. Van
try to convince ourselves my snor- den Berg told me about studies in
ing wasn’t as bad. But, every time, it which the subjects are taught a basic
soon became clear the only differ- skill before bed, and when they wake
ence was that the top of my mouth up, they not only remember the skill
was now shredded from the cheap but have actually improved upon it.
plastic of a so-called snore guard.
Allison wanted me to see a doc- MY HEALTH CARE
tor, but it’s hard to take snoring se- SUBSISTED ON FAITH
riously as a health problem. It seems
more like a joke, like a problem that THAT A PROBLEM
a sitcom dad would have after getting DOESN’T EXIST UNTIL
electrocuted by Christmas decora- YOU DEAL WITH IT
tions. It seems less like a health issue
and more like a personality defect.
According to Nick van den Berg, Sleep, then, is where we are forged.
a researcher in experimental psy- Every night, we throw our day-to-day
chology at the University of Ottawa, experiences, memories and lessons
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in into the kiln of sleep, let them bake
the upper airway relax so much that for hopefully eight hours, and emerge
they narrow the airway.” This is why a better, stronger, fuller version of
snoring gets worse as we age, as our ourselves in the morning.
once taut and virile inner neck mus- So my girlfriend was right to in-
cles become flabby and weak. sist I deal with the problem, but I
The real threat of bad snoring is was resistant. I’m in my mid-30s and
that it could be a sign of obstructive haven’t had a doctor since I was a kid.
sleep apnoea, when a blockage in My health care subsisted on walk-in
your airway causes you to wake up clinic visits and youthful hubris – a
constantly. The lack of sleep – for faith that things will work out and a
you or your partner – can be a serious belief that a problem doesn’t really
health risk, as insufficient sleep has exist until you deal with it. But what
been linked to heart disease, type 2 really scared me off was that going
diabetes and Alzheimer’s. to a doctor about my snoring would
More than all of that, sleep is es- force me to confront how I live and
sential to your functioning as a hu- its repercussions, and that my body
man being. “Sleep is key to memory has limits.
consolidation,” says van den Berg. It had been a tough year. A friend
When we sleep, our brain organises, passed away suddenly and tragically.

rdasia.com 73
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Then my grandmother followed. My apnoea and said I should drink less

chronic knee problem turned into a and lose weight. He referred me to a
full-blown meniscus tear. My eye- sleep study to confirm the diagnosis
sight became distorted, and a visit so I could get a CPAP (continuous
to the eye doctor revealed I had fluid positive airway pressure) machine
under my retina, a condition called for the apnoea.
central serous chorioretinopathy. A CPAP machine is a device that
It’s caused by stress. Also, I started shoots a steady flow of pressurised air
seeing a therapist again and within into your nose and mouth. It involves
minutes, over Zoom, he told me I a hose, a mask that covers either your
looked depressed. nose or mouth or both, and a head
harness, resulting in the wearer look-
THE TECH WANTS ing like a cosy fighter pilot, like Top
TO KNOW WHAT Gun’s Maverick if the undisclosed en-
emy country were your dreams.
POSITION I SLEEP IN. I entered the sleep clinic feeling
OVERALL I’D DESCRIBE nervous, excited and blisteringly so-
IT AS MAXIMUM ber. I had successfully adhered to the
guidelines sent out by the clinic: no
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in the past 12 hours, no cof-
fee in the last two, and no naps. Free
It was a year of the space capsule of from its usual coating of hangover,
my youthful fantasy breaking up on too-late coffee and post-nap delir-
contact with an atmosphere of reality ium, my mind was unadorned and
and repercussions, all soundtracked hungry for answers.
by some of the worst snoring you’ve Next, a technician came and asked
ever heard. me a couple of questions, the most
But there are other things to be provocative being: what position do
afraid of besides ageing and so, fear- you sleep in? I’m mostly a mix of side
ing a breakup or an unexplained and stomach, with one leg pitched
disappearance (mine), I tried what like I’m doing a hurdle. Overall,
Allison had been asking me to do. I though, I would describe my sleeping
went to a doctor. position as maximum obnoxious. My
The doctor asked how much I limbs are splayed as far as they can
drank a week. I gave him a number reach, and I continually thrash and
high enough that he should factor roll from side to side in erratic and
it into his diagnosis but low enough irregular movements.
that I could say it without being em- I sat on my assigned bed, waiting
barrassed. He figured I had sleep for the sleep lab to begin its work.

74 april/may 2024
 How I Tried To Stop Snoring

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‘Lab’ was a misnomer. There were no your head to be cut open. It is still the
beakers or mad scientists or stain- gold standard for sleep studies. The
less-steel tanks with anonymous technician also placed sensors on my
figures floating in green fluid. Just a arms and legs to measure my move-
generic hospital room: infinite white ment, a sensor below my nose and a
walls; a thin, hard bed that made harness around my chest to measure
me feel like I was lying on an H&M my breathing.
clothing shelf; and a pillow that had I don’t know what it says about
all the comfort and support of a bag my self-esteem, but I found being a
of napkins. Worst of all, something specimen thrilling. The thrill quick-
was dripping in the air conditioning ly passed as I proceeded to have the
unit, producing a sharp, arrhythmic, worst sleep of my life.
metallic smack.
At 10.45pm, the technician began THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF SLEEP :
sticking electrodes to my body for NREM and REM. Both are required
the electroencephalogram, or EEG. for memory consolidation. NREM, or
Created in 1924, this test measures non-rapid eye movement, sleep has
brain waves without any need for three stages. Stage one is drifting off:

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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those five to ten minutes of drowsi- activity; it appears to be awake. This

ness where it is hard to tell if you are is when most dreaming occurs, espe-
asleep or not. Once you are out, the cially the intense, emotional genre of
second stage begins. It is marked by dreams – the ones that are like ‘I’m on
slower brain waves and short, fast a date with a book report I didn’t fin-
bursts of brain activity called spin- ish’. Beneath the eyelids your eyes dart
dles. The third stage of NREM is slow- around wildly, and your heart races.
wave sleep. Your brain waves are now It’s not entirely clear why this hap-
deep, long curves, similar at times to pens. Van den Berg’s favourite theory
those seen in people under anaes- is that it is preparatory. “If NREM is
thesia. It is in these last two stages of recovery from the day before, REM
NREM sleep that the majority of res- seems to be preparation for the day
toration – in which the body repairs ahead.”
itself on a cellular level from the wear W hen you have a good night’s
and tear of the day – happens. sleep, these different stages are a
Suddenly, the second act of sleep harmonious cycle. Of course, many
occurs: REM (rapid eye movement) things can disrupt this harmony:
sleep. The brain explodes with electric light, caffeine, a late night out

