Reader's Digest Asia 12.2021

Go With The Flow

And while Professor Slingerland You’re not going to strike up that
admits that leaving those gaps is defi- interesting conversation with the
nitely trickier if you’re juggling things person next to you in line if both
like work, taking care of family mem- of your faces are buried in your
bers or a busy volunteering schedule, phones. And you’re not going to
even just having the mental goal of notice that you’ve just passed a
not overscheduling yourself can help scrumptious-looking new bakery if
change your approach. Many rabid you’re too busy checking email as
list checkers (guilty!) might also be you scurry by.
initially baffled as to how to put this
into practice. EMBRACE FAILURE

“Spontaneity is this weird combina- Learning not to fear failure is a
tion of trying and not trying,” says Pro- daunting but essential step in the
fessor Slingerland. He suggests giving path to becoming more spontaneous.
yourself a very loose goal – like, say, “The hardest thing for a non-sponta-
going for a walk without a particular neous person is going to be that risk,”
destination, or just writing ‘leaving the says Professor Joordens.
house’ on your agenda – to help build
the scaffolding for interesting things Even though we’re not necessari-
to happen. ly talking about capital-B Big Risks
here, even making small changes to
You just have to get comfortable your routine can be enough. Your
with the idea that you might not al- partner might not like that new bed-
ways be ‘accomplishing’ something, room design idea; you will perhaps
per se. look silly if you take up tap dancing
(OK, you will look silly); it could be
Another quick way to give spon- a flop if you stream that movie you
taneity a fighting chance is to stop know nothing about.
scrolling. Screen time, says Profes-
sor Slingerland, is a “black hole” for The trick, says Professor Joordens,
adults and children alike. is to take a cue from the entrepre-
neurial world and try to reconcep-
“Digital addiction is a real barrier tualise failure as a learning oppor-
to spontaneity,” he adds. The mod- tunity.
ern instinct to reach for our devices
at the first hint of empty time (guilty “Entrepreneurs embrace failure
again!) eats up both actual time and the notion of learning from it,”
when we could be engaging with he says. “The upside is if you’re spon-
our environment in a more present taneous, you’re more likely to discov-
way and the sudden mental break- er something new, and that could
throughs that can occur when we let turn out to be something you really
our minds wander. love.”

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READER’S DIGEST

Jenga! PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; (PLEXIGLASS) LOUIS VUITTON

Who invented Jenga, what
does it mean and what’s the
best way to play it?

BY V. Kumara Swamy

When Leslie Scott’s
family moved to Ghana
in the ’70s, they used
to play a game with
small wooden blocks sourced from
a sawmill near her home. When
she moved to England a few years
later, she brought a few sets of
these wooden blocks with her and
introduced the game among her
friends in Oxford.

“I took the game to a London toy
show in 1983. I’d grown up speaking
Swahili and gave it the name Jenga,
which means ‘build’,” says Scott in
an interview with The Guardian.
And that’s how Jenga was born.

After initial hiccups, the game
finally took off when it was
introduced at the Toronto toy
fair in 1986. What is particularly
remarkable about Jenga’s success

50 december 2021

is that it caught the imagination of Louis Vuitton’s multi-coloured
buyers when computer games were luxury version of Jenga
already becoming popular.
plexiglass blocks, wooden blocks
This is how Scott describes the are just fine. After all, the excitement
game’s popularity in The Guardian is the same.
interview: “It took off in Canada
and the US, but I didn’t know it was If you want to ace the game, Scott
big in Britain until I went into a toy has some tips. Speaking to WIRED
shop near Oxford with my sister magazine, she advised players not
one day. There was a Jenga on the to rush and focus on individual
shelf. A woman picked it up and my moves. “With Jenga, you lose it rather
sister shrieked: ‘That’s my sister’s than win it. Each brick is a slightly
game!’ And the woman clutched it to different size and weight, so every
her chest and said: ‘No, it isn’t – it’s time you assemble a tower of bricks,
mine!’ I got such a kick out of that.” it’s a different game,” she said.

KNOW YOUR GAME Enjoy playing!

Jenga is a fairly simple game. Fifty-
four rectangular blocks are stacked
in 18 layers of three blocks each.
A player removes one block at a time
and places it on the top of the stack;
if the tower collapses, you lose.

The world record for the tallest
Jenga tower is 44 levels. The popular
game has made an appearance in
several films, including The Firm,
which starred Tom Cruise. And if you
are a fan of the hugely popular TV
show Big Bang Theory, chances are
you would have spotted a Jenga in an
episode.

Jenga is not limited to
wooden blocks though. In
2019, luxury fashion label
Louis Vuitton designed
Jenga blocks that were made
of plexiglass. For the most
of us who cannot afford the

rdasia.com 51

READER’S DIGEST

I Am The

FOOD ON
YOUR
PLATE

Sweet, sour,
gorgeous

Cherries

BY Diane Godley

You would be hard pressed – and as mentioned previously, fla- PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
to find anyone who didn’t vours – sweet (Prunus avium) – and
like me. At the risk of sour (Prunus cerasus).
sounding arrogant, I
would say that most peo- My sweet varieties are most like-
ple adore me – if not for my delicious ly what you’re more familiar with.
plump red fruit, then for my attrac- Ripening just in time for Christmas,
tive spring blossoms. And regardless I am devoured (I say ‘devoured’ be-
of whether you have a sweet tooth or cause realistically, who can stop at
a savoury palate, my sweet and sour just one or two?) fresh out of the box
varieties satisfy all. Yes, I, cherry, am and bring a festive cheer to any din-
much beloved. ing table. And when found in pairs,
children just love to dangle me from
While I am often thought of as a their ears for an impromptu pair of
berry, I am actually a small stone ruby-red earrings.
fruit. I come in a variety of colours
– from yellow to deep blackish-red My sour varieties have a high
acid content, making anyone game

52 december 2021

enough to try them fresh screw up throw their own celebrations. Timing

their face – and mostly likely spit is everything with these festivals, as

them out. Regardless of their tart- my blossoms are short-lived – usually

ness, you humans are so in love with lasting just two weeks – and the date

me you found a way to make this changes from year to year depending

acerbic dark-red drupe more pal- on my capricious ways, and when I

atable. Old sourpuss is frozen and decide to flower. In Japan, the entire

canned, and added to sauces, pas- country keeps a keen eye on my trees,

tries and even turned into Maraschi- waiting with bated breath for my first

no, an alcoholic beverage. floral outing, which is usually in April.

Marasca cherries are the principle Radio stations even provide a ‘blos-

ingredient in Maraschino – a deca- som forecast’ so the populace is ready

dently rich flavoured liqueur which to burst into celebration at the first

can be traced back to hint of a bloom.

1759, when it was pro- IN JAPAN, But, your love for
duced in Zadar, Cro- THEY WAIT WITH me doesn’t end there.
atia. Today it is made BATED BREATH My timber is also
in several European FOR MY FIRST highly sought after.
countries, especially FLORAL OUTING With a delectable
Italy, where other sour dark-red wood, some
varieties are used. of my tree species are

A favourite in cock- valued for woodturn-

tail circles since the ing, as well as making

1800s, Maraschino is described as a fine furniture and musical instru-

dry liqueur with a hint of sweet, va- ments – and even for smoking meat.

nilla, sour cherry and almond notes.

