Reader's Digest Asia August 2021

TREE OF LIFE: Lake Cakora, at Following a significant rain event,
Brooms Head on the east coast of this tea-stained water washes into
Australia, has been photographed the lake, then gets pushed in by
from above to reveal stunning, the tides to create the intricate
tree-like patterns. ‘branches’. Moroney captured the
ever-changing lake fortnightly,
Amateur photographer Derry using a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone.
Moroney discovered the secluded
lake in June 2020, after following a “The best time to visit is after
winding beach estuary inland. The big storms,” he says. That’s when
lake’s unique shifting colours and his excitement builds. “I wonder
branch-like patterns are created what I might get to see and how
by a combination of the connected much it has changed.”
beach and tea tree-lined estuary.
CREDIT: DERRY MORONEY PHOTOGR APHY

rdasia.com 49

9SOCIAL

MEDIA RULES

Every Parent Should Teach Their Kids

50 august 2021

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES PARENTING

How can parents ensure their kids use
social media smartly and safely?

Here’s what a social media expert has to say

BY Felissa Benjamin Allard

rdasia.com 51

READER’S DIGEST

FOR MOST PA R EN TS, there’s no A SK YOURSELF THE SE QUE S-

avoiding social media. You probably TIONS BEFORE YOU POST Before

have it yourself, as do all your friends, posting, Wolk recommends parents

and if you’re among the vast majority post these questions near their chil-

of parents – your children will have it, dren’s computer or on the fridge,

too. Here are some social media do’s encouraging kids to ask themselves

and don’ts to encourage smart use of about a potential post: Is it true? Is it

this form of communication. helpful? Is it kind? Is it going to cause

drama? Am I posting this for the right

LIVE IN REAL TIME Life should be reasons? Her ‘Think B4 U Post’ sheet

lived in real time and not behind a includes questions such as, “Would

screen, according to Laurie Wolk, your grandmother want to see this?”;

author of Girls Just Wanna Have “Is that yours to share?” and “Would

Likes: How to Raise Confident Girls you share/say that in real life?” She

in the Face of Social Media Mad- says if you answer and pass these

ness. Don’t ignore real life. “We’re questions, then you can post.

raising adults here,

so let’s teach them STRESS TO YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA IS
the communication CHILDREN NO SUBSTITUTE
skills to become FOR FACE-TO-FACE
adults’,” says Wolk. THAT NOTHING
Sure, your kids may

It’s impor tant to THEY PUT ON feel like they’re con-
communicate with SOCIAL MEDIA necting with their
your children. Along peers, but screentime
with hosting regular IS PRIVATE is no substitute for

family meetings and in-person connec-

doing things like tions. “Make sure

talking about your day, get your kids your kids know how to show sincerity

used to talking about themselves. directly, comfort someone by being PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES; FROM RD.COM

there for them, and explain serious

EVERYONE IS SHOWING OFF On subjects with their actual voices and

social media, everyone is showing body language instead of emojis,”

their best life. Wolk reminds parents says Wolk.

to explain to kids that no one’s life is

perfect. “Nothing – not even money, IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING

fame or oodles of followers on social NICE TO SAY… This isn’t something

media – will make our lives run per- new. If you don’t have anything nice

fectly all the time. Know this. Expect to say, don’t say anything at all. “You

it. Move on,” she advises. can’t hear someone’s tone of voice

52 august 2021

Children need to be clear about what is appropriate and safe to post

or see their facial expressions, so it’s steam.” Social media should not be
much easier to hurt feelings – or get treated like a diary.
your own feelings hurt,” says Wolk.
LET YOURSELF EXPERIENCE
NOTHING IS PRIVATE, EVEN IF YOUR FEELINGS Wolk says feelings
YOU THINK IT IS Stress to your chil-
need to be felt. “If we allow our kids
dren that nothing they put on social to distract themselves with Netflix,
media is private – no matter how se- Snapchat, TikTok or the latest app-
cure their privacy settings are. Be firm based game to avoid dealing with the
about them not publishing phone ‘hard stuff’, then when the real hard
numbers, addresses, full names or any stuff comes along, they won’t be able
other identifying information. to cope,” advises Wolk.

CALM DOWN BEFORE YOU POST INTERNET DOWNTIME IS
OR RESPOND TO A POST “Don’t CRUCIAL “Kids and adults alike

post stuff online in a heightened need downtime,” recommends Wolk,
emotional state,” suggests Wolk. “If “We need time to unplug and replen-
you’re having a stressful school week, ish our mental and emotional re-
friend troubles, parent problems or sources.” Kids need to be able to re-
just not feeling your best, don’t turn flect on their day and rejuvenate
to technology to rant or blow off before hopping on social media.

rdasia.com 53

READER’S DIGEST

LAUGHTER

The Best Medicine

One for the Books In a Hole CARTOON CREDIT: MIKE SHIELL. ILLUS TR ATIONS: GET T Y IMAGES

A famous author was A busload of politicians were driving
autographing copies of his latest down a country road when, all of
book. One man brought a copy of a sudden, the bus ran off the road
the book as well as copies of his and crashed into a tree in an old
previous two books. farmer’s field. The old farmer, after
seeing what happened, went over to
“My wife really likes your books,” investigate. He then proceeded to dig
the man explained, “so I’ve decided a hole and bury the politicians.
to give her autographed copies for
her birthday.” A few days later, the local police
officer came out, saw the crashed
“So, it’s going to be a surprise?” bus and asked the old farmer where
the author guessed. all the politicians had gone. The old
farmer said he had buried them.
“I’ll say,” the man responded.
“She’s expecting a new car.” The police officer then asked the

From Go2GBO

54 august 2021

Laughter

old farmer, “Were they ALL dead?”
The old farmer replied, “Well, some

of them said they weren’t, but you
know how them politicians lie.”

From the internet

Wishful Thinking Feats of Strength

A man was walking down the beach A shark could swim faster than
and picked up a very old bottle. As he
rubbed it to remove the sand, a genie me, but I could probably run faster
popped out and said, “You can have
one wish.” than a shark. So, in a triathlon,

The man thought for a minute
and said, “Make it so all women will
love me.”