76 april/may 2024
 How I Tried To Stop Snoring

or – as I found out – being covered in point to whenever I indulged in a self-

wires that precariously cling to your pity wallow. I had wanted a quick fix,
body with every toss and turn. Many even if that meant strapping a glori-
thoughts can keep you up at night, fied bike pump to my face. Instead,
and in the lab I discovered a new one: what I got were consequences, which
“I sure hope that when I turned over, coalesce and compound and rever-
I didn’t ruin this experiment being berate, like a snore off the inner walls
performed on me.” of your throat. There is no guarantee
Another pressure point in the del- things will just work out: injuries
icate dance of the sleep stages is if worsen, tragedy happens, your girl-
there is an unceasing arrhythmic friend gets fed up with your snoring.
drip of an air conditioning unit the When you don’t sleep, it takes days to
entire night. recover.
I was woken up at 5.30am after My snoring has gotten worse since
maybe two hours of gruel-thin snooz- the study. Louder, more frequent.
ing. The wires were removed, and I Thankfully, Allison and I have fig-
strolled home in the dawn light, ured out a staggered sleep schedule
feeling like my sleep-wake cycle and that seems to work. Also, I’m exercis-
circadian rhythms were utterly and ing more, eating better and drinking
FOR completely
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because from t his study, I
After two months, the results of the learned that you are an accumulation
study came in. There was no sleep of everything you did before. Things
apnoea. I have what the report called aren’t just going to get better on their
‘mild primary snoring’. As far as the own. You have to take care of yourself
study could tell, there is no particu- and others. When you ate, what you
lar reason for it. Ageing, drinking too learned, how you slept: these things
much, and rapidly deteriorating neck matter. The person you are today
muscles are all it takes. The snoring builds from the person you were the
was simply the sound of time catch- day before.
ing up to me.
These were not the results I was FROM ‘HOW I TRIED TO STOP SNORING, FIX MY
SLEEP HABITS, AND CONFRONT MY MORTALITY’,
looking for. I had been hoping for a BY JORDAN FOISY, FROM THE WALRUS (MARCH 15,
condition, a disorder, something to 2023), © 2023, THE WALRUS. THEWALRUS.CA

Hair Raising
A New Zealand woman got an unexpected call from the police after
she was seen driving with a clump of hair hanging out of the boot
of her car. Fortunately the hair belonged to a mannequin. UPI.COM

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 HUMOUR

The Triumph Of
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THE BOOK
BY Richard Glover

T
he printed book is back. Recent I love the way we now judge print-
studies have shown that stu- ed books using the language of the
dents retain more information digital world. E-books may come
when they read a hard-copy book com- with a ‘suite of navigational tools’,
pared to reading on a digital device. but it turns out that the best navi-
ILLUS TR ATION: SAM ISL AND

One school near where I live re- gational devices are your forefinger
sponded to these findings by ditching and thumb. You can use them to flip
its e-readers. The students found, ac- the pages forwards and backwards.
cording to a teacher, that “the ease of To think, all this time, those devices
navigation” was superior when using have just been sitting there, dangling
a traditional book. at the end of your arm.

78 april/may 2024
 The Triumph Of The Book

Fans of digital books may point out my physique was transformed by the
that e-readers have a handy ‘search’ daily need to carry science textbooks.
tool. Old-fashioned books also have For me and my fellow students, plac-
a search function, in which you turn ing these weighty tomes in our back-
back to the opening chapter to remind packs would draw our shoulders back
yourself of the hero’s surname. They and our chests forward in a way that
even have a ‘bookmark system’, which turned the school into the equivalent
uses a device called a ‘bookmark’. of a military parade ground.
Can a traditional book offer all the The printed book, of course, has
features of an e-book? Alas, no. It other advantages. A full bookshelf
lacks a ‘progress bar’ indicating what is at once a sound base and a store
percentage of the book has been read. of knowledge. And any properly
Luckily, a hack is available: turn your thumbed book will always fall open at
book so that it can be viewed from the sexiest scene.
the side or top. It will naturally form Tidying guru Marie Kondo has said
two halves joined in the middle (the that she keeps about 30 books at any
spine). If the left-hand chunk is thick- one time. Those who follow Kondo’s
er than the right-hand one, you are example may have a less cluttered
more than halfway through. home, but a large, well-stocked book-
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Newspapers & Magazines is more meaningful. It’s a map
digital text is easy to annotate. Some of your life as a reader: the passions
devices even feature a little image of that passed and those that endured.
a pencil to guide the reader through There are books that introduced you
the process. Traditional-book users to other books, like friends at a party,
have a similar system called a ‘pen- and books that nursed you through
cil’. With it, favoured passages can difficult times.
be underlined and, if it’s a history Also, the smell of old books in a sec-
book, pretentious comments can be ond-hand bookshop is instantly evoca-
written in the margin, such as “Not tive. Yes, it’s a mix of mould and old pa-
so, according to The Decline and Fall per, but to me it represents possibility.
of the Roman Empire.” Spend an hour browsing, and you’ll be
Thus annotated, such books can sure to stumble across an out-of-print
be left around for others to peruse, book you thought you’d never find.
convincing family members, or pro- Educational fads come and go, so
spective lovers, of your intellectual maybe the shift back to traditional
perspicacity. Admittedly, e-books are books won’t last. But for the moment,
lighter than paper volumes, but one I find myself standing at attention,
must question whether this is really flexing my textbook-built shoulders
an advantage. In secondary school and saluting their glorious return.

rdasia.com 79
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

YOUR JOB IS

Looking for a career change?

Check out these unconventional gigs
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BY Susannah Hickling

PHOTO: IMGORTHAND/GET T Y IMAGES

80 april/may 2024
 INSPIRATION

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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Just another day in the office for Guillaume Pop

cool shades and Speedos to a groovy

soundtrack, Pop soon became a so-
THE WATERSLIDE TESTER cial-media sensation. He was hired
When the pool where he worked as a to ‘test’ slides and other facilities at
lifeguard near Paris was closed dur- water parks, swimming pools and
ing COVID-19, Guillaume Pop took campsites all over France. Today, he
jobs at various other pools that were has more than half a million follow-
virtually deserted. At one pool there ers on TikTok and his own real-life
PHOTO: COURTESY GUILL AUME POP

was a small waterslide, which gave waterslide-testing business. No longer

the 22-year-old former competitive working as a lifeguard, he travels the
swimmer an idea: he would make a country checking the condition of
TikTok video in which he pretend- waterslides, trying them out to deter-
ed to be a ‘professional waterslide mine how fun they are and creating
tester’. amusing videos to attract customers.
Shooting down a slide in hard hat “First of all, I check it without wa-
and hi-viz vest or smiling broadly in ter, to make sure it’s in an acceptable

82 april/may 2024
 Your Job Is What?