While my fruit is adored all over NATIVE TO THE NORTHERN HEM-

the world, there are some who simply ISPHERE, my pips have been found

grow me for the beauty of my pink and in prehistoric caves and Bronze Age

white blossoms. Tree varieties that are settlements. Roman soldiers who

selected for their stunning and prolific munched on my fruit, spitting out my

spring flowers usually don’t bear fruit pips as they marched far and wide,

and are planted in parks and gardens are thought to be responsible for my

as ornamental trees. In Japan, Cher- spread throughout Europe and Brit-

ry Blossom Festivals are held every ain. By 800 BCE, I was being actively

year in my honour to celebrate my cultivated in Turkey and later Greece.

bountiful blooms. This festival is so Today I am cultivated all over the

popular that other countries around world, or at least in temperate regions

the world have caught on and now where the mercury doesn’t drop too

rdasia.com 53

READER’S DIGEST steeply in winter and rise too sharply PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
in summer.
CHERRIES DIPPED
IN CHOCOLATE You humans are not the only
ones who admire me, though.
Ingredients My fruit is readily gobbled up by
birds and mammals, who continue
• 200 g chocolate melts what the Romans started all those
years ago – dispersing my seeds.
(dark, milk, white or all three)
In temperate regions, such as New
• 1 kg cherries, stems intact Zealand, where my seeds have been
deposited in this manner, my nor-
Method mally well-behaved species has es-
caped cultivation and become ‘nat-
• Line a tray with baking paper. uralised’ or ‘wild’. But a word of
• Wash cherries, keeping warning to my many admirers: you
may love my fruit to bits, but don’t go
stems intact. consuming other parts of my plant
as I contain toxin cyanogenic glyco-
• Place chocolate in a small bowl sides, a deterrent for herbivores.

or saucepan and place over a larger Did I mention that I am clever in
saucepan of simmering water. other ways? If my tree bark is inflict-
(If using different types of chocolate, ed with a gash or wound, I exude
melt in different vessels.) an aromatic sap or gum to seal my
lesions and eliminate insect infes-
• Stir until chocolate is smooth. tations or fungal infections. Some
• Hold each cherry by the stem historians even believe that Native
Americans chewed my sap as an ear-
and dip into the melted chocolate, ly form of chewing gum.
letting any excess drip into the bowl.
Like most fruit, I am also nutritious
• Stand cherries on the prepared and am packed with fibre, vitamins,
minerals and powerful plant com-
tray and refrigerate until chocolate pounds. These are thought to help
has set. Enjoy! reduce inflammation, speed recov-
ery time after exercising, boost heart
54 december 2021 health and even improve sleep. So,
don’t feel guilty when tucking into a
bowl of my sweet, plump fruit.

Now, for a decadent sweet treat, try
dipping me in chocolate!

#idealcare IdealVisionCenter
@IdealVision
idealvision.ph

READER’S DIGEST

56 december 2021

PARENTING

How to nurture introverted kids
and give them a helping hand

BY Dr Shelja Sen

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES F rom the time I was little, “If you’re anything other than an ex-
I preferred being on my trovert, you’re made to think there’s
own, and reading or lis- something wrong with you.”
tening to music rather
than socialising. People Introverts struggle with invisibili-
around me, including ty. They are the quiet ones who are
my parents, struggled to understand not so social, popular, assertive and
me. Consequently, there was always out there. They prefer hanging out
a sense of tension and dissatisfaction with a couple of their friends or bet-
at my being so asocial. As I grew up, ter still spending their break in the
in my attempt to fit in, to adhere to library. They avoid attracting atten-
what was expected of me, I became tion, so generally do not raise their
a ‘pseudo-extrovert’. I pretended hand to ask questions, give answers
to be outgoing and social when all or offer more than necessary infor-
I wanted to do was to find a corner mation. Many times their talents go
and snuggle up with a book. It took unnoticed, as they would rather not
a long time for me to be able to tell talk about it. They happily, or most
myself and my loved ones, “I am fine times unhappily, stand in the shad-
the way I am”. ows while others, less talented and
skilled than them, take away all the
As a society, we value and find limelight.
worth in a narrow range of personal-
ity styles. We all want our children to There are many complex, multi-
be outgoing, bold, popular, assertive, layered personality tests out there.
sociable, exuberant and confident. In However, for our understanding, just
one word, an extrovert. dividing children into two tempera-
ments – extrovert and introvert – is
In one of her interviews, actress sufficient. Extroverts are energised
Emma Watson (Hermione Granger by social interaction and being with
in the Harry Potter movies) shared, others whereas introverts can find

rdasia.com 57

READER’S DIGEST

that draining and exhausting. They to grab her attention. After sometime

get energised by quiet reflection, I saw him give up and just sit back,

reading and being on their own. quiet and dejected.

Temperament refers to the innate, In her book Quiet: The Power of

biologically-based behavioural and Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop

emotional patterns whereas person- Talking, Susan Cain highlights re-

ality is a complex cocktail that is also search that indicates that there is a

impacted by culture and experienc- tendency in all of us to admire the

es. Temperament is ‘extrovert ideal’. The

the foundation and research highlight-

personality is the ed how people who

building. are more talkative

We also tend to – speak with higher

confuse shyness velocity and volume

with introversion (typical extrovert) –

when actually they were rated as smart-

are quite different. er compared to peo-

Shyness is fear of be- ple who spoke less

ing socially judged or more slowly.

or disapproved Schools are per-

while introversion WE TEND fect examples of this

is a preference for TO CONFUSE bias. Children who
quieter pursuits. SHYNESS WITH shine on stage or in
Introverts can be student councils are
socially adept. In- introversion generally typical ex-
troverted children troverts. Introverts

might become shy through the re- are generally hauled up for not rais-

peated messages we give them. They ing their hands, speaking up or being

start thinking something is wrong bold enough.

with them and therefore fear social I am not saying that we should

rejection. let introverts be as they are. Gentle

I was observing a class where there nudges to go out and play, attend

was an adorable, quiet little boy sit- parties occasionally, participate in PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

ting next to me. He tried raising his school events or speak up in class are

hand tentatively to answer a ques- necessary. We also need to train ex-

tion and at times even tried calling troverts to be a little more reflective,

out gently for the class teacher. Un- sensitive, learn to spend time on their

fortunately, the teacher was too busy own and appreciate their internal

responding to the louder voices vying world. As Susan Cain explains, our

58 december 2021

Let The Quiet Ones Shine

children’s temperaments are like a doing a show and tell, speaking at the
rubber band; they can only stretch a assembly, preparing on a topic before
little. The trick is to accept, balance a class discussion or performing in
and then celebrate. front of a small group of friends and
teachers. As long as they are feeling
ACCEPT: Introverts carry a huge sense accepted and they have a sense of
of guilt and anxiety for not being good ownership of what they need to do,
enough. Nowadays, in most progres- they will be learning an important
sive schools there is a lot of focus on life lesson.
group learning. The assumption is
that only through collaborative work CELEBRATE: Can you imagine what
can children learn effectively and that our world would be like without
will encourage essential life skills. This amazing people like Proust, J.K.
is good for extroverts but what about Rowling and Steven Spielberg? Intro-
introverts who learn best in solitude? verts are the thinkers, listeners, po-
Children who understand, ‘I might be ets, writers, creators who love dwell-
different from others, but I am fine’, ing in their rich inner life. Known for
will be in a much better position to being highly sensitive, they perceive
explore their strengths rather than and feel the world much more strong-
wasting their time pretending to be ly. Go ahead and celebrate your intro-
who they are not. verted child. They might not be the
star of the party, but their sparkling
BALANCE: Try to gently encourage mind can shine like none other if giv-
introverted children towards being a en the space to be.
little more adventurous. Talk to them
and help them understand that hav- Dr Shelja Sen is a child and
ing ‘people skills’ is also a life skill. adolescent psychologist with
Work towards an agreement whereby Children First. This is an excerpt
they could do one thing every week/ from Dr Shelja Sen’s book
fortnight/month that helps them Imagine No Child Left Invisible,
build social skills. It could range from HarperCollins, India.