Poof! In an instant the man was
changed into a bar of chocolate.

From maaw.info

it would all come down to who is

Generation Gap the better cyclist. @EmmaManzini

A mum texts, “Hi! Son, what do IDK,

LY and TTYL mean?” He texts back, Creep Calm

“I don’t know, love you and talk to you SPIDER: Why are you terrified
by me?
later.” The mother replies, “It’s OK, ME: Well, the reasons I once had
have all now been replaced by
don’t worry about it. I’ll ask your sister. the fact that you can talk.

Love you too.” L AU G HFAC TORY.COM @TheAlexNevil

WEIGHT FOR IT Hee-Haw

• I went onto the Ada’s friend asked to borrow her
Weight Watchers donkey. “My donkey isn’t here,”
website earlier and she explained as the donkey brayed
it asked if I would loudly in the background.
accept cookies,
which felt like a test. “I thought your donkey wasn’t
there?”
• My New Year’s
“Who are you going to believe?”
resolution is to get in shape. Ada asked. “Me or a donkey?”
I choose round.
Seen on Reddit
SARAH MILLICAN, COMEDIAN
rdasia.com 55

READER’S DIGEST PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

56 august 2021

HEALTH

BY Lina Zeldovich

rdasia.com 57

READER’S DIGEST

W
hen Frances Dobrowolski
noticed blood in her urine in August
2019, she didn’t think much of it. But
then it happened again, and since she
was scheduled to see her doctor in two
weeks, she mentioned that strange fact.
Her doctor immediately referred her to
a urologist, and it proved life-saving for
the retiree and grandmother. When her
urologist threaded a tube with a tiny
video camera into her urethra and bladder
(a cystoscopy), she immediately saw the
cancerous tumours. Frances, who was
able to watch the procedure on a screen,
also saw the tumours – they were growing
from her bladder walls into the bladder.
“It was a lot of cancer,” she says.

58 august 2021

Beating Bladder Cancer

Frances also learned that smoking SYMPTOMS
could have been the cause. “I quit 13
years ago, but I smoked for 40 years, The most telling sign of bladder
two packs a day,” she says. “I thought cancer is the sudden appearance of
if I got anything, it would be lung can- blood in urine, a symptom called
cer, but I got bladder cancer instead.” haematuria, which Frances had. The
moment you see it, you should call
Frances had surgery to remove the your doctor right away, rather than
tumours within days, but on the fol- waiting for it to disappear. Haema-
low-up test a few weeks later, more turia may not be accompanied by
cancer showed up on the screen, so any pain, so some people wait for it
she had to undergo surgery a sec- to go away, losing precious time.
ond time. She also started having
chemotherapy drug infusions into her WHEN YOU QUIT
bladder once a week for six weeks to SMOKING, THE CHANCE
kill the remaining tumour cells. OF BLADDER CANCERS
DEVELOPING OR COMING
When her next check-up revealed BACK DECREASES
another tumour, she needed more in-
fusions. “But because I saw my doctor In addition to blood in the urine,
as soon as I spotted symptoms,” she symptoms may include changes in
says, “and because the tumours aren’t urination, such as a burning sensa-
growing into my muscles, my progno- tion, pain and increase in frequency.
sis is good. I stay optimistic.” These symptoms can be deceptive
because people may attribute them
BLADDER CANCER is among the top to age or an overactive bladder, and
ten most common cancer types in the ignore them. And when they finally
world, with approximately 550,000 share their concerns with their GPs,
new cases annually. While the inci- the doctors sometimes mistake them
dence of bladder cancer is lower in as urinary tract infections (UTIs).
South East Asia than some other parts
of the world, it is likely to increase as RISK FACTORS,
the population ages. GENDER & AGE

Many bladder cancers are highly Smoking is the single most impor-
treatable. The key to beating it is early tant risk factor in developing blad-
detection – and that’s where things get der cancer, according to research.
tricky. Unlike with prostate or breast
cancers, there’s no test that can detect
an elevated risk of bladder cancer, so
patients have to spot the troubling
signs themselves.

rdasia.com 59

READER’S DIGEST

When inhaled, the smoke toxins as oestrogen might play a role, too.
pass through the lungs and perco- And because women are more sus-
late through the bloodstream until ceptible to urinary tract infections,
they are filtered out of the body by doctors often misinterpret their
the kidneys, mixing into the urine. symptoms.
That toxin-high urine can remain
in the bladder for hours, essentially Most women with cancer whose
poisoning its walls. first symptom is blood in their
urine are initially misclassified as
“W hen patients quit smoking,” having a UTI, says urologist Dr Re-
says urologist Dr Antoine G. van nate Pichler. So, she says, if you have
der Heijden, “the chances of cancer been treated with several rounds of
coming back or evolving will de- antibiotics and your infection isn’t
crease, and survival will increase.” subsiding, that’s not normal. It’s
time to see the urologist and do a
ABOUT 75 PER CENT bladder cancer check.
OF PEOPLE DEVELOP
LESS-AGGRESSIVE Age doesn’t play a big role in blad-
NON-MUSCLE-INVASIVE der cancer, but the average age of
BLADDER CANCER diagnosis is 73. “The highest inci-
dence is seen in the age group 70 to
Men are far more likely than wom- 75,” Dr van der Heijden says.
en to be diagnosed with bladder can-
cer. According to GLOBOCAN sta- TYPES OF
tistics, among South East Asian men BLADDER CANCER
the rate was 4.8 per 100,000 in 2018.
There are important differences be-
For women, the rate was 0.9 per tween types of bladder cancer. Most
100,000. However, even though blad- patients (including Frances Dobrow-
der cancer affects fewer women, their olski) – about 75 per cent – develop
survival chances are slightly lower less-aggressive urothelial carcino-
than men’s – and there might be sev- mas, which start in the urothelial
eral reasons for that, experts say. cells that line the inside of the blad-
der. Most of these tumours are slen-
The disease may progress fast- der, finger-like protrusions, growing
er in women because their bladder from the bladder’s inner surface and
walls are thinner, allowing certain towards its hollow centre rather than
tumours to spread more easily and into its walls and out of the bladder
invade other organs. Hormones such into the surrounding tissues. Dr van
der Heijden adds that some types of
urothelial carcinomas can be more

60 august 2021

Beating Bladder Cancer

aggressive than others, so Frances Dobrowolski’s cancer was
doctors differentiate them by caught early, and she remains optimistic
grades that range from zero to
four, with higher numbers be- about her outcome
ing more invasive.