state,” explains Pop, who must keep her husband and two adult sons and
up-to-date on water-park regulations. their families. She has Sami roots, as
If he finds a waterslide needs work – do many of Finland’s reindeer herd-
for example, if there are bumpy joints, ers. They farm the animals principal-
which can hurt sliders – management ly for meat, which is considered both
will bring in a specialist repairer. “Af- healthy and ethical, but reindeer
ter that, I test it with water,” Pop says. tourism has also become an impor-
Then he moves on to the fun, tant source of revenue.
promotional aspect. Sometimes he “My family have been reindeer
takes over a leisure park and invites herders for at least nine genera-
social-media influencers to enjoy it tions,” says Ollila, 50. She started
too. In 2022, he took 25 influencers helping out when she was a young
to O’Gliss Park, an enormous water child, and her father-in-law only
park on the Atlantic coast. stopped herding at the age of 82,
Pop estimates he’s tested around shortly before his death.
700 French waterslides and is now Ollila lives 80 kilometres inside
eyeing water parks abroad, such as the Arctic Circle, an hour from Lap-
Switzerland, Portugal and Spain, land’s capital city, Rovaniemi, and
where he has been testing slides dur- seven kilometres from her nearest
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in the neighbour. Summer days – when the
world,” declares Pop, whose videos reindeer herders earmark newborn
have received 80 million views. “I’m calves – are long and in June the sun
not behind a desk. I’m active and never sets. At that time Ollila sleeps
outside in the sun. And I have a great during the day and walks up to 20
rapport with customers. In fact, all kilometres a night through marsh
the children tell me they want to be and forest, making the most of the
a waterslide tester!” cooler temperatures to do her work
but having to endure swarms of in-
sects along the way.
In deepest winter there is little
THE REINDEER HERDER daylight, though Ollila insists it’s not
Finnish Lapland, in the far north of dark. “The snow ref lects the star-
Europe, is home to some 180,000 peo- light,” she says. Many pastures are
ple – and around 200,000 reindeer. frozen and the reindeer move into
The animals live wild but each one the forest for protection against pred-
has an owner, identified by a tag on ators, including wolves, lynx, wolver-
its ear. Anne Ollila, one of 4000 such ines and golden eagles – the birds can
owners, works in the Finnish part of kill an adult reindeer. “Life is not easy
this harsh but beautiful region with here, but it’s how nature works,” says

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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Reindeer herder Anne Ollila with Rocky, who is famous for his curiosity

Ollila. In winter she trains reindeer Journey. Visitors can get close to the
to pull sleighs. animals in the wild or at their farm,
Her busiest times are early sum- watch them being trained to pull
mer, when earmarking takes place, sledges or take a sleigh ride.
and autumn, when she rounds up the “Reindeer are very smart animals,”
animals to vaccinate them and select Ollila says. “They have different per-
some for slaughter. “Reindeer are part sonalities, and some are very funny.”
of the ecosystem,” explains Ollila, who One of her favourites is Rocky, named
is also director of the Reindeer Herd- after the movie boxing legend. “He’s
ers’ Association. “They keep nature very curious and always in trouble,”
PHOTO: COURTESY ANNE OLLIL A

in balance, but if there are too many, she says. He once got himself wedged
there isn’t enough food for them. We in a pile of hay bales and had to be
have to control herds. Earlier genera- lifted out, and he has been known to
tions have taught us this.” walk off with the laundry rack on his
Ollila and her family, like many antlers – complete with his owners’
herders, offer tourists reindeer expe- drying underwear.
riences via their company Reindeer Ollila gave up her job as a sociology

84 april/may 2024
 Your Job Is What?

researcher at the University of Lap- aware cuddle therapy can’t replace

land in 2010 to devote herself to rein- medication or psychotherapy for
deer herding full time and has no people who have a serious mental
regrets. “I love the environment, the health issue, she saw how it could
animals and the freedom,” she says. bring benefits when used alongside
“Also, I have a sense of belonging to those treatments.
something bigger than me, to the Meyer started practising in Vien-
chain of life through the generations.” na as a sideline to her PhD studies
and university teaching and is now
a full-time cuddle therapist based
in Leipzig, Germany. She welcomes
clients to her studio where she talks
THE PROFESSIONAL to them for about ten minutes about
CUDDLER what they want from the session.
Elisa Meyer, 37, was studying philoso- Many are lonely, such as men with
phy and German literature in Austria social anxiety who are ill at ease
in 2016 when she read an article about with women; some are busy women
an emerging therapy in the United who simply want to relax.
States – cuddling. Cuddle therapy uses
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Elisa Meyer’s work harnesses the
healing benefits of touch
anxiety and stress levels and improve
PHOTO: COURTESY JERROGR APHIE & IZ A HEGEDÜS FOR DIE KUSCHEL KIS TEOF

confidence and self-esteem,” accord-

ing to Cuddle Professionals Interna-
tional, the training, certification and
membership body for practitioners.
Meyer, who is originally from Luxem-
bourg, was intrigued, having always
envisaged a career involving some
kind of therapy. “My first thought was,
‘Wow, this is the perfect job because I
can relax at the same time!’” she says
with a laugh.
But after doing two online cours-
es, Meyer realised cuddle therapy
was a serious profession. She came
away with two pages of strict rules
that establish boundaries, including
the fact that cuddle therapy has no
sexual element. And, while she was

rdasia.com 85
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

The rest of the session is spent in aspiring practitioners. “Sometimes

close contact on a bed or sofa. Meyer people have lost all joy in life and
might start by hugging a client from may be suicidal,” she says. “When I
behind and stroking their hair, some- see they have hope again, that is the
times massaging their neck if they biggest reward.”
are tense. The pair usually change
position once or twice during the 50-
or 80-minute cuddling session.
Cuddling releases oxytocin in the THE ZOMBIE TRAINER
body, she explains. “Your body feels Stevie Douglas estimates he’s trained
very relaxed and a bit like you are at least 1000 zombies over the past
floating. People have the feeling that ten years. The 52-year-old Scot has
everything is and will be okay. They taught people how to behave like all
smile a lot afterwards. Oxytocin is varieties of the undead. That includes
known as the ‘love’ hormone.” the slow, shambling zombies typical
Meyer reca lls one client who of films such as Night of the Living
couldn’t speak because of a problem Dead (1968) and the truly terrifying,
with his vocal cords. His voice came screaming ones who chase you as
back softly during a cuddle session. you run for your life.
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Fortunately, Douglas, a co-director
says. Just knowing he could still use his of the Glasgow-based Scare Scotland
voice to communicate and break out of Talent Agency, is very much alive, as
his isolation was very special for him. are all his pupils. He started out as a
She also takes cuddle therapy into ‘scare actor’, using his 1.9-metre frame
a home for adults with learning and to frighten people in interactive scare
physical challenges. People with mazes across the UK. “Before I knew it
physical disabilities are often keen to I was being hired to play various char-
talk about the pain they experience. acters, from serial killers to chain-
“They talk, I listen,” she says. saw-wielding maniacs,” says Douglas.
Besides being a good listener, what “Zombies came up a lot too.”
makes a successful cuddle therapist? A big fan of horror movies, Doug-
“You have to like humans and be a las noticed that the zombies he saw
trusting and positive person,” says in films were often unconvincing.
Meyer. “You have to read body lan- “Their movement was poor,” he says.
guage and be able to recognise what “I thought I could do better.” So, in
people want and adjust the way you 2012, he and a friend formed Scare
touch accordingly.” Scotland to prov ide zombies for
Meyer has written two books about films, television and events such as
cuddle therapy and now trains other horror conventions.