As Kids See It

A few weeks ago, I tried to bore my three year old to sleep
by telling him everything I knew about nuclear and particle

physics. Every single night since then, however,
just as he’s falling asleep, his little voice pipes up:

“Tell me about atoms again.” RD

rdasia.com 59

READER’S DIGEST

60 december 2021

SEE THE WORLD...

Turn the page ››

rdasia.com 61

READER’S DIGEST

...DIFFERENTLY

THE CHRISTMAS MARKET
in Vilnius, the capital of

Lithuania, is one of the most
beautiful in Europe. One

reason for this may well be the
stunning Christmas tree set up
in the market every year. The
27-metre-high metal structure
is lit up by thousands of lights
along its 6000 or so branches.
The tree certainly proved to be
a crowd-pleaser in 2018, when

from above it resembled
a giant clock.

PHOTOS: SAULIUS ZIURA/VILNIUS.LT

62 december 2021

rdasia.com 63

READER’S DIGEST

LAUGHTER

The Best Medicine

washes over you when

you realise you’ve been

cornered by a known

chatterbox.

CINE-VOID: The guilt that

follows browsing Netflix

and seeing an ‘important’

film you know you

should watch but instead

choosing an action thriller

you’ll convince yourself

you’ve never seen.

R E MBA R R A SSMEN T:

A feeling of humiliation

at the memory of an

awkward or shameful

“Don’t worry folks, experience from long ago,
I’m just a basking shark.”
often unrelated to current
You Know That Feeling?
circumstances.
Hangry, a word that describes the
irritability that arises from hunger, CREDITPHORIA:
succinctly gets at a very particular
human emotion. Should we have The pleasure, denial, delusion and
more of these terms? Here are some
clever nominees. mania from being in a store you
BURALYSIS: The paralysing anxiety
you feel when confronted with don’t belong in and buying an item
bureaucracy.
PRETEDIUM: The mixture of you cannot afford.
frustration, ennui and anxiety that
PREMOJI: The feeling of searching on
64 december 2021
your smartphone for an emoji

that doesn’t exist. Thecut.com CARTOON: ROYSTON

Bashful Biters

I’ve got sensitive teeth. They’ll
probably be upset I’ve told you.

GORDON SOUTHERN, COMEDIAN

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES Checking Up JUST MONKEYING AROUND

MUM, VIA TEXT: Don’t forget to My wife recently adopted a pet
peel the potatoes. monkey. She’s already so fond
MUM: Did you put the dog out? of it that she’s suggested we let
MUM: Did you finish your it sleep in our bed.
homework?
MUM: Your father and I talked “But what about the smell?”
about getting you a car. I protested.
SON, VIA TEXT: You are?? Ooh, my
gosh, thank you!!! Wow!!! Really? “Well, I’ve lived with it for
MUM: No, I just wanted to make sure 25 years, so I’m sure the
you were receiving my texts. monkey can put up with it,”
she replied.
AIDAN, SON JOKES
SUBMITTED BY ANGIE BORODZICZ
No Rainer
Q: What do you call a baby
A golfer standing on a tee box monkey?
overlooking a river sees a couple of A: A chimp off the old block.
fishermen and says to his golfing
partner, “Take a look at those two Q: What’s the difference
idiots fishing in the rain!” between a poorly dressed
monkey on a tricycle and a well-
SUBMITTED BY GREG LANG dressed monkey on a bicycle?
A: Attire.
Snow Place Like Home
@SCARYMOMMY
My husband purchased a world map
and then gave me a dart and said, Q: Where do monkeys get their
“Throw this and wherever it lands, gossip?
that’s where I’m taking you when A: Through the ape-vine.
this pandemic ends.”
www.wideopenpets.com
Turns out, we’re spending two
weeks behind the fridge! rdasia.com 65

THE SCOTSMAN

Christmas Crackers

Q: What does Miley Cyrus eat for
Christmas dinner?
A: Roast twerky!
Q: Who delivers presents to baby
sharks at Christmas?
A: Santa Jaws!

66 december 2021

ILLUSTRATION: GEL JAMLANG FOR READER’S DIGEST A Teacher’s Lifesaving Call

BY Emma Taubenfeld

Going the extra distance for her students extended to helping their families

In the midst of the COVID-19 pan- times, but Koch had never heard
demic, Julia Koch began her sec- the grandmother sound quite like
ond year as a first-grade teacher in this. Her words were so jumbled that
a virtual classroom at Edgewood Koch could barely understand her,
Elementary School in Michigan. although she was able to make out
One afternoon in September last that Phillips had fallen four times
year, she received a call from Cynthia that day. Koch phoned her princi-
Phillips, who was having technical pal, Charlie Lovelady, who assured
difficulties with her granddaughter’s her that he would call and check on
tools for online learning. Phillips himself.

Koch immediately knew some- Just like Koch, Lovelady could
thing was wrong with Phillips. The barely understand Phillips. He sus-
two women had spoken numerous pected she might be having a stroke

rdasia.com 67

READER’S DIGEST

– he recognised the signs from when “I’m proud of the people I work

his own father had suffered one. with, that they responded so quick-

Lovelady was able to make out the ly and that it made a difference for

word ‘kids’ and immediately became Mrs Phillips,” says Koch. “I am so

concerned that Phillips’s two grand- pleased to be part of such a caring

children, aged six and eight, were community.”

probably home alone with her – she But the school’s crisis response was

was their primary guardian – and only one piece of the community’s

scared. extraordinary efforts to help Phillips

Lovelady asked his office manager and her granddaughters. Another

to send an ambulance to the grand- family with young children took in

mother’s home. Then Lovelady called the two girls. When that became too

his supervisors at the much to handle during

local school district, “IF IT WASN’T the day with at-home
Vandiebilt Mathews FOR THEM,” learning, school ad-
and Keytria Burt-Walk- SAID PHILLIPS, ministrators contacted
er, to tell them what the local Boys and Girls

was going on. Both “I WOULDN’T Club. The girls now
of them dropped BE HERE” spend their days there
everything and drove as part of a programme

to the family’s home. to help working par-

When they pulled up ents, and return to the

less than ten minutes later, the am- host family at night.

bulance crew was treating Phillips Virtual learning has been a chal-

while the two girls, looking visibly lenge across the world, but it’s fair to

shaken, were outside with a neigh- say that it has also helped communi-

bour. The quick response from Koch ties grow closer. Many teachers have

and Lovelady saved Phillips’s life. given their personal phone numbers

She arrived at the hospital in time to students and families in case they

to get treatment and before chronic needed extra help. In this case, the

damage occurred. exchange was literally life-saving.

“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t “The outpouring has been very

be here,” said Phillips from her hos- humbling,” Koch says about the rec-

pital bed about a month after her ognition the school staff received for

stroke. Thanks to an extended stay in their efforts. “But I also know that it’s

the hospital, she has regained most of part of the kind of community we’re

the movement throughout her body in. We care about each other, and we

except for one hand and a portion of don’t just say the words. We follow

her mouth, which affects her speech. through.”