The remaining 25 per cent
of patients have more ag-
gressive cancers. Carcino-
ma in situ, or CIS, begins as
a non-invasive tumour but
it tends to grow and spread
more quickly and has a higher
chance of recurrence. Nearly
half of CIS patients will even-
tually develop a muscle-inva-
sive tumour, says Dr van der
Heijden.

Certain rare types of blad-
der cancers can be muscle-in-
vasive from the start. These
are very aggressive, but each
constitutes only about one
per cent of all bladder cancer
cases. Patients’ prognosis and
treatment depend on their tu-
mours’ type and stage.

PHOTO: SAM PAIOWALZ DIAGNOSIS & doctor may order a CT scan or MRI
TREATMENTS with a contrast dye that highlights
tumours, allowing the doctor to de-
As Frances discovered, to diagnose termine the exact type and stage of
the cancer urologists perform a cys- the cancer present.
toscopy. This allows the doctor to
view the bladder’s inner lining on Non-muscle-invasive cancers, as
a computer screen and get a sam- in Frances’s case, are removed by a
ple for a biopsy. Sometimes doctors procedure called a transurethral re-
also order a fluorescence cystoscopy, section of the bladder tumour. A thin
which uses a drug activated by blue instrument is inserted through the
light to find abnormal cells. Or, the urethra and into the bladder. It has
a wire loop at the end that removes

rdasia.com 61

READER’S DIGEST

the tumour. An electrode or laser is it to his GP a few months later, he
then used to destroy remaining ab- was immediately referred to a urol-
normal cells, which may not neces- ogist who diagnosed him with a
sarily be part of the tumour. non-muscle-invasive urothelial car-
cinoma – so his prognosis was good.
After surgery, doctors may also
use a catheter to inject a liquid drug Piet had surgery, but a year later
directly into the bladder to kill any the cancer came back. This time,
remaining cancer cells. This type after scooping it out, Piet’s doctor
of treatment is called intravesical used intravesical therapy, injecting
therapy. More aggressive cancers a chemotherapy drug into his blad-
might require multiple applications der over the course of a year. Piet
administered over months and remained cancer-free for a decade
even years, with the exact process until in 2011 he spotted blood in his
designed to address the patient’s urine once again. And once again
specific case. he had surgery followed by intra-
vesical therapy over four years.
Patients must also have regular
cystoscopy check-ups after surgery “I’m currently free of cancer,” he
to make sure the cancer doesn’t re- says, noting that regular surveil-
lance is key to staying that way. “It’s
TO DIAGNOSE THE checked twice a year with a cystos-
CANCER, UROLOGISTS copy.”
USE A PROCEDURE
THAT LETS THEM SEE Dr Pichler says that patients with
INSIDE THE BLADDER early-stage non-muscle-invasive
cancers can also receive immuno-
turn, because urothelial carcino- therapy that is administered via
mas tend to grow again. But with intervesical therapy that stimu-
careful monitoring, future cancers lates the immune system to attack
can be prevented from taking hold. cancer.

Piet van Klaveren* can attest to In the case of muscle-invasive
that. His bladder cancer fight be- cancers and tumours that can’t be
gan in 1996. It was detected be- stopped by these means, doctors
cause of blood in his urine – which may recommend radical cystecto-
he ignored at first. “Like most men, my – removing the bladder entire-
I postponed it, hoping it would go ly. Then they can either construct a
away,” recalls the 73-year-old phar- conduit that diverts urine from the
macist. When he finally mentioned kidneys into a small pouch worn
on the body that patients empty

*Name changed to protect patient privacy

62 august 2021

Beating Bladder Cancer

THE KEY TO STAYING six months for the next three years,
CANCER-FREE AFTER and once a year after that, says
TREATMENT IS REGULAR Dr Pichler.
CHECK-UPS AND
CYSTOSCOPY TESTS For those spotting blood in their
urine for the first time or having
manually, or they can reconstruct sudden onset of recurring UTIs –
the bladder entirely, from a piece of especially after never having them
the patient’s small intestine. before – these are reasons for a
thorough urological exam, Dr van
“Clinicians need to choose the der Heijden says. Even having an
right option for the right patients,” actual UTI doesn’t rule out a tu-
Dr Pichler says. mour entirely, because the two may
co-occur.
The key to staying healthy after
treatment is regular check-ups and Keep this advice from Dr van der
cystoscopy tests, experts say. Usu- Heijden in mind: “In women who
ally, urologists do them every three suddenly have recurrent UTIs,
months for the first two years, every analysis by a urologist is mandato-
ry. In men, a single UTI is already a
reason to be referred to a urologist.”

Par for the Course

A man who drove his SUV onto a golf course and became
completely stuck on the sixth hole told police officers he had
been led astray by his GPS app. Police said the man did not
appear to be intoxicated and is not facing any charges. “I think
the moral of the story is, if you’re using one of these GPS apps,
just keep your eyes on the road, your eyes won’t lie to you,”

said a police spokesperson.

The man who landed in the sixth hole certainly was not the first
person and won’t be the last to be led astray by GPS directions.
The car of three tourists from Japan ended up in the sea while
unquestioningly following instructions that were supposed to
get them to North Stradbroke Island in Queensland in 2012. In

Europe, a middle-aged Swedish couple hoping to holiday on
the picturesque Isle of Capri found themselves instead in the

industrial town of Carpi in northern Italy. UPI

rdasia.com 63

THEN AND NOW

The

ALARM
Clock
wield its bodily chime. Or, simply
Getting out of bed on time, sleep where natural sunlight would PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES
from raucous roosters wake you with its brightness. (Out of
to cheerful apps the cave, man!)