86 april/may 2024
 Your Job Is What?

Stevie Douglas in his Zombie days; (right) Douglas

training students at the Undead Academy

A year later they started a training people; imagine there’s a 1.2-metre

programme for aspiring zombies. It box around you, he tells them, and
took off when they received a request always stay at arm’s length from a
PHOTOS: COURTESY SCARE SCOTL AND (LEF T); BARRY DOUGL A S PHOTOGR APHY (RIGHT)

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of Z, member of the public.
a huge interactive production that ran Among the Academy’s alumni are
for three weeks in an underground car a couple of wrestlers and a heavily
park at the world-famous Edinburgh built, 2.1-metre-tall zombie. “When
Festival Fringe. The show was a hit. Big Ross scuttles from the corner,
Undead Academy classes are held you can see the fear in people’s eyes,”
in the upstairs room of a Glasgow jokes Douglas, who has worked on
theatre, where Douglas instructs stu- film sets teaching professional ac-
dents in different aspects of zombie tors how to play zombies. He insists
behaviour. He asks each one to stand Academy ‘graduates’ are not extras.
up, bend one leg inwards and drag “They’re skilled actors,” he says.
their heel, then lift their head up as “What they do is very specific.”
if it were attached to a piece of string They certainly have an effect.
and – voilà – you have a zombie who Douglas recalls an event in a park
can lurch forward. “The noise part is when a woman was so terror-stricken
easier,” says Douglas. on encountering a group of ‘zombies’
Typical zombie sounds include that she ran into a pond.
screams, wails, puffing and panting. But many people enjoy being petri-
He impresses on students the im- fied, says Douglas – and he’s happy to
portance of safety when frightening oblige them.

rdasia.com 87
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Humour On The Job

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CARTOON: PHIL WIT TE. ILLUS TR ATION (OPPOSITE): GE T T Y IMAGES.

“Yep, all the big supermarkets have a room for people caught tasting grapes.”

“Whoa, something smells good!” he

Accidental Master Chef
said. “What did I do wrong?”
During my army training, I worked SUBMITTED BY RICHARD T. FLOERSHEIMER
beside our company mess sergeant
as he prepared that evening’s supper. Twinkle Toes
After seasoning the meat and letting A woman named Silver Saundors
it slowly cook, he retired to his Friedman was a co-founder of The
quarters for a nap. Army chow is Improv, a famed New York comedy
decidedly not fine cuisine. club. But after her death her daughter
But when he came back two hours told The New York Times that early
later, he paused and inhaled the on her mother had wanted to be a
aromas emanating from the stove. singer. Born Silver Schreck, her mum

88 april/may 2024
 All In A Day’s Work

knew she’d need a new last name. got away with it had he only turned
But with a first name like Silver, she around to see the 40 uniformed
had to be careful what she changed it police officers milling about as part
to. She decided that Silver Saundors of their annual Shop with a Cop event
would be safe. But she was wrong. At with the children of the community.
her first audition after changing her NYPOST.COM
name, the casting director looked
out at the sea of actors and called out, GREAT RÉSUMÉS
“Silver Sandals! Silver Sandals!”
that got job applicants to the
Keeping Close Watch next step.
It’s a Sunday morning and our I once saw under Achievements on
preacher is giving his sermon. He’s a CV: “former world’s youngest
animated, waving his arms and person.” It made me laugh so much
slapping the lectern. Suddenly, he I gave the person an interview.
stops.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I have to do On a job application, my roommate
this.” As he monkeys around with wrote, “Can make three-minute
his watch, he advises, “Never slap ramen in 2:50.” He got the interview.
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In response to our posting for a
thinks you’ve fallen and need help.” software developer job, a candidate
SUBMITTED BY JOHN TIERNEY
wrote under Summary of
Qualifications:
Last Legs “22 years of experience as web
My uncle was in his 90s when he developer; BA in organisational
saw a doctor about his sore leg. After management; spent too much time
examining him, the doctor said with on the computer during childhood.”
a shrug, “You know, Mr Whitney, at He was hired within the week.
your age you have to expect things SOURCE: REDDIT.COM
like this.”
Uncle Charlie wasn’t buying it.
“Doc,” he said, “my other leg is the
same age, and it don’t hurt.”
SUBMITTED BY LINDA PERKINS

How Not To Get Arrested

A thief walked into a Walmart in
St Cloud, Florida, and, being a thief,
pocketed a few items. He might have

rdasia.com 89
 QUIZ

TASTE
The cuisines of the world
in 12 questions
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BY Doris Kochanek

90 april/may 2024
 Quiz
QUESTIONS

1
What we eat doesn’t just depend a) a mushroom pie
on individual taste and budget; b) a sauerkraut stew
religious dietary regulations also c) a sausage in beer batter
play a role, some of which date back d) potato salad
thousands of years. The regulations

5
of which world religion prohibits the Using up leftovers is a tradi-
consumption of rabbits? tion in many kitchens around
a) Hinduism the world. French toast and
b) Islam shepherd’s pie are good examples of
c) Christianity this. Chilaquiles from Mexico also
d) Judaism falls into this category. At which dai-
ly meal, consisting of tortillas, red

2
On the Korean peninsula you or green tomato sauce and cheese,
can’t ignore kimchi. Ferment- would you enjoy this dish?
ed cabbage adds ex t ra f la- a) breakfast
vour to almost every dish in North b) lunch
and South Korea. Many families c) dinner
make it themselves. Wearing gloves d) supper
prevents...

6
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of the cabbage In Japan, a five-course meal
b) burning the skin sometimes consists of five dif-
c) impurities in the cabbage ferent fish dishes. The follow-
d) discolouration of the hands ing four delicacies also often include
seafood among their ingredients.

3
Cured meat, matje herring, One of them, however, does not orig-
beetroot and potatoes are the inate from Japan. W hat dish was
main ingredients in the tradi- introduced by Portuguese Catholic
tional northern German dish labs- missionaries in the 16th century?
kaus. This mixture supposedly helps a) ramen
prevent... b) gyoza
a) a hangover c) tempura
b) athlete’s foot d) sushi
c) stomach pain

7
d) constipation Several countries in West Africa
PHOTOS: GET T Y IMAGES

claim jollof rice as a part of their

4
Every amateur and home cook local cuisine, and should not be
in Poland can prepare bigos. missing from any celebration. In Ni-
This ‘unofficial’ national dish geria or Senegal, certain ingredients
is essentially what? are indispensable. Are they…?

rdasia.com 91
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

10
a) peanuts and okra In this country, sweet cin-
b) tomatoes and onions namon bread rolls in the
c) warthog and hippopotamus meat shape of snails are an in-
d) chillies and lime tegral part of everyday life. Since
1999 there has even been a holiday

8
In East Africa, sukuma is con- dedicated to them. Which nation
sidered particularly nutritious celebrates Cinnamon Roll Day on
and healthy. The green-leafed October 4th?
vegetable is similar to spinach and a) Malaysia
is often referred to as sukuma wiki. b) Türkiye
Some Kenyans suspect their tradi- c) Singapore
tional diet is the secret behind the d) Sweden
success of their country’s long-dis-

11
tance runners. Sukuma wiki is Swa- You can eat them all over
hili and means... Italy, but the best cannoli
a) grows wings are definitely found in Sicily,
b) makes feet quick where the fried dough rolls are filled
c) extends the week with flavoured ricotta. The milk of
d) strong will what animal is used to make the
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Sicilian ricotta?