68 december 2021

ILLUSTR ATION: VICTO NGAI FOR READER’S DIGEST, FROM RD.COM A Rescue Brings A Change of Heart

BY Tom Parzyk

At first, some of us felt resentment. But we soon opened our hearts

On July 10, 1980, I was was blowing at 20 knots with about
aboard the destroyer USS three-metre swells. There was a
Oldendorf DD-972, in typhoon 320 kilometres east of us
transit in the South Chi- and heading our way. All of us were
na Sea from Singapore to looking forward to arriving in the
Subic Bay in the Philippines. The day Philippines as quickly as possible.
was grey and dreary, with threaten- Suddenly, the lookout spotted an ob-
ing clouds all around us. The wind ject adrift about 16 kilometres east.

rdasia.com 69

READER’S DIGEST

He looked at it through the large more prepared after that news. Some

telescopic binoculars we called ‘the gathered any dry clothes they could

big eyes’ and announced that it was spare, and I prepared by getting the

a boat with many people on it. We all special decontamination area ready;

knew right then that they were refu- it would normally be used to wash

gees adrift in an area dangerous with off nuclear fallout. I unlocked the

reefs and shoals. compartment and readied it with

It was almost noon. I was just fin- soap and all the necessary medical

ishing the eight-to-12 watch when the items. I then watched as the whale-

captain announced from the bridge boat towed the junk closer and closer

that we were heading towards the to the ship. It wasn’t an easy task, as

boat to offer assistance. the seas were high.

The ship came alive. We finally got along-

Everyone prepared for “THEIR FACES side the junk, and the
a possible rescue. I left REFLECTED first thing I noticed was
the bridge, grabbed the strange sound of

a sandwich on the GREAT FATIGUE. babies crying. It was the
mess deck, and made THEIR BODIES first time I had heard
my way to the fantail, babies crying out at sea.
where I would help DID TOO” Then came the sound

out. Along the way, I of the men and women

noticed that most of excitedly talking with

the crew were complaining about pain in their voices.

assisting the people. I’ll never forget The women sat holding their chil-

how a big, burly engineer looked into dren and caring for the sick, while

my eyes and angrily said, “We oughta the men remained standing and

leave them out there to die”. stoic. But their faces reflected great

We got as close to the boat as we fatigue. Their bodies, sunbaked and

safely could to avoid the reefs. We bony, did too.

then sent out the whaleboat with a We helped get them settled. The

small crew to check it out further. weakest received treatment in the

The situation was much worse than sick bay, while the rest stayed in the

we’d expected. The whaleboat crew engineers’ berthing compartment.

reported back that an old eight- The engineers happily slept in their

metre wooden junk boat was jam- working spaces for the remaining

packed with about 50 men, women two nights of our voyage.

and children. They were very weak During those hours after the res-

and trying to keep the slowly sinking cue, I noticed a big change in the atti-

junk afloat. Our ship became even tude of the crew. Everyone was happy

70 december 2021

No Ordinary Day

about the successful rescue effort. We were very happy. Compared to the
discovered that boat people were just small boat they’d been on for the past
as human as any of us. month, they must have felt as though
they were on the Queen Mary instead
The next day, after our guests were of an old Navy destroyer.
properly rested, we ate, sang and
laughed with them and made them On the last evening before we
as comfortable as we knew how. pulled into port, I walked into the
engineering berthing space and was
We soon discovered their story. greeted by another sight that I’ll
They were from Vietnam and had never forget. The same big, burly,
left their homeland a month earlier bearded engineer who had wanted
with Singapore as their destination. to avoid the rescue, was now seated
After one week, their motor had bro- at the table looking right at me and
ken down. They had gone without smiling widely. In his large arms, he
food and water for the past ten days. held a bright-eyed baby girl, careful-
There had been 55 of them, but seven ly wrapped in one of his old faded
had died. blue work shirts. She looked so se-
cure as he gently fed her a life-giving
Outside, the weather was grow- bottle of milk.
ing worse, but inside, everything felt
warm and pleasant. Our new friends

Why Scum Forms on Tea

We all have our own views about what makes a cup of tea perfect,
but scientists from Switzerland – a nation not known for its
tea-drinking habits – have one over us. The scientists have

discovered how to get rid of the layer of film that often forms on
top of a cup of tea. It was believed the film forms when the waxy
coating on tea leaves rises to the top of the water, but apparently

this is not the case. Instead, experts in rheology, the study of
how liquids and gases flow, found the film is created when
polyphenols, the organic compounds in tea leaves and other
plants, bond with the calcium carbonate in tap water. Using soft
water, which has a lower mineral content, will stop a thick layer of
scum forming, but the Swiss scientists warn that pure forms of
water can make the tea taste bitter. Drinking the tea while hot
and adding lemon juice can also stop the layer of scum.

Anyone fancy a cuppa? DAILY MAIL

rdasia.com 71

READER’S DIGEST

Former chief medical
officer, Professor Chris
Baggoley AO, at his home

in the Adelaide Hills

72 december 2021

HEALTH

Fighting

NATURE’S

Silent

CANCER

The odds are stacked in the fight against pancreatic
cancer, but a team of scientists and medical professionals

are determined to do all they can to change that

PHOTO: THE AUSTRALIAN/MORGAN SETT BY Zoë Meunier

S triding out on a 12-kilo- diet and exercise regime in the pre-
metre run through the na- vious 18 months, having been told by
tional park near his home a doctor that he was borderline dia-
in the Adelaide Hills in betic, and felt fitter than ever before.
January 2019, Professor
Chris Baggoley AO, former Australi- His only niggling health issue was
an Government chief medical officer, some changes in a recent blood test,
was feeling in peak physical condi- which concerned his GP enough to
tion. Then 66, he had overhauled his refer him to a haemotologist, whose
tests included a scan of his abdomen.

rdasia.com 73

READER’S DIGEST

Further testing would reveal the when diagnosed,” he says. “Those

shocking news: he had pancreatic people have a five-year survival rate

cancer. of around 37 per cent in the US. But if

Unlike the majority of people who it’s already spread beyond the lymph

know little about this relatively rare nodes to the liver or lung, the five-

cancer, as the nation’s top medic from year survival rate is just three per

2011 to 2016, Dr Baggoley was grimly cent. So simply by being diagnosed

aware of the gravity of his diagnosis. earlier, I have 12 times the survival

Pancreatic cancer accounts for almost rate of someone whose cancer has

as many annual deaths (466,000) as already spread, which is why early

cases (496,000) worldwide. detection is so important.” 

Dr Baggoley was one of the lucky For these reasons, PanKind, an

ones – his chance diagnosis meant Australia foundation exclusively

he was one of a small percentage of dedicated to pancreatic cancer, has

pancreatic cancer patients who was launched an Early Detection Initia-

able to be operated on. tive, working with the research com-

“It was early stage, OFTEN THE munity to improve
so it was only in my early diagnosis.

pancreas, about 2.5cm SYMPTOMS CAN “Often when a pa-
in size,” he explains. BE MISTAKEN tient is diagnosed, they
“I had what’s called a are close to death,” says
Whipples procedure, FOR SOMETHING Michelle Stewart, CEO

in which they cut out ELSE of PanKind. “This is
half the pancreas, the largely because most

first part of the small patients are diagnosed

intestine, the gall bladder, a bit of when the cancer has already pro-

stomach and liver, then join it all gressed too far for existing treatments

back together in a way that nature to work,” she says.

never intended. It’s a big operation, “If you have inoperable pancreatic

so it laid me low for quite a while, and cancer, 80 per cent of patients only

after that I had six months of chemo- survive six to 12 months. We believe

therapy.” that early diagnosis offers the greatest

Follow up tests have shown Dr hope to triple survival rates by 2030.”