BY Zoë Meunier As humans became more sophis-
ticated, the need for an early wake-
Say what you will about the up call became more important.
deprivations of early humani- Ancient Greek philosopher Plato was
ty, but one of the distinct ben- renowned for his legendary dawn lec-
efits was that time truly was… tures in the 4th century BCE, when
irrelevant. There was no need water clocks – with markings to show
to know what the time was and no how water flow corresponded to time
obligation to get up to do much other passing – were the time keepers de
than experience the day and dodge jour. Plato’s water clock had the added
another sabre-toothed tiger. feature of a chime set to go off once in
the early evening and once at dawn.
Of course, if early humans did Handy for Plato, although how his lec-
want to wake up early, the simplest ture attendees managed to get there
method was just to drink lots of water on time is anyone’s guess.
before bed and let the call of nature
Another of the world’s earliest re-
corded alarm clocks dates to the year

64 august 2021

rdasia.com 65

READER’S DIGEST

725 CE, courtesy of mathematician, bells at specific times. In fact, 2021

engineer, Buddhist monk, astrono- marks the 700th anniversary of per-

mer (and chronic overachiever!) Yi haps the first such musical clock. In-

Xing. Tasked with improving calen- stalled in a monastery near Rouen,

dars in China, he built on centuries France, in 1321, it was probably de-

of Chinese innovation to create an veloped by some tech-savvy monks

astronomical clock, snappily titled as a handy wake-up call for pre-dawn

‘Water-Driven Spherical Bird’s-Eye- prayer-singing, without one of them

View Map of the Heaven’. having to pull an all-nighter.

Measuring not only time but the The idea was expanded on by

distance of planets and stars, a wa- ot her Eu ropea ns, who created

ter wheel turned gears in the clock, complex displays within chiming

with puppet shows and gongs set to clocks in town squares, such as the

emerge at various times. Impres- 16th-century Strasbourg clock, which

sive work there, Yi Xing, if slightly included a famous cockerel whose

superfluous to the needs of most at cries echoed through the cathedral.

the time. The next step was to make these

For many more centuries, people clocks smaller so they could be used

continued to rely on daylight, bird- individually. It’s thought personal

song and our cock-a-doodle-doo-ing mechanical alarm clocks originated

friend the rooster to wake. in Germany in the 15th century, but

The Middle Ages saw the inven- their inventors are unknown. The

tion of mechanical clocks, original- first name associated with the me-

ly driven by weights. These chanical alarm clock invention

massive objects, found only RISE is Levi Hutchins, an Ameri-
in churches and town bel- AND SHINE can who invented a person-
fries, soon began sounding al alarm device in 1787 to
A timeline

of what woke

us up

Through the ages Industrial Revolution Late 1800s

Rooster Knocker-upper Classic alarm clock

66 august 2021

The Alarm Clock

wake him up at 4am every morning. jarringly, unpleasant way to wake up.
No special reason, he just really liked Not everyone felt the need for a me-
to wake up early.
chanical solution, though. Since the
Hutchins never patented his inven- Industrial Revolution began, people
tion (probably too tired from those had been finding other novel ways to
pre-dawn starts) and it took another make sure they got to work on time.
half a century for Frenchman Antoine Some factories would blow a large
Redier to patent the first adjustable whistle. Another popular method in
alarm clock, in 1847. It allowed the Britain and Ireland involved hiring
user to set a time to wake up by plac- a ‘knocker-upper’. Using everything
ing a pin in the hour hole of the time from a truncheon to a pea shooter,
you needed to be up. Nice and easy, if the knocker-upper would bang on
only accurate to the closest hour. doors and windows to wake those in-
side. By the 1920s however, as alarm
American Seth E. Thomas got in clocks grew in popularity, knocker-up-
on the action, patenting his own ver- pers were forced to pack away their
sion via the Seth E. Thomas Clock pea-shooters and beat a quiet retreat.
Company. Although Thomas died in
1859, in 1876 the company bearing Throughout the 1900s, alarm clock
his name brought out the first prac- companies continued to innovate.
tical, mass-produced, mechanical, Sadly, the hero who invented the com-
hand-wound alarm-clock that could bination of the clock-radio appears to
be set to any time. By the late 1800s, have been lost to history, but it was
the ‘classic’ alarm clock was being believed to be sometime from the late
manufactured – you know, the one 1920s to the late 1940s.
with twin bells, two keys, two feet, two
hands and that clanging, nerve-jan- The forward progress of the alarm
gling noise that is perhaps the most clock was then thwarted by WWII,
with clock-companies in Britain and

1950s 2005 2020s
Teasmade Clocky alarm clock App alarm

rdasia.com 67

READER’S DIGEST

America ceasing production from literally roll off the end of your bed-

1942-1945 as they turned their hands side table and roll around the floor,

to producing aeroplane parts and oth- beeping incessantly, forcing you to

er important wartime components. get up and chase them to turn off

As the war dragged on and alarm the alarm. And who could forget the

clocks broke or were destroyed in breakfast-making alarm clocks seen

bomb-raids, the government real- on The Goodies?

ised alarm clocks were essential to Still struggling to get out of bed?

the smooth running How about the Tugas-

of industry, allowing lugabed, an alarm clock

some factories to re- that would wake you by

commence selling their pulling your toe. All you

products as early as had to do was place a

1944. By the end of the loop around your big

war, alarm clocks were toe before hitting the

a must-have item. sack, and at the desig-

In the ‘Long Boom’ of The hero who nated time, the clock,
the 1950s, alarm clocks invented the clock- which was bolted to
featured new technol- the floor, would yank

ogies and materials. radio appears to on the loop to wake the
Goodbye metal, hello be lost in history soundest of sleepers
plastic! Seeya, spring- (and probably dislocat-

wound mechanical ing a few digits in the

clocks, hello electron- process).