9
Whipped cream, fruit, meringue a) buffalo
– if the thought of that makes b) sheep
your mouth water, you should c) goat
definitely try a pavlova. Both Aus- d) camel
tralia and New Zealand claim to have

12
invented this dessert. One thing is Strolling through Taipei’s
certain, this dessert is named in hon- famous night market will
our of Anna Pavlova, who visited both definitely make you hungry.
countries in the 1920s. Who was she? The Taiwanese like to fortify them-
a) the wife of the last tsar selves with zhu xie gao. What is this
b) a prima ballerina local specialty?
c) Lenin’s girlfriend a) fried scorpions
d) a Russian chef b) sticky rice dumpling
c) pork blood cake on a stick
d) fermented tofu

Flavoured ricotta in fried rolls of dough:

the best cannoli are eaten in Sicily

92 april/may 2024
 93 rdasia.com april/may 2024 93
ANSWERS
As with many other dish-
7b) es around the globe, jollof
The dietary regulations in rice varies in preparation from re-
1d) Judaism prohibit the con- gion to region and from family to
sumption of mammals that do not family. Yet tomatoes and onions are
chew their cud nor have four feet essential ingredients everywhere.
with cloven hooves. For these rea-
Translated from Swahili,
sons, rabbits have no place in ko-
8c) sukuma w ik i means ‘ex-
sher cuisine.
tends the week’. The vegetable is a
When making kimchi, salt- staple food in East Africa and is af-
2b) ed cabbage is mixed with fordable for everyone.
fish sauce and chili paste. The latter
The sweet dessert is named
can burn the skin.
9b) after Anna Pavlova, a fa-
Labskaus consists of mous Russian prima ballerina. Al-
3a) corned beef, potatoes and most 100 years after her death in
onion, and is said to help a hang- 1931, the dancer is still remembered
over by alleviating the unpleasant in the world of ballet.
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physical symptoms that drinking
Like many dishes, the
too much alcohol causes.
10d) cinnamon roll has many
Bigos, a stew w it h sau- different forms. In Sweden, however,
4b) erkraut, is the unofficial it has its own holiday: October 4th is
Polish national dish. There is no Kanelbullens Day.
official one.
Real Sicilian cannoli are
Chilaquiles is usually eaten 11b) filled with ricotta made
5a) for breakfast in Mexico. from sheep’s milk.
The preparation of tempu- Z hu x ie g ao i s pork
6c) ra – snacks fried in batter, 12c) blood cake on a stick. If
goes back to Jesuit missionaries you shudder, you should remember
from Portugal who settled in Na- that the kitchens of many countries
gasaki in the 16th century. During have dishes containing anima l
Lent t hey were forbidden to eat blood such as Germany’s blood sau-
meat, so they feasted on fried fish. sages and England’s black pudding.
Quiz
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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94 april/may 2024
 BONUS READ

A SCAMMER’S
TARGET:
MY
MOTHER
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The caller told her she was in
trouble but he could help.
She fell for it. It took us
months to recoup her money
– and her dignity

BY Becca Andrews

FROM WIRED
P H O T O I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y
KL AWE R ZEC Z Y

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Hello?
Someone has access
to your bank accounts
through Amazon, and they
can take all your money.
I’m calling to help.

O
ne December morning, my with COVID-19, isolated from her
mother’s phone rang. She community, and she missed the
tugged the phone from the sound of a friendly voice.
FOR
holster sheNewspapers
More kept clipped to the& waist
Magazines https://t.me/PaperMagzine
She tried to steady herself. The man
of her jeans and wondered who said he needed information to make
might be calling. Perhaps someone sure the money was safe. He trans-
from church was checking in on her ferred her to a different male voice –
recovery from COVID-19. “Hello?” again soothing, reassuring, calm. She
she said. promised not to hang up.
The voice that greeted her was A brain injur y decades earlier
masculine. The caller sounded con- made it hard for her to follow his in-
cerned, and he told her something structions, but she tried. The voice
was wrong with her Amazon ac- explained slowly, carefully, how to
count. “Someone has access to your swipe and tap on her phone until she
bank accounts through Amazon, had installed an app that allowed
and they can take all your money,” him to see what was happening on
he told her. “I’m calling to help.” her screen. Now he followed her
Her mind raced. The voice was every move.
warm and reassuring, and my mum After some hours, she mentioned
tried to focus closely on his words. she had to relieve herself. “It’s OK.
My dad was driving to work, and I’ll stay on the line,” he said. She put
she was home alone. She had been down the phone outside the bath-
cooped up in the house for weeks room and picked it back up when she

96 april/may 2024
 A Scammer’s Target: My Mother

was done. As noon approached, she “Why would you do that? You can’t
told him, “I have to eat.” tell anyone! What if he’s in on it?” She
“I’ll wait. It’s OK. Don’t hang up, or felt confused. That didn’t make any
we’ll lose all our progress.” sense. But she also didn’t fully trust
She set the phone down on the herself. She was worn out from her
counter to make a sandwich, then slow recovery, and the steroids she
pulled some chips from a cupboard was taking as treatment gave her a
and padded over to the kitchen table. hollow buzz of energy.
The phone buzzed with a text – A 20-minute drive away, my dad
it was my father, checking in. She sat at his desk in the office of a car
typed back that there was a problem manufacturing plant. Reading her
but that she was fixing it; she had it message, he felt a prickle of anxiety.
all taken care of. She tapped the tiny But he, too, was on the mend from
white arrow next to the message field COVID-19, and his mind felt foggy.
to send her reply, and then she heard He had recently started a new job
the voice on the phone, its volume as a manager at the factory, and he
elevated. It sounded angry. was still figuring out his colleagues

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PHOTO ILLUS TR ATIONS: ALL GE T T Y IMAGES

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 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