Baggoley currently shows no sign of A sea of challenges
cancer, for which he is ‘very grateful’,

citing recent sobering data from the The odds are stacked against the

US National Cancer Institute. doctors and scientists fighting this

“Only ten per cent of patients have deadly disease for several reasons.

their cancer localised to the pancreas Firstly, there are often few signs or

74 december 2021

Fighting Nature’s Silent Cancer

PHOTO: COURTESY FERN LAGUNA symptoms, or the symptoms Fern Laguna (left) with his late father
are so vague they can easily Oscar Leguna, before their diagnoses
be mistaken for something
else. For example, Dr Bag- cancer early detection research pro-
goley had put his weight jects are being undertaken. “The
loss prior to diagnosis down challenge for both patients and GPs
to his new health regime. is deciding when it’s something that
Looking back, he says, needs to be investigated.”
“There’s no doubt, given my
background in medicine, Often, she says, it might be a case
if I’d seen someone my age of seeing where these symptoms
who’d lost 15 kilograms of might be occurring in tandem. “Let’s
weight, even if they’d said it say you have upper abdominal pain
was deliberate, I would have and you’ve unexpectedly lost some
said, ‘Yeah, but where’s your weight, or lost your appetite – that
cancer?’” could signal something is amiss with
the pancreas.”
Along with unexplained
weight loss or loss of appe- Another issue is that there is no
tite, some of the subtle signs
of pancreatic cancer include
upper abdominal pain, of-
ten radiating through to the
back, and reflux-type symp-
toms. If the tumour arises
in the head of the pancreas
it can compress the bile duct, which
can cause jaundice – presenting as
yellow eyes, yellow skin, dark colour-
ed urine or pale-coloured stools.

“The real challenge is that pan-
creatic cancer occurs rarely and the
signs and symptoms occur common-
ly, and are usually signs of some-
thing else,” says Professor Rachel
Neale, head of the Cancer Aetiology
and Prevention Laboratory at QIMR
Berghofer Medical Research Insti-
tute, Brisbane, where one of two
groundbreaking new pancreatic

rdasia.com 75

READER’S DIGEST

Fern Laguna recuperating in hospital obesit y, pancreatitis, PHOTO: COURTESY FERN LAGUNA
after his operation heavy drinking, ethnici-
ty, or an inherited genetic
early screening test for pancreatic condition.
cancer, nor is there likely to be.
Such was the case for Fern
“Unfortunately screening all Aus- Lecuna, 58, from Sydney.
tralians for pancreatic cancer is His father, Oscar Lecuna,
not a viable option. Instead, we are had consulted his GP sev-
looking to identify who is most at eral times complaining of
risk of pancreatic cancer and deter- stomach pains and feeling
mine whether monitoring this group unwell, for which he was
would lead to better outcomes,” prescribed various pills.
Professor Neale says. Eventually, Oscar consult-
ed a new doctor who recom-
Like all cancers, pancreatic can- mended a CT scan, which
cer arises due to mutations in a revealed he had stage 4
person’s DNA, but the exact causes pancreatic cancer. Diag-
of the disease are largely unknown. nosed in September 2020,
Risk factors may include smoking, just after his 81st birthday,
the loving husband and fa-
ther and devoted Reader’s
Digest fan passed away in
April this year.

Following his father’s di-
agnosis, Fern devoted his time to
learning more about the disease.
With the knowledge that his pater-
nal grandmother had also battled
pancreatic cancer, Fern could see
there was a potential hereditary
link. In consultation with the ex-
perts at Pankind, Fern had a CT scan
himself – only to learn that he had a
tumour in his pancreas, as well as a
4.5cm spot in his liver.

He was in total shock – like Dr Bag-
goley, he had had no symptoms and
was also very fit – running, cycling
and attending the gym regularly.

76 december 2021

Fighting Nature’s Silent Cancer

“They wanted to operate that Sep- the group who would be at the very

tember, but because I had so much high-end risk, who we could put into

work to arrange, I waited until No- a structured surveillance screening

vember 20,” recalls Fern. “The sur- programme for the next few years af-

geon said if I had waited another ter their diabetes diagnosis, so if they

three months my survival rate would do have pancreatic cancer, we’re able

have gone from 60 per cent to three to pick it up earlier.”

per cent.” The researchers are also interested

During a mammoth nine-and-a- in people whose long-term diabetes

half hour operation, Fern lost “half has recently become unstable and

my stomach, 40 per cent of my pan- hard to manage, as that might also

creas, my gall bladder and my duo- be an indicator of pancreatic cancer. 

denum”. He is now being monitored “Interestingly, diabetes is proba-

for symptoms. bly both a cause and a consequence

Researchers are now looking at of pancreatic cancer,” explains Pro-

how they can monitor families of fessor Neale. “People with diabetes,

pancreatic cancer pa- THERE IS A over the long term,
tients to assess their have an increased risk

risk and potentially LINK BETWEEN of getting pancreat-
increase early detec- DIABETES AND ic cancer, but people
tions. And yet, ge- who have new-onset
netically linked pan- PANCREATIC diabetes, that might

creatic cancer only CANCER have actually been
accounts for about ten caused by undetected

per cent of cancer, so pancreatic cancer.”

it’s only a small part of the puzzle. A second research project, led by

The diabetes indicator Associate Professor Andrew Metz at
the Jreissati Family Pancreatic Cen-

One primary area of interest for Pro- tre at Epworth, Melbourne, is also ex-

fessor Neale is the relatively strong ploring the diabetes link. Funded in

link between diabetes and pancreatic partnership with PanKind and Tour

cancer, particularly new onset diabe- De Cure, it unites the disciplines of

tes, as was the case with Dr Baggoley, gastroenterology and endocrinology

who went on to develop diabetes, to explore their different perspectives

which is being managed with pills, of pancreatic disease.

diet and exercise. Why such a strong focus in this

Says Professor Neale: “What we area? Of the patients with pancre-

want to do, among all the people atic cancer, about 50 per cent have

with late-onset diabetes, is predict a diagnosis of diabetes. And about a

rdasia.com 77

READER’S DIGEST

A SEARCH FOR BIO-MARKERS

F inding a non- launched a multi- into the bloodstream,
invasive bio- cancer early- which is different
marker to help detection blood test from the DNA output
detect the cancer with called Galleri that can of healthy cells in the
a simple blood test is detect more than 50 body, and can reveal
another important types of cancer early whether a signal for
area of focus all on, with pancreatic cancer is present as
around the world. cancer being one of well as where in the
the more successful body the cancer
Recently, there ones. signal is coming from.
have been some very
positive advances in The test works by With more than
this area. In June this analysing small 140 clinical study
year, Grail, a US pieces of DNA sites, the test picked
health company released by tumours up 66 per cent of
pancreatic cancers
and came up with less
than one per cent of
false positives.