ic digital clocks! And enter stage left, These days the original alarm

snooze button! General Electric- clock is endangered, since alarm

Telechron first marketed the snooze apps can now be found everywhere

alarm in 1956. (We now know that from your mobile-phone to your lap-

hitting snooze just disrupts our sleep top computer. With smart everything

and makes us feel worse, but we were allowing us to program our favourite

young and innocent then.) song or sound to go off when we want

Like all good inventions, there was it to, we can be lulled from the land

always someone striving to add a lit- of nod by myriad means. But for

tle extra something, which saw the some, nothing quite competes with

introduction of everything from flying the slumber-obliterating sonorous-

alarm-clocks, to exploding alarm- ness of the traditional, spring-driven

clocks, alarm-clocks that play air-raid mechanical alarm clock that contin-

sirens, and Ticky, Tocky and Clocky, ues to grace the bedside tables of

wandering alarm-clocks that would millions around the world.

68 august 2021



PHOTO FEATURE

GASLCLAEASR ASS
Strong yet brittle – glass inspires
artists and master builders
BY Cornelia Kumfert

70 august 2021

PHOTOS: (THIS PAGE) ROBERTHARDING/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO; (NEX T SPRE AD CLOCK WISE FROM LEF T) IMAGEBRO- eThe colour of the
KER/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO; IAN DAGNALL/AL AMY STOCK PHOTO; DAVID MARTINE AU/SOL ARONIX honeycomb façade of Harpa
Concert Hall and Congress
Centre in ReykjavÍk depends
on the sunlight and the
perspective of the observer.
The south side of the building
consists of more than
1000 elements of colour-
effect glass. This allows only
certain wavelengths of light
to pass through and reflects
all others. Thus this concert
hall in Iceland glitters
spectacularly in the sunlight.

rdasia.com 71

READER’S DIGEST

fA sea of flowers decorates
the ceiling in the entrance area
of the Bellagio, the famed casino
in Las Vegas. The colourful
splendour consists of
2000 mouth-blown glass
flowers, which were arranged by
the artist Dale Chihuly in 1998.
The flowers are made of Murano
glass, which is famous for its
elaborate production and
brilliant colours. Amazingly, this
delicate and light-looking work
of art weighs almost 20 tonnes.

fMighty but filigree are
these particular blue firs,
spruces, beeches, pines and
aspens (top right). Found in
the Bavarian Forest, Germany,
close to the Czech border, their
leaves do not rustle nor do
their branches bend even in
the strongest winds. The 30 or
so trees are actually made of
eight-millimetre thick sheets
of green, blue and brown flat
glass and rise up to eight
metres in height.

f The façade of the Swiss-Tech
Convention Centre in Lausanne
is clad with dye-sensitised solar
cells, known as ‘Energy Glass’,
to let light through and
generate energy (far right).
This produces and stores
electricity through an artificial
photosynthesis process. The
glass front therefore lets light
into the building as well as
handling its power needs.

72 august 2021

As Clear As Glass

rdasia.com 73

74 august 2021

As Clear As Glass

e Only the brave set foot
on Cabo Girão in Madeira –
one of the island‘s most
popular tourist attractions.
Those who dare to climb
onto the massive glass floor
will hover above one of the
highest cliffs in Europe at
580 metres above sea level.
Nothing blocks the view
into the depths.

e Tudeley in Great
Britain has the only church
whose windows were all
designed by the famous
Russian artist Marc Chagall
starting from 1967 (far left).
Originally commissioned
with only one window, the
artist decided to design the
remaining 11 when he paid
a visit to All Saints’ Church.

e A glass slipper
brought Cinderella good
luck – and a prince. In
Chiayi, Taiwan, however,
couples can even marry
inside one. The shoe-
shaped church is built of
around 300 bluish glass
panels, and is 17 metres
in height.

PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP-LEFT) PJRWINDOWS/
ALAMY STOCK PHOTO;
JOSIE ELIAS/STOCKIMO/AL AMY
STOCK PHOTO; JOYI CHANG/
ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

rdasia.com 75

READER’S DIGEST

&

76 august 2021 &

HEALTH

&

DYNAMIC

DUOS

Researchers are continually finding that certain
foods deliver an even bigger health boost when

consumed together. Make the most of these
nutritious foods by teaming them up

By The Editors

rdasia.com 77

READER’S DIGEST

PASTA & VINEGAR Elevated levels of homocysteine have
been linked with declining cognitive
Help prevent type-2 diabetes function. The power combination
may also protect against cancer, ac-
Make your pasta salad with a vin- cording to a review study by Nanjing
aigrette dressing. Vinegar contains Medical University in China in 2016,
acetic acid, which reduces the spike published in Scientific Reports.
in blood sugar that occurs after con-
suming starchy foods high in car- FISH & WINE
bohydrates, such as pasta, rice and
bread. A steadier rise in blood sug- Absorb more omega-3s
ar reduces hunger by keeping you
feeling satiated, as well as helping Italian researchers found that adults
to minimise the risk of developing who consumed a glass of wine a day
type 2 diabetes. had higher blood levels of omega-3
fatty acids, which are found in fish
Blood-sugar spikes are best
avoided, so that your body isn’t se-
creting too much insulin in an at-
tempt to manage them. Research in
2015 by the Max Planck Institute for
Heart and Lung Research in Ger-
many discovered that acetic acid
activates the receptors that inhibit
insulin secretion.

BEETROOT & EGGS

Maintain brain power

How about a lunch plate that in- &
cludes pickled beetroot and sliced
hard-boiled eggs? Choline is abun-
dant in egg yolks (as well as in beef
liver, chicken liver and veal liver);
betaine is found in beetroot, spinach
and some grain products.

A 2010 American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition study found pairing these
two nutrients was associated with
lower blood levels of homocysteine,
an amino acid produced in the body.