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and their processes. He got another She downloaded Coinbase, a crypto-

message, this one from a co-worker, currency exchange platform. She set
and he forgot about his wife’s text. up Zelle, another payment app, so
He adjusted his mask and switched she could easily send money directly
to composing an email he had been from her bank account.
meaning to send. She didn’t recognise all the names,
but she wrote down her new pass-
AT HOME, MY MOTHER DUG OUT words in the margins of her doc-
her worn, printed-out packet of pass- ument. As the afternoon wore on,
words from a pile of books and old she wished for a nap. “We’re almost
church bulletins on a side table and done,” the man assured her.
flipped through its curling pages. She “He’s going to be home soon, my
returned to her chair in the kitchen husband will be home soon,” my
and followed along as the man told mother said.
her where to enter them. She tapped She just wanted to be finished and
to install Cash App, a mobile pay- then to never think about it again.
ment service. She opened up PayPal. The technology made her feel as if

98 april/may 2024
 A Scammer’s Target: My Mother

she were fumbling in the dark, and people for help. I pleaded. I raged. I
she was reluctant to ask more ques- started to wish the app companies
tions. Outside, the sun had dipped could take a page from our scam-
below the wooden fence surrounding mer. While he had come across as
the backyard, and the house had fall- friendly and reassuring, I got chilly
en into a gloom when the man finally half-replies or, just as often, silence.
ended the call. By the end, all I wanted was for some-
That night, when my father got one to show some empathy – to say,
home, he noticed right away that perhaps, “I’m calling to help. It’s OK.
something was off. My mother was We’re almost done. I’ll stay with you
jittery and kept fussing with gadgets until we’re done.”
on the kitchen counters. Food sat out
on the stove, and he was hungry, but
he suddenly remembered the text
from earlier. “What happened to-
day?” he asked. I can’t remember.
She shook her head. “You don’t I don’t know what
need to do anything. I got it all taken to do … This was so
care of,” she said. stupid. I can’t believe
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taken care of?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you.” I did this. So stupid.
My mother thought she had la-
boured for hours doing what was
necessar y to protect herself and
her family. Instead, the scammer AT THE TIME MY PARENTS MET, my
had siphoned away all her person- mother was recovering from a trau-
al information – her Social Security matic car crash that left her with fre-
number, date of birth, driver’s licence quent partial seizures, which made it
number – and about US$11,000. harder for her to concentrate. But she
The new financial apps she’d in- managed to become one of the rare
stalled were all portals through women to graduate with a civil engi-
which more of my parents’ money neering degree. A year later, my dad
could flow into strangers’ hands. graduated and joined the US Navy as
In the next months, my father and a mechanical engineer, and they got
I tried the best we could to undo the married.
damage. It was a frustrating journey. After that, my mother’s seizures
Getting scammed was dehumanis- began to worsen. When they moved
ing on its own, but so were the hours to a military base, the state denied
spent begging customer ser v ice her a driver’s licence, and she was

rdasia.com 99
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

devastated. She visited doctors and angry when she forgot where she
underwent extensive testing. Doctors had placed her keys. Ever since then,
gave her two choices. She could take I have felt a responsibility to protect
medication to help control the sei- my mother from what my dad calls
zures, but she would still be unable ‘two-legged monsters’ – people who
to drive. Or she could undergo a risky sniff out weakness and prey on her
surgery to remove the scar tissue on friendly, open nature.
her brain and, with luck, end the sei-
zures. Once my little sister and I were THE EV EN ING OF THE PHONE
born, she realised she needed to be CA LL, my father again asked my
able to drive. She got the surgery. mother about her text message, and
Her recovery was tough. She ping- the story spilled out. His stomach
in knots, he swept past the food on
the stove to the living room to grab
Now they have your his iPad. He sank into his creak y
address. Make sure recliner and pulled up their bank
accounts. He could see the with-
Mum knows not to open drawals: US$10,000 to Coinbase,
the door for anyone she US$999 to Zelle, US$70 to Cash App.
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reason – perhaps to cause
con f usion – US$20 0 0 had been
moved from their savings account
to a credit union they used. He felt
ponged between unspeakable fury queasy.
and unstoppable tears. Her short-term He phoned their bank and spent
memory was unreliable, and she had the next few hours on the line. My
a hard time reading text. At bedtime mother, agitated, perched on the
she liked to read to me, but she often armrest beside him, trying to recall
stumbled on the words and glared her conversations with the scam-
at them in frustration. When she got mers. “I can’t remember. I don’t know
stuck on a page, I would pick up where what to do,” she said repeatedly. The
she had left off and tell the tale from bank representative helped them de-
memory, hoping to soothe her. activate Zelle but did nothing about
After about a year, she recovered, the $999 transferred through it.
and her life went back to normal. But When the call ended, my parents
as more time passed, I again noticed huddled around her phone and
her struggling with basic tasks. She thumbed through the unfamiliar
became overwhelmed fixing meals payment apps. They eventually ze-
that once were routine, and she got roed in on changing their passwords.

100 april/may 2024

 A Scammer’s Target: My Mother

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They turned to the printed list of nap. I had barely closed my eyes
passwords, but neither of my parents when the phone rang.
could decipher my mother’s notes. “Hello!” he said, his voice uncan-
“This was so stupid. I can’t believe I nily chipper.
did this. So stupid,” she said, again “H i,” I a n s wered c aut iou s l y.
and again. When my dad finally sat “What’s wrong?”
down to eat, he lifted his fork to his “I just need to talk something
mouth without tasting much. That through and figure out how to handle
night, they barely slept. it,” my dad said. His voice dropped
a half-octave as he abandoned his
THE NE XT DAY, M Y FATHER DID cheery tone and gave me the basic
what many parents with tech prob- outline. His lunch break was ending
lems do. He called one of his children soon, so we agreed to continue the
– me. I was on a work trip that kept conversation later. Feeling antsy, I
me frantically busy, and I had just poured myself a glass of water and
given in to the urge to take a short paced around my room, thinking.

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Then I sat down at my laptop and the line with their bank, and that
started to type. night – fortunately – learned he could
“Some privacy thoughts,” I wrote recoup nearly US$10,000.
to my dad. “Now they have your ad- The next day, I called my mother to
dress. Make sure she knows not to ask for her version of the events. Her
open the door for anyone she doesn’t reply was simple, and the pain be-
know.” I ticked off more items: con- hind her words was clear. “I did a stu-
tact Experian, a credit monitoring pid thing,” she said. “I’m so stupid.”
agency; shut down the accounts for Her words rang in my head. Right
the apps she’d installed; contact the then my mother needed a daughter,
tax office in case of identity theft. not a technical assistant. My mind
That night, after work, my dad jumped to skipping my flight home to
called back, and together, we set up California, renting a car and driving
fraud alerts through Experian. My to their home in Tennessee to reas-
father texted me the password to my sure her in person. But I was due back
mother’s PayPal account, and I man- at work, and I headed to the airport
aged to shut it down. He got back on instead.