Once this test
becomes more widely
available, it may
become another
weapon in the arsenal
of early detection.

quarter have had a diagnosis of dia- Andrew Metz. To assist them, the re- PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
betes within the previous three years. searchers will be linking the national
data of thousands of patients who
“This really gives us an exciting op- have pancreatic cancer over the past
portunity to try and work out which 15 years, using sophisticated, non-per-
one of these patients, who has been sonal-identifying machine-learning
diagnosed with diabetes or has un- methods to predict people’s risk of
derlying pancreatic disease, would pancreatic cancer.
be suitable for ongoing testing to see
whether pancreatic cancer can be “By making the most of existing
detected,” says Associate Professor data we can hopefully understand

78 december 2021

Fighting Nature’s Silent Cancer

more about the disease faster,” says when they feel they have something
Professor Neale, admitting that all of concern.”
of this research is still in the early
stages. “If someone’s got the symptoms
they should persist,” concurs Dr
“There’s a long road ahead, but Baggoley. “They shouldn’t just put
we just need to chew it off bit by bit,” up with it for months and say, ‘Oh
she says. well, I was told it wasn’t anything
important.’ Everyone has to think
But just as important as all the about it.”
research work being done globally,
she says, is that patients advocate for It’s undeniably a challenging road
their own health. ahead, but for pancreatic cancer pa-
tients and the loved ones left bereft by
“I think it’s well worth people the rapidity and devastation wrought
being aware that if they’ve got dia- by this disease, it’s essential that the
betes, a history of smoking, they’re fight continues on every level.
overweight and then they get tum-
my pain, they shouldn’t just ignore “This needs a combined attack,”
it,” says Professor Neale. “It’s en- concludes Dr Baggoley. “There’s a
couraging people to listen to their lot to be done and I can help in that,
own bodies and be aware of their and as I say to people, ‘while I can,
risk factors, and present to their GP I will’.”

Santa Claus Around The World

For many of us, Santa Claus is that guy with a white beard in a
red suit who drops off gifts by sleigh. In other parts of the world,

however, Santa is a different person.

Hoteiosho in Japan: This holiday gift donor is a kindly Buddhist
monk who carries a sack full of toys and has eyes in the back of his

head to see well-behaved children.

La Befana in Italy: In Italian folklore, this friendly witch drops
treats, figs and other tasty treats in the socks of well-behaved kids
and coal in socks of naughty ones on Epiphany morning, January 6.

Ded Moroz in Russia: Also called Grandfather Frost, Ded Moroz has
a long white beard, wears a blue suit and carries a magical staff.

Instead of reindeers, three horses pull his troika on New Year’s Eve
so he can deliver gifts to the children. EASEMYTRIP.COM

rdasia.com 79

PHOTO FEATURE

S Around 1500 millstones are scattered
throughout the Peak District in England.
The stone wheels were once used for
grinding grain into flour and weighed
more than two tonnes. Now relics of a
bygone age, millstones were still being
made in the Peak District for the entire
surrounding area until the 19th century.

80 december 2021

PHOTO: RICHARD WHEELER/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO; Making The
World Go

Round
The wheel is one of the greatest
inventions of humankind
By Cornelia Kumfert

rdasia.com 81

READER’S DIGEST W The Wheel of Life is set PHOTOS: (THIS SPRE AD,CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEF T): JEJIM120/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO; SCOT T BARBOUR/GET T Y IMAGES;
in stone in the Chinese THOM A S KELLE Y/GE T T Y IM AGE S. NE X T SPRE A D: (CLOCK WISE FROM TOP): PIC T URE A LLI A NCE/BECKERBREDEL; WIKIPEDI A;
82 december 2021 district of Dazu. It depicts CHARLES WALKER COLLECTION/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO
the eternal cycle of life in
Buddhism and is one of the
core concepts of Buddhist
teaching. Created between
the 9th and 13th centuries,
the elaborate stonework is
one of China’s most
beautiful ancient rock
carvings.

X Soaring 135 metres
into the sky, the London
Eye on the River Thames is
the largest Ferris wheel in
Europe. Its 32 ‘capsules’
can carry more than
700 people. One revolution
takes about half an hour to
complete and passengers
enjoy phenomenal
panoramic views as far
as 40 kilometres on a
clear day.

W In the mid-19th
century, thousands of
paddle steamers would
anchor in the port of New
Orleans every year. The
ships’ enormous paddle
wheels were powered by
steam engines. During
voyages up and down the
Mississippi River, or across
the Atlantic, the fuel would
sometimes run out, so
anything that was not
nailed down would end up
in the ship’s coal furnace.

Making The World Go Round

rdasia.com 83

READER’S DIGEST

84 december 2021

Making The World Go Round

W The old flywheels of the
Völklingen ironworks in Germany
have long stood still. When the
blower hall was still in operation,
the large steel wheels transported
steam into the ironworks’ blast
furnaces at up to 75 revolutions
per minute. Designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in
1994, today the fully preserved
plant serves as a museum and
event venue.

W W The world is your oyster
but watch out because the wheel
of fortune, or Rota Fortunae, never
stops turning. In Ancient Greek
philosophy the wheel belonged
to the goddess Fortuna, who
spun it at random. The metaphor
was popular in the Middle Ages,
and illustrations often had kings
and other powerful figures
clinging to the wheel. Riding to
the top will inevitably land you
back at the bottom.

W The TV game show Wheel of
Fortune first aired in America in
1975, before being syndicated in
1983. Winning – contestants
guess hidden phrases by selecting
letters one at a time – depends on
luck determined by the wheel of
fortune. It can send contestants
bankrupt with one spin or onto the
bonus round where cash and
prizes await. The show has been
adapted in 56 countries, including
Malaysia (1996-2009), Singapore
(2002) and the Philippines (2001-
2002, 2008).

rdasia.com 85

THEN AND NOW

Conquering The

Laundry
Load

As you bemoan the pile of dirty clothes piled up in the

corner, spare a thought for those who came before you.

Pop on a load and put your feet up as we take a spin

through the history of laundry

BY Zoë Meunier

I f you’ve ever winced after ac- a) the coarseness of the fabric used ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES
cidentally washing your del- and b) the extent of stench and grime
icates in the ‘cottons’ cycle, that needed to be extracted.
you’ll shudder over the beat-
ing ancient clothing took. Literally. On the positive side, laundry day
Garments were bashed over rocks, was a social event, with communities
scrubbed with abrasive sand or heading down to the local river en
stone, and pounded underfoot or masse to have a good chat while pul-
with wooden implements in an at- verising their clothes into submission.
tempt to clean them. This probably
gives a pretty clear indication of Over time, the role of washing
clothes became a primary occupation.

This practice of public laundry

86 december 2021

rdasia.com 87

READER’S DIGEST

services peaked in Ancient Rome, with the skin of a hedgehog to make

with those fancy Romans transform- it nice and fluffy, then draped on a

ing the concept of laundering gar- special basket, under which sulphur

ments into a high-scale commercial was placed to whiten the cloth (and

industry. add its own distinct aroma). Then,

The place of work of these men – to get things extra bright, a fine white PHOTOS: FROM LEFT, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; GET T Y IMAGES; GET T Y IMAGES

yes, there was a heady time in history dirt was rubbed into the cloth. “Your

when men were solely responsible clothing is ready, Domina!”

for doing the laundry – was called a By the Middle Ages, laundry had

fullonica. If you’re imagining a laun- become the women’s domain – where,

dromat-style arena delicately per- let’s face it, it has largely remained.

fumed by fabric softener, you may Medieval Europeans mostly did their

need to adjust your mental olfactory own laundry, and because it was such

senses with the news that clothes an arduous task, it was only done

were washed in human urine col- every few weeks at the most. Dirty

lected from public restrooms. Urine’s laundry had to be hauled to a nearby

high ammonia content was consid- water source like a river bank, with

ered the most top-notch cleaning tools such as washing bats or ‘beetles’

agent available. Although, the Ro- used to agitate the clothing to force

mans did also invent a soap contain- the dirt out, before garments were laid

ing ash and fat from sacrificed ani- on the (hopefully non-muddy) ground

mals. Take your pick. for the sun to bleach and dry. Under-

Clothes were washed in tubs garments and delicate fabrics

filled with the ‘cleaning agent’, were washed more frequent-

and stomped on by the feet SCRUB ly, sometimes in a wooden
of the fullones. After dry- AWAY tub at home. To remove
ing, the wool was brushed stains and bleach yellowing
Washing
through the

ages

Middle Ages 1760s 1900s

THE RIVER THE TUB THE MANGLE

88 december 2021

Conquering The Laundry Load

PHOTOS: FROM LEFT, GET T Y IMAGES; GET T Y IMAGES; COURTESY YANKO DESIGN garments, the trusty urine was again into a tank, turning a lever to wash
used, mixed with ash and euphemis- the clothes and then wringing them
tically dubbed ‘chamber lye’. between two rollers.