78 august 2021

Dynamic Duos

such as trout, salmon, herring and &
sardines. The same results were not
found for beer or spirits.

The finding is from a 2008 study
of 1604 subjects from Belgium, Italy
and England between ages 25 and
65. Scientists believe that heart-
healthy polyphenol antioxidants in
wine might be responsible for im-
proved omega-3 absorption. Ome-
ga-3 fatty acids are proven to reduce
your risk of experiencing a major
cardiac event.

GREEN BEANS & TOMATOES

Boost iron intake

ILLUSTRATIONS: ©SHUTTERSTOCK Iron is necessary for producing hae- GREEN TEA & LEMON JUICE
moglobin, which transports oxygen to
muscles and the brain. Low levels of Boost immunity and heart health
iron can lead to fatigue, fast heartbeat,
headache and more. Iron from food Green tea has been shown to
comes in two forms: heme (found in strengthen the immune system and,
animal-based foods) and non-heme in animal studies, to reduce the
(found in plant foods such as green growth rate of tumours. And the cate-
beans, edamame and leafy greens). chins found in green tea are powerful
But our bodies absorb far less non- antioxidants that have a positive ef-
heme iron than heme iron. So, con- fect on cardiovascular health. There’s
sume those non-heme iron foods a way to further boost the power of
along with vitamin C, which is found those catechins, which are a type of
in tomatoes, citrus fruit, sweet pep- antioxidant: add some citrus juice.
pers and berries, for a bigger boost.
According to a Purdue University
A Swiss study published in the report, adding a splash of juice from
American Journal of Clinical Med-
icine reported that adding vitamin
C to a meal rich in non-heme iron
yielded an almost three-fold in-
crease in our body’s ability to ab-
sorb the iron.

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READER’S DIGEST

a lemon, lime or grapefruit to green
tea reduces the breakdown of its cat-
echins in our digestive system, mak-
ing them more readily absorbed by
the body.

SALMON & YOGHURT

Build bone strength

Try mixing vitamin D-rich canned &
salmon with calcium-laden plain
yoghurt instead of mayonnaise the inflammation in the body is known
next time you make a salmon salad. to be a risk factor for heart disease
Vitamin D’s best-known role is to and cancer. And in 2019, Indian re-
keep bones healthy by increasing searchers at the Central Food Tech-
our intestines’ ability to absorb cal- nological Research Institute found
cium. Without enough vitamin  D, that combining capsaicin with genis-
the body can absorb only up to tein helps increase our body’s ability
15 per cent of dietary calcium, ac- to digest fat. Spicy tofu stew, anyone?
cording to Harvard University re-
search. But when vitamin D reserves BROCCOLI & RADISH
are normal, we absorb between 30
and 40 per cent of dietary calcium. May help prevent cancer

You can get vitamin D in three Adding a little peppery kick to your
ways: through your skin from sun- broccoli with some sliced radishes
light; from foods including salmon can maximise its antioxidant fire-
and tuna; and from a supplement. power.

TOFU & CHILLI PEPPERS A 2018 Chinese study published in
Food Science and Biotechnology stated
Reduce inflammation, body fat

Lab research in 2009 in South Korea
discovered that genistein (an iso-
flavone with antioxidant properties
that’s found in soy foods such as eda-
mame and tofu) plus capsaicin (an
antioxidant that gives chilli peppers
and jalapeno peppers their fiery kick)
helps tame inflammation. Chronic

80 august 2021

Dynamic Duos

that the addition of radish, rocket and boosts the bioavailability of the
rapeseed sprouts to broccoli sprouts vegetables’ components. In other
could promote the formation of sulfo- words, heating this combination of
raphane, broccoli’s signature antiox- ingredients, known as ‘sofrito’ in
idant. Foods including radishes pos- some Mediterranean cooking, was
sess the enzyme myrosinase, which shown to allow more of the vegeta-
works to improve the formation of bles’ polyphenols – which are an-
sulforaphane and its absorption rate tioxidants – into circulation in our
into the blood. Research suggests body.
that sulforaphane has strong an-
ti-cancer power, particularly by pre- ONIONS & CHICKPEAS
venting the expansion of cancer cells
in the body. Give you more energy

BANANAS & WATER Any dish made with chickpeas is
tastier with onions, but the combi-
Faster post-workout recovery nation is also good for you. According

A 2018 study by Appalachian State &
University, published in the journal
PLOS ONE, shows that consuming
both water and bananas is just as, or
more, effective than a sports drink for
exercise recovery.

Bananas mimic ibuprofen in re-
ducing pain and inflammation –
thanks to boosting serotonin and
dopamine levels – while the water
rehydrates the body.

VEGETABLES & OLIVE OIL

Increase antioxidants

If you normally sauté vegetables in
butter, consider switching to olive
oil. Research from the University of
Barcelona, published in Molecules
in 2019, showed that when cooking
onions, garlic and tomatoes in ol-
ive oil, the oil acts as a vehicle that

rdasia.com 81

READER’S DIGEST

to a 2010 study in the Journal of Ag- &
ricultural and Food Chemistry, sul-
phur compounds in onions, garlic
and leeks can help you absorb more
iron and zinc from grains and leg-
umes, including chickpeas. Iron is
involved in the transport of oxygen
in the body, so an iron deficiency
can cause fatigue and ‘brain fog’.

And as for zinc, a large body of re-
search shows it’s effective in fighting
the common cold. For example, a
2017 review study by the University
of Helsinki found that the duration of
cold symptoms were reduced by one
third for those who took zinc.