102 april/may 2024

 A Scammer’s Target: My Mother

That day has become a clear de- worked – the company told me to send
marcation in time for me. Sure, we a message with more details. That day
got most of the money back. But I no I messaged back and forth with Cash
longer trust that my parents are safe. App ‘support’, and I rehashed all the
That’s why, in the following year, I things I’d already tried or been told to
moved so that I could live closer to try. I was fully caffeinated and at the
them. end of my tether, which meant my
For weeks and months after the messages had some... personality.
phone call, I sank into deeper and “I know this is not your fault,” I
deeper levels of customer service typed, “but it is really frustrating that
hell as I tried to close the remaining there is not a better way to resolve
accounts. The worst experience was this – I cannot be the first person to
trying to close my mother’s Cash App experience this.” Indeed, I was not: in
account, which we feared the scam- the first year of the pandemic, fraud-
mers might still access. For a while, related complaints to the Federal
my correspondent at Cash App kept Trade Commission, the US govern-
addressing me in emails as “Jenith,” ment’s consumer protection agency,
which is neither my name nor my against Cash App ballooned 427 per
mother’s. cent. (A company spokesperson says
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Newspapers & Magazines App has since improved its
seem to get clear guidance. I emailed. fraud-detection capabilities.)
I called. I was transferred to several To my surprise, I got an acknowl-
agents, all of whom had different edgment: “We totally hear you, and
thoughts on the matter. One suggest- we will do everything we can to help
ed I send documentation declaring out here. If those steps don’t work,
my mother dead. Another advised just let us know, and we’ll try other
gaining legal guardianship over her. options here.” I felt a flicker of opti-
Cash App, for the record, is owned mism – what a curious, enchanting
by Block, which is worth roughly thing, this glint of humanity on the
$55 billion and is clearly not short other end.
on resources. I understand why they That conversation guided me to do
were reluctant to help – I was not, something I probably should have
after all, my mother – but I grew in- done months earlier, but didn’t think
creasingly frustrated at what seemed of in the anxiety of it all: download
a superhuman lack of empathy. the app and sign in as my mother.
Finally, I tagged the company in an The reason I couldn’t easily close
exasperated tweet. Such measures the account, I came to realise, was
have always seemed tacky to me, like that the scammer had left my mother
throwing a tantrum in public. But it with a negative balance of $20 and had

rdasia.com 103
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

also bought a small amount in bitcoin, money just because they could,” he
which was still sitting in her account. said to me. “They’ll never be held
The Cash App representative sug- accountable, ever.” (He’s right. Most
gested I sell the bitcoin to pay off the scammers never get caught.)
negative balance and send whatever It’s very likely that my mother’s
was left back to my mother’s bank. brain injury made her more vulnera-
Then I could be free of the company. ble to predation. Studies have shown
Sitting at my desk, I tapped the but- that people with mild cognitive im-
ton to sell the bitcoin and used the pairment may be more susceptible
proceeds to escape the Cash App uni- to scams, particularly if they struggle
verse. with episodic memory and percep-
“I cannot tell you what a relief this tion speed. But that doesn’t make her
is,” I typed into my message thread. as exemplary as you might think. The
“AHH! So happy to hear this, Becca!” ageing process is not kind to most
my Cash App Support friend typed brains – shrinking the prefrontal cor-
back. “Apologies for the stressful start tex that helps orchestrate thoughts
there, but we’re so glad this has final- and weakening neural connections.
ly been resolved for you.” It’s a fact that older adults, who
Seated at my desk, I pushed back have had more time to accumulate
FOR
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my keyboard, & aMagazines
and let out https://t.me/PaperMagzine
gut- assets, lose the most money to scam-
tural sigh of long-simmering anxiety mers. In this respect, my mother is
leaving my body. It had taken three very normal.
months to close the account. But it’s the mental and emotional
fallout that worries me now. Recently,
MY FATHER IS PETRIFIED OF THE I spoke with Carrie Kerskie, a private
FUTUR E . He has sweat y, terrif y- investigator who works on internet
ing nightmares in which he loses fraud cases. Kerskie says she’s seen
everything he has worked so hard clients who, like my mother, blame
to put away. He reads articles about themselves, and that the internal-
hackers and digital security, but he ised shame can twist into something
doesn’t understand all of it, so he more sinister – paranoia, broken re-
sends the links to me. When he was lationships, even suicide.
told to buy shirts for his work uni- “Everyone thinks it’s just money,”
form through PayPal, he couldn’t she says. “It’s huge psychologically,
bring himself to do it, so I bought because people think How did I fall
them for him. My dad, the bravest, for this?” Kerskie says victims worry
smartest man I know, is now scared obsessively that the bad guys will
of the internet. show up at their door and try to hurt
“It’s as if they took my time and them. They can’t sleep. They stop

104 april/may 2024

 A Scammer’s Target: My Mother

eating. “A lot of times, they have to I turned to look at my mother, who

take time off work to try to recover was at the kitchen table, updating
from this, and then they lose their
jobs. It’s a horrible downward spiral.”
I flash back to my mother’s haunt-
ing words: “I did a stupid thing. I’m
Another scammer
so stupid.” Like so many of us, she called your mama. She
assumed a scam is something aimed did the right thing,
at the gullible, something to ‘fall for’ though. She hung up on
rather than a crime with a victim and
a perpetrator.
them and called me.
“She didn’t ‘fall for it,’” Kerskie says
firmly. “She was manipulated.”

AFTER I MOVED INTO AN APART-

MENT a two-hour drive from my par- the to-do list she uses to shore up her
ents’ home, I made a quick trip out memory. She looked at me and we
to see them. I was helping them sort smiled. These days, our conversa-
through the affairs of my recently tions tend to be short. We rely on dif-
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languages to express our love.
thing I had come back to do. While we I don’t know that she’ll hang up
were digging through stacks of his pa- the next time a perpetrator calls.
pers, my dad mentioned, “You know, But as I watched her dig through a
another scammer called your mama.” pile of paperwork, I felt deep in my
My head snapped up. bones that the only way for ward
“She did the right thing, though,” was together.
he said. “She hung up on them and BECCA ANDREWS, WIRED (FEBRUARY 3, 2022)
called me.” © CONDÉ NAST

Love Language
Couples are saying adios to dating apps in favour of searching for
romance on Duolingo – a language learning app that allows you
to connect with more than nime million daily users. Among the
recent matches: Rob Ciesielski, 43, from the US, who was learning
Spanish and Amanda Lopez, 38, of the Philippines, studying
Mandarin. After Lopez excelled, Ciesielski started congratulating
her on her stellar advances – and love bloomed. NEW YORK POST

rdasia.com 105
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PUZZLES
Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind
stretchers, then check your answers on page 110.

Crossword
Test your general
knowledge.