As populations and cities grew, This, and other early washing ma-
items designed to aid with the wash- chines, actually pre-dated the hum-
ing process became commonplace. ble washboard, which didn’t really
These included, wooden washtubs make its knobbly, knuckle-shredding
and dolly-tubs or possing-tubs – tall presence felt until the 19th century.
vessels in which clothes were beaten Nonetheless, small, inexpensive and
and stirred with a large metal plung- portable, the washboard soon became
er, variously known as a posser, dol- widespread, and is still used in some
ly, poncher, possing-stick, dolly leg, parts of the world today (and in oth-
peggy leg, peggy or maiden. At least ers, as a snazzy percussion musical
ye olde name-makers were having instrument!).
some fun, if not the washerwomen
themselves. Meanwhile, 19th-century inven-
tors continued tinkering with im-
At a time when cholera, smallpox provements to hand-operated wash-
and typhoid fever were ravaging ing machines. This mostly involved
populations, the rise in popularity of turning a handle to move paddles in
wash-houses – covered areas decked a tub, as well as developing the man-
out to allow the laundrywomen to do gle, or wringer, to squeeze water out
their work – became a key method of of clothes.
improving public hygiene.
Ash lye was still used to clean
The world’s first washing machine everyday clothing in the 1800s, with
was thought to be invented by Ger- soap reserved for tackling heav-
man scientist Jacob Christian Schäffer ily soiled linen or stains, But, by
in 1767. It involved pouring hot water the end of the century, you could

1930s 2000s THE FUTURE

LAUNDROMAT DOMESTIC MACHINE SLEEK SPACE SAVERS

rdasia.com 89

READER’S DIGEST

buy branded laundry soap bars or such an icon of the Australian Dream

pre-packaged soap flakes, borax, or that it has been exalted to the status of

washing soda. National Treasure – just ask the gener-

By the early 20th century, some ations of Aussie kids who would hang

washing machines used an electrically monkey-style and take it for a spin.

powered agitator. Many were simply a B y t he 1950s, ma ny wash i ng

tub on legs, with a motor rotating un- machines were being made with

derneath and a hand-operated man- a spin-dr y feature to replace the

gle on top. The design flaw? Short cir- dreaded wringer, while the first com-

cuits and electric shocks were readily puter-controlled consumer washer

available if water dripped appeared in 1998.

onto the motor. And, if Laundry tech is still

electrocution didn’t get evolving. Washing ma-

you, the mangle was chines can have inte-

also renowned for man- grated Wi-Fi for deferred

gling hands and yanking start-up. Some models

out hair (buttons barely dole out the perfect

stood a chance). A PROTOTYPE amount of detergent,
At last, in the 1930s, a OF THE while others do without
MODERN detergent at all, thanks
machine was invented to electrolysis separat-
that could wash, rinse WASHING ing positive and nega-
and extract water from MACHINE WAS tive ions. The rest of us
clothes in a single oper- INVENTED IN can take our pick from
ation. That same decade detergent with oxygen
would also see the pro- THE 1930S

duction of the first auto- bleach, prewash soil and

matic clothes dryer. Of course, most stain removers, laundry powders with

households still didn’t have their own enzymes, detergents for cooler water

machines, which, in the West, saw washing, concentrated powders and

the rise of laundromats and ‘Chinese fabric softeners. (Although spaghetti

laundries’ run by hard-working immi- sauce remains impervious to all.) ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES

grants. Meanwhile, energy-efficient com-

Even for those who did have wash- pression or heat pump dryers and

ing machines, line-drying was – and is dryers using microwave technology

– the most popular method of drying may soon see the clunky old tumble

clothes due to the cost of owning and dryer relegated to the history books.

running a dryer. In Australia, the Hills But until there’s an invention to

Hoist, a rotary clothesline invented iron, sort, fold and put away clothes,

by Lance Hill out of old pipe, became there’s still loads to be done.

90 december 2021

QUOTABLE QUOTES

If somebody NATURE IS
asks, “What are THE BIGGEST
you doing in five
years?” and you TEACHER:
have an answer, I SHE’S ALWAYS
think there’s a good TEACHING YOU
chance you aren’t HOW TO ADAPT.
going to get there.
If you pick one GISELE BÜNDCHEN,
thing, then you’ve SUPERMODEL
neglected all other
opportunities. IF OPPORTUNITY DOESN’T
KNOCK, BUILD A DOOR.
DARLA MOORE,
MILTON BERLE,
PHILANTHROPIST COMEDIAN AND ACTOR

I HAVE NO SOCIAL MEDIA. I DON’T
NEED THINGS IN MY LIFE TO
DISTRACT ME FROM MY LIFE.

PAUL RUDD, ACTOR

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES Discipline If we do
shows who you not maintain
justice, justice
really are.
To control will not
yourself, that maintain us.
is the ultimate
FRANCIS BACON,
power. ENGLISH PHILOSOPHER

KENDRICK LAMAR, RAPPER rdasia.com 91

SCIENCE PHOTOS: OMOMOM

The Couple
Who Helped

SAVE THE
WORLD

92 december 2021

An unpretentious
husband-and-wife team is
behind a leading vaccine to

help solve COVID-19

BY David Gelles

FROM NEW YORK TIMES

T hree years ago, Dr Ugur Sahin took the
stage at a conference in Berlin and made
a bold prediction. Speaking to a room-
ful of infectious-disease experts, he said
his company might be able to use its so-
called messenger RNA technology to rap-

idly develop a vaccine in the event of a global pandemic.

At the time, Dr Sahin and his company, BioNTech,

were little known outside the small world of Europe-

an biotechnology start-ups. BioNTech, which Dr Sahin

co-founded with his wife, Dr Özlem Türeci, and Aus-

trian oncologist Professor Christoph Huber, was mostly

focused on cancer treatments. It had never brought a

product to market. COVID-19 did not yet exist.

But his words proved prophetic.

Two years later, on November 9, 2020, Bi-

oNTech and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer

BioNTech announced that a coronavirus vaccine devel-
founders oped by Dr Sahin and his team was more than
Dr Ugur Sahin and 90 per cent effective in preventing the disease
Dr Özlem Türeci among trial volunteers who had no evidence
at the company's of having previously been infected. The stun-
headquarters in ning results vaulted BioNTech and Pfizer to
Mainz, Germany

the front of the race to find a cure for a disease

rdasia.com 93

READER’S DIGEST

that has killed more than 4.8 million and in March 2020 they agreed to col-

people worldwide. laborate on a coronavirus vaccine.