SOBA NOODLES CHICKEN & GRAPEFRUIT
& BROCCOLI
Boost energy
Help protect skin
Poultry, beef, pork and fish are all
Rutin is a bioflavonoid, or pigment, top dietary sources of coenzyme Q10
that’s found in buckwheat, a whole (CoQ10). This power source for our
grain used to make some flours and body’s cells plays a vital role in the
noodles (it’s also in apple skin, as- production of the energy we use for
paragus, figs and green tea). And vi- everything from digesting food to
tamin C is, of course, found in many running on a treadmill. CoQ10 may
fruit and vegetables, including broc- also help control blood pressure in
coli, brussels sprouts, strawberries those with hypertension.
and citrus fruit.
A 2010 Japanese study discovered
A 2019 Polish lab study found that eating grapefruit allows up to
that the combined antioxidant and 50 per cent higher cellular absorp-
anti-inflammatory action of rutin tion of CoQ10. Chicken roasted with
and vitamin C can protect skin cells
from the effects of UV radiation
from sunlight. A bowl of soba noo-
dles (Japanese noodles made with
buckwheat) plus vitamin-C-packed
vegetables makes a healthy meal.

82 august 2021

Dynamic Duos

sliced grapefruit, onions and other macular degeneration, both leading
vegetables makes for a delicious causes of blindness.
family meal.
These antioxidants are deposit-
But beware of eating grapefruit if ed in the retina, where they reduce
you are taking certain medications sunlight damage. You can bolster
– statins is one example, but talk to absorption of them by consuming
your doctor – as it can cause some dark leafy greens with foods con-
medications to pass into your blood- taining healthy fats, such as nuts,
stream too quickly, which could be avocados and olive oil. And, an ani-
dangerous. mal study in 2011 showed that lutein
and zeaxanthin may also reduce the
KEFIR & ALMONDS effects of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, thus
decreasing plaque build-up in your
Improve gut bacteria arteries and reducing your risk of
heart disease.
The results of a 2016 randomised,
controlled British study, published Eating kale sautéed in avocado oil
in Nutrition Research, showed that or sprinkled with walnuts is a winner.
consuming almonds changed lev-
els of gut bacteria in participants PORK & MANGO
– almond skin and almonds helped
healthy bacteria in the gut (probi- Strengthen bones
otics) flourish.
A stir-fry that includes sliced pork
Probiotics are found in fermented and mangoes is more than just de-
foods such as yoghurt, miso, sau- licious. The beta-carotene in or-
erkraut, kefir and kimchi. Helping ange-coloured fruit and vegetables
healthy bacteria thrive is important such as mangoes, carrots or sweet
because once they multiply, they can potatoes is converted into vitamin
outnumber illness-causing bacte- A in your body.
ria and bolster immunity. Almond
muesli with kefir for breakfast? In addition to its role in bone
That’s powerful stuff. growth, this vitamin is good for
maintaining the health of your skin,
KALE & WALNUTS eyes and immune system. But you
need zinc to get the optimum bene-
Safeguard eye health fits of vitamin A – it is necessary to
make retinol-binding protein that
Kale, as well as other leafy greens, transports vitamin A throughout
contains a lot of lutein and zeaxan- your body. You’ll find zinc in pork,
thin, which are antioxidants that poultry, beef, lamb, pumpkin seeds,
may protect against cataracts and oysters and wheat germ.

rdasia.com 83

READER’S DIGEST

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Humour on the Job

“OK, I messed up. He didn’t have to rub my nose in it.” CARTOON CREDIT: LEO CULLUM/CARTOONCOLLECTIONS .COM

The Office-Lingo-to-English TOURIST: Someone who takes
Dictionary
training classes just to get a holiday
KEYBOARD PLAQUE: The disgusting
build-up of dirt and crud found on from his or her job. Berkeley.edu
computer keyboards.
MOUSE POTATO: The online, Home, Sweet Work
wired generation’s answer to the
couch potato. I think we need to stop calling it
STRESS PUPPY: A person who “working from home” and start
seems to thrive on being stressed calling it “living at work”.
out and whiny.
TREEWARE: Hacker slang for @H_DeQuincey
printed documentation.
UNINSTALLED: A euphemism Fantastic Beast
for being fired.
One of my students just called me
a “cruel beastie”, which I’m taking
as a sign of affection.

@BorrowedHorses

84 august 2021

Perfectly Normal All In a Day’s Work

We were dining with my husband’s LET’S GO SHOPPING
colleague, a therapist, who told us
that her seven-year-old daughter At a shopping mall, I watched
had recently asked, “Mummy, as a man was approached by
what’s normal?” a kiosk vendor. “Excuse me,
can I ask you a question?”
Our friend gave a response that said the vendor.
only a mother who’s analysed one too
many patients could give: “Normal The man smiled as he replied,
is what people are before you get to “You just did,” and kept right
know them.” on walking.

SUBMITTED BY MARY-ANNE REED SUBMITTED BY JOHN LEWANDOWSKI

In the Soup I like walking into a shop and
immediately realising it’s too
“In an attempt to be frugal, I made fancy but pretending to look
roasted red capsicum soup to take to around for a few minutes for the
work for lunch. When it came time to benefit of the salesperson, who
enjoy my fat-free soupy goodness, the already dislikes me by default.
Thermos I placed in the microwave
exploded open with a gunshot @sarahclazarus
sound. Naturally the secretary ran
over to see what the gunshot was and The manager of the shop where
saw a thick, blood-like substance I work was dealing with an angry
all over my face – so she started customer. The customer asked
screaming. him if he could talk to the
manager. So the manager spun
“The day ended with me hopelessly around in a dramatic 360-degree
trying to scrub red capsicum from turn and then said to the
the ceiling while all of the employees customer: “Hi, I’m the manager,
watched me, discussing the physics how can I help you today?”
behind my red capsicum soup
explosion while my boss paced @ItsStephaniee
around assessing the damage.
ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES
“My attempt to save a dollar on
soup cost my company a freshly
painted wall and two of those extra-
fancy acoustical ceiling tiles. They
didn’t fire me. They just call me
‘Capsicum Spray’ now.”

STEPHANIE YUHAS, FILMMAKER

86 august 2021

TRUE CRIME

SCAMMED
BY MY
BEST
FRIEND

She swindled me
out of thousands,
forcing me into
bankruptcy and
destroying my once

sunny outlook.
But I finally
got justice

BY Johnathan Walton

F R O M huffpost.com

rdasia.com 87

READER’S DIGEST

fell hard for one of the old- She introduced herself as Mair
est cons in the book. But this Smyth in May 2013, when she joined
scheme wasn’t cooked up a group of angry neighbours in my liv-
by some fictional Nigerian ing room to discuss what to do about
prince soliciting me through a losing access to our building’s swim-
sketchy email. I fell under the ming pool because of a legal spat with
a neighbouring building.
I spell of an immensely lovable
woman who inserted her- “I can help,” she told us. “My boy-

self into my life and became my best friend is a lawyer who can get the pool

friend. She was also an international back!”

con artist on the run. I liked her immediately. We all did.

She snared me in an age-old con She was brash. Funny. Intelligent and

called the Inheritance Scam, ulti- outspoken. Ironically, for someone

mately deceiving me out of nearly who turned out to be a liar and a con

US$100,000. She simultaneously de- artist, she came across as a woman

stroyed my sense of self and dark- who would always “tell it like it was”.

ened my once joyful FOURTEEN She also came across COMPOSITE: PREVIOUS SPREAD JOLEEN ZUBEK. PHOTO: PREVIOUS
outlook. As she was MONTHS as extremely wealthy. SPREAD AND THIS PAGE: COURTESY JOHNATHANWALTON.COM
ruining my life, she was INTO OUR She wore expensive Jim-
also scamming dozens FRIENDSHIP, my Choo shoes and once
of others around the MAIR AND I showed me her ward-
world by impersonating WERE LIKE robe with more than 250
psychics, mortgage bro- SISTER AND pairs. I later discovered
kers, psychologists, law- they were all fake.
yers and travel agents.
She even pretended to After our initial meet-
ing, Mair invited my

be a cancer victim. BROTHER husband, Pablito, and
She was a true queen I to dinner. Over the

of the con, using dis- next year, she frequently

guises and plastic surgery to alter her wined and dined us at fancy restau-

appearance. rants and always insisted on picking

I was a reality TV producer, work- up the bill. “I have a lot of money – let

ing on shows such as American Ninja me pay!” she’d plead convincingly.

Warrior and Shark Tank, and I never We’d hang out almost every evening

saw through her masterful perfor- in our barbecue area, exchanging in-

mances. She might have got away timacies under the cool star-lit sky.

with cheating many more people if Mair told us she was originally from

she hadn’t turned me into a vigilante. Ireland. One night she pointed to

Allow me to explain. a framed document hanging in her

88 august 2021

Scammed By My Best Friend

Soon Mair became more than just a neighbour or even a close friend.
She and my husband (right) and I were family

living room. “This is the Irish Consti- the patriarch of her family, had re-
tution,” she said. cently died, and her cousins were
dividing up an estate worth 25 mil-
“See that signature at the bottom? lion euros (about US$32  million).
That’s my great-uncle’s.” She said she was supposed to re-
ceive five million euros as her share
I had no idea that, like her shoes, of the inheritance and showed me
that tale was fake. angry text messages and emails from
her cousins threatening that she
Mair brought me Irish tea and pas- wouldn’t get a cent.
tries and regaled me with stories of
how when she was a young girl, her Mair was hired at a travel agency
grandmother – who was supposedly where her family supposedly did a lot
in the Irish Republican Army – would of business.
take her to the top of a bridge and
teach her how to hurl Molotov cock- Fourteen months into our friend-
tails down on British soldiers. ship, Mair and I were like sister and
brother, even ending our phone calls
When I tearfully confided in her that with “I love you”. She told me that her
part of my family had disowned me for barristers were having trouble trying
being gay, she pounced. to secure her inheritance and that
they had warned her about a clause
“My family disowned me, too!” in her uncle’s will stating that if any
she said as she fought back tears.
“They’re trying to get me disinher-
ited.” Mair told me that an uncle,

rdasia.com 89

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family member were convicted of a first learned that her legal name was PHOTOS: COURTESY JOHNATHANWALTON.COM
crime, the person would forfeit his or Marianne Smyth, not Mair Smyth.
her share. “You’d better be careful!” I But she paid me back the next day,
cautioned. “One of your disgruntled when she was released from prison.
cousins might try and set you up!” Or, rather, the married man she was
dating at the time paid me back. Lit-
On July 8, 2014, my phone rang. tle did I (or he) know she was scam-
“You have a collect call from an in- ming him, too.
mate at the Century Regional Deten-
tion Facility. Press one to accept,” the As the months passed, Mair
computerised voice instructed me. showed me emails from her lawyers
It was Mair. I quickly pressed one. assuring her that the case against her
“You were right!” she sobbed. “I was was falling apart. I had no idea those
arrested today. My family set me up to emails were fake.
make it look like I stole $200,000 from
my job.” Then, almost three years into our
“I told you this would happen!” I friendship, she told me that the dis-
yelled. I was distraught. I found a trict attorney prosecuting her case
bail bondsman and paid him $4200 had frozen her bank accounts. So I
to get her out of jail. That’s when I started lending her money. She had
immediately paid back the $4200 I

90 august 2021

Scammed By My Best Friend

A queen of the con,
Mair used disguises and
even plastic surgery to
change her look

used to bail her out of prison, so I felt credit cards to get the
confident she’d pay me back. criminal case against her
dropped.
But that’s the thing: the term con
artist is short for confidence artist be- A few months later,
cause these individuals are skilled at Mair was arrested again.
gaining your confidence and then us- She said the judge had
ing it to scam you out of your money. charged her with money
laundering, something
Over several months, I lent Mair to do with her using my
nearly $15,000. You’d think I’d be wor- credit cards, and pun-
ried about giving her that much mon- ished her with 30 days
ey, but I wasn’t. Not only was she my in prison – a “slap on the
best friend, but she also claimed she wrist”. She assured me as
was about to inherit millions of dol- soon as she got out and
lars. I never even considered that an- received her inheritance,
ything sinister could be taking place. she would pay me back.
Mair called me reverse-charges
One day, Mair called me and said from prison every day. When I said I
the district attorney was demanding