DOWN
2 Residence (5)
3 Sheers off (5,4)
4 Often bought with
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5 Communicator
before texts and
smartphones (5)
6 Recall past
experiences (9)
7 Within the rules (5)
8 Inner city, perhaps (5,4)
CROSSWORD AND SUDOKU: CROSSWORDSITE.COM
ACROSS 14 Like Gabriel, for
1 Not well organised (6) 18 In the proper manner (4) example (9)
5 Fraught with danger (8) 19 Group who stick it to the 15 Dry run (9)
9 Like most lunch breaks (4-4) ball (6,4) 16 And so on (3)
10 Longtime Zimbabwean 20 Grandstanders (10) 17 Scholar to sort out
24 Pet that’s often aloof (4) where to learn to paint
leader (6)
(3,6)
11 Sticky snares (4) 26 Landing places (6)
21 Bluff (5)
12 Sparsely distributed 27 Develops and utilises (8)
22 Bakers? (5)
amount (10) 28 Character sketches (8)
23 Mawkish (5)
13 Female flight attendant (10) 29 Called loudly (6)
25 Right of ownership (5)
17 Imperial field measure (4)

106 april/may 2024

 BRAIN POWER
brought to you by
Puzzle
Answers
PAGE 110

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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

FAMILY FUN Puzzle

Answers
PAGE 110

Spot The Difference

There are 14 differences. Can you find them?

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Balancing Act
How many flowers are needed to balance scale C?

ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES

108 april/may 2024

 TRIVIA

1. Pumpkins are berries. True or 8. In Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,

false? 1 point and elsewhere in Asia, pencak silat
2. What nocturnal bird found is a popular type of martial art. True
in South and Central America is or false? 1 point
nicknamed the ‘ghost bird’ due to its 9. What historical figure is said to
large eyes and haunting call? 2 points have posted an influential statement
3. Which Australian city briefly held on a church door in Germany on
the names Batmania and Bearbrass October 31, 1571, now known as
before settling on its current name Reformation Day? 2 points
in 1837? 2 points 10. Among what famous wreckage
4. In which Central Asian country is was the rust-eating bacteria
the Darvaza gas crater, a geological Halomonas titanicae discovered in
formation also known as the ‘Gates 2010? 1 point
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11. What term, which today
2 points describes a person averse to new
5. For security reasons, baristas technology, was inspired by the
who work at a Starbucks located likely fictional leader of a group
in Langley, Virginia, do not take of textile workers who revolted
customers’ names with an order. In against industrialisation in early
what US federal building is it 1800s England? 2 points
located? 1 point 12. What chemical
6. The Indian subcontinent element within a star’s
moves northward about five core gradually decreases,
centimetres a year, causing causing the star to
what landmark to grow even appear brighter and
taller? 1 point increase in size,
7. How many time 13. Popular dishes puto (Philippines,
and become what
above), chin som mok (Thailand) and
zones exist in natto (Japan) have what preparation is known as a red
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

China? 1 point technique in common? 2 points giant? 2 points

16-20 Gold medal 11-15 Silver medal 6-10 Bronze medal 0-5 Wooden spoon
13. Fermentation.
7. One. 8. True. 9. Martin Luther. 10. RMS Titanic. 11. Luddite (after Ned Ludd). 12. Hydrogen.
ANSWERS: 1. True. 2. The great potoo. 3. Melbourne.4. Turkmenistan. 5. CIA HQ. 6. Mount Everest.

rdasia.com 109
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PUZZLE ANSWERS
From Page 106

Crossword

Sudoku

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CROSSWORD AND SUDOKU: CROSSWORDSITE.COM; ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES

Spot The Difference Balancing Act
Answer: 9
Each leaf has a value of 8, each
pot a value of 11 and each flower a
value of 3, so 9 flowers are needed
to balance scale C.

110 april/may 2024

 WORD POWER
For Short
We’re all about keeping it brief with a round-up of
useful acronyms from the worlds of HR, IT and others

BY Samantha Rideout

1. TBD – A: to be determined. C: access to basic care.

B: terribly bad day. C: tactical
business development. 9. URL – A: uniform resource
locator. B: underground racing
2. ESL – A: earnings, savings and league. C: upper range limit.
loans. B: elementary-school level.
C: English as a second language. 10. ROM – A: royal order of merit.
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B: rate of mortality.
3. DOE – A: date of event. C: range of motion.
B: depends on experience.
C: day off due to exhaustion. 11. SPF – A: sensor pixel format.
B: sun-protection factor.
4. P&L – A: parsley and lemon. C: single-parent family.
B: position and location.
C: profit and loss. 12. SFPF – A: system for physical
fitness. B: salty, fast or processed
5. GMO – A: genetically modified food. C: smoke-free, pet-free.
organism. B: give me one.
C: guaranteed mail order. 13. TMI – A: test of machine
intelligence. B: too much
6. SEP – A: someone else’s problem. information. C: toxic materials index.
B: solar energy production.
C: seismic event prediction. 14. LCD – A: low-cholesterol diet.
B: liquid-crystal display.
7. PS – A: print supplement. C: local courier delivery.
B: postscript. C: parting statement.
15. JGI – A: just Google it.
8. ABC – A: against book censorship. B: junior-grade infantry.
B: airway, breathing and circulation. C: judgement of guilt or innocence.

rdasia.com 111
 R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Answers
1. TBD – (A) to be determined. 9. URL – (A) uniform resource locator.
The band’s exact dates and venues After his new TV stopped working,
for their summer tour to Australia, Ravneet typed in the URL of the store’s
New Zealand and Japan are TBD. website to check the return policy.
2. ESL – (C) English as a second 10. ROM – (C) range of motion.
language. Mr Jacobs read through Debbie worried about losing the
the exercise slowly to help his ESL ROM in her arthritic shoulder.
students follow along.
11. SPF – (B) sun-protection factor.
3. DOE – (B) depends on experience. Bill’s skin burned easily, so he always
Andréanne felt hesitant to apply for chose a high-SPF sunscreen.
jobs that listed the salary as DOE.
12. SFPF – (C) smoke-free, pet-free.
4. P&L – (C) profit and loss. Used furniture sells more easily when
Every publicly traded company it’s advertised as coming from an
must issue P&L financial statements SFPF home.
regularly.
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13. TMI https://t.me/PaperMagzine
– (B) too much information.
5. GMO – (A) genetically modified Nellie wondered if some of the
organism. GMO foods currently details in the funny family story
available on the international market she shared with her workmates
have passed safety assessments and were TMI.
are not likely to present risks for
14. LCD – (B) liquid-crystal display.
human health.
The salesperson rattled on about
6. SEP – (A) someone else’s problem. the advantages of LCD TV screens
Malcolm dismissed the fallen stop such as vibrant colour and energy
sign as SEP and kept walking. efficiency.
7. PS – (B) postscript. Sara added 15. JGI – (A) just Google it.
a hasty PS to her email after When his older brother texted him
realising she’d left out a key piece of asking how to boil an egg, Pranjal
information. told him: JGI.
8. ABC – (B) airway, breathing and
circulation. The paramedic checked VOCABULARY RATINGS
Lev’s ABCs and concluded he 5–9: Fair
wouldn’t need cardiopulmonary 10–12: Good
resuscitation (CPR). 13–15: Word Power Wizard

112 april/may 2024

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