“We believe it is the start of the end Since then, Dr Sahin, who is Turk-

of the COVID era,” Dr Sahin said in ish, developed a friendship with Al-

an interview at the time. bert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfiz-

er. The pair said that they had bonded

BIONTECH BEGAN WORK on the vac- over their shared backgrounds as sci-

cine in January 2020, after Dr Sahin entists and immigrants.

read an article in the medical journal “We realised that he is from Greece,

The Lancet that left him convinced and that I’m from Turkey,” Dr Sahin

that the coronavirus, at the time said. “It was very personal from the

spreading quickly very beginning.”

in parts of China, On their DR SAHIN, 56, was
would explode into wedding day, born in Iskenderun,
a full-blown pan- Turkey. When he
demic. Scientists at Dr Sahin

the company, based and Dr Türeci was four, his family
in Mainz, Germany, returned to the moved to Cologne,
cancelled holidays Germany, where
and set to work on lab after the his father worked at
what they called ceremony a Ford factory. He

‘Project Lightspeed’. grew up wanting to PHOTO: (PREVIOUS SPREAD) DINA LITOVSKY VIA REDUX IMAGES

“There are not too be a doctor, and be-

many companies on the planet with came a physician at the University of

the capacity and the competence to Cologne, where he earned a doctorate

do it so fast as we can do it,” Dr Sa- for his work on immunotherapy in tu-

hin said in October 2020. “So it felt mour cells.

not like an opportunity, but a duty Early in his career, he met Dr Türe-

to do it, because I realised we could ci. She had early hopes of becoming a

be among the first coming up with a nun but ultimately wound up study-

vaccine.” ing medicine. Dr Türeci, now 54 and

After BioNTech had identified the chief medical officer of BioNTech,

promising vaccine candidates, Dr Sa- was born in Germany, the daughter

hin concluded that the company of a Turkish surgeon who immigrated

would need help to rapidly test them, from Istanbul. On the day they were

win approval from regulators, and married, Dr Sahin and Dr Türeci re-

bring the best candidate to market. Bi- turned to the lab after the ceremony.

oNTech and Pfizer had been working The pair were initially focused on

together on a flu vaccine since 2018, research and teaching, including at

94 december 2021

The Couple Who Helped Save The World

the University of Zurich, where Dr Sa- making the couple among the richest
hin worked in the lab of Rolf Zinker- in Germany.
nagel, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize
in medicine. The two billionaires live with their
teenage daughter in a modest apart-
In 2001, Dr Sahin, Dr Türeci and ment near their office. They ride bi-
Professor Huber co-founded Gan- cycles to work. They do not own a car.
ymed Pharmaceuticals, which devel-
oped drugs to treat cancer using mon- “Ugur is a very, very unique in-
oclonal antibodies. dividual,” said Albert Bourla, Pfiz-
er’s chief executive. “He cares only
Seven years later they co-found- about science. Discussing business
ed BioNTech, looking to use a wider is not his cup of tea. He doesn’t like
range of technologies, including mes- it at all. He’s a scientist and a man of
senger RNA, to treat cancer. principles.”

Even before the pandemic, BioN- IN GERMANY, where immigration
Tech was gaining momentum. The continues to be a fractious issue, the
company raised hundreds of millions success of two scientists of Turkish
of dollars and now has more than descent was cause for celebration.
1900 people on staff, with seven offic-
es across Germany and two in the US. “With this couple, Germany has
a shining example of successful in-
In 2018, it began its partner- tegration,” stated the conservative
ship with Pfizer. In 2019, the Bill & current-affairs site Focus.
Melinda Gates Foundation invested
$55 million to fund its work treating Dr Sahin said that when he and
HIV and tuberculosis. The same year, Dr Türeci learned about the vac-
Dr Sahin was awarded the Musta- cine’s efficacy data, just one year
fa Prize, a biennial Iranian prize for ago, they marked the moment by
Muslims in science and technology. brewing Turkish tea at home. “We
celebrated, of course,” he said. “It
Dr Sahin and Dr Türeci sold was a relief.”
Ganymed for $1.4 billion in 2016. Two
years ago, BioNTech sold shares to FROM NEW YORK TIMES (NOVEMBER 10, 2020),
the public; as of July 2021, its market © 2020 BY NEW YORK TIMES. ADDITIONAL
value stood at more than $54 billion, REPORTING BY CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE.

Did You Know?

Scotland has 421 words for snow. Some examples in the Scots
language: sneesl (to start raining or snowing); feefle (to swirl);

flinkdrinkin (a light snow). RD

rdasia.com 95

READER’S DIGEST

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Humour On The Job

“A tattoo? You’re kidding. It sure looks like a suit.” CARTOON: PETER STEINER/CARTOONSTOCK.COM; ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES

Instilling Confidence Stick Around

Before heading out to the office, I My kindergarten student needed
asked my eight-year-old daughter, a glue stick, so I opened my supply
“So, do I look OK?” cabinet to see what I had.

She slowly looked me up and “Wow! You have a lot of stuff!”
down before giving me the thumbs- he said.
up and saying, “Not as bad as you
did yesterday!” “You must make a lot of money.
Where do you work, anyway?”
SUBMITTED BY BARB LEE
SUBMITTED BY CONNIE GAHM

96 december 2021

Dodgy Resume

INTERVIEWER: “I see you managed

a vegetarian restaurant.”

APPLICANT: “What?”

INTERVIEWER: “It says here you

managed a vegetarian restaurant.”

APPLICANT: “I guess I did write that.

Not really, though. My girlfriend had

an art exhibition, and I organised RESTAURANT REVIEWS
WITH ATTITUDE
the sandwiches for the opening.
Eating out tonight?
They were vegetarian.” RD.COM Choose your restaurant carefully.

Recovery Time These are actual reviews:

I get so cross when people ask me “Primary attraction was the
small wildlife wandering
what I’m going to do on my day off. across the table.”

I’m going to recover from all my “‘Breaking bread’ should
not mean you have to use the
days on! @PANT_LEG
side of the table.”
Coal For Christmas “I thought I was looking at an
oil painting when suddenly it
A reddit.com contributor called moved. It was my waitress.”
Simon explained that his extensive
educational background came in “The only way the tables
handy when he worked as a Santa in a could be closer together would
shopping mall, especially when faced
with a smart-alec preteen. be to stack them.”
“The duck was tired, tough
“When I asked him what he wanted and took 90 minutes to arrive.
for Christmas, he flatly said, ‘Coal,’” It must have had a long flight.”
recounts Simon. “Being a jovial spirit, “The chef keeps renaming
I asked, ‘Bituminous or anthracite?’ and relocating the restaurant
like it’s a member of a witness
“Absolutely threw him for a loop.” protection programme.”

Catching Her Eye “The waiter repeatedly
called my ageing parents ‘coach’
As I leaned in to check her eyes, my
and ‘darling.’”
older patient got a little frisky. “Overpriced and undergood.”

“You remind me of my third FROM ZAGAT

husband,” she said coyly. rdasia.com 97

“Third husband?” I asked. “How

many have you had?”

“Two.” DR LEON PENDRACKY

READER’S DIGEST

13 THINGS

Scent-sational News About

Smell

BY Emily Goodman

1When a sample of people were their sense of smell. Many of these ILLUSTRATION: SERGE BLOCH
asked in 2018 which sense they specialists then developed the same
would miss most if they lost it, condition, and some became very ill.
smell came in dead last – only two Suddenly, the stepchild sense took
per cent of respondents picked it. centre stage.
Then came COVID-19. In early 2020,
ear, nose and throat doctors around 2Researchers soon realised
the world saw an unusual number of that loss of smell was a leading
patients who had unaccountably lost indicator of COVID-19. Those

98 december 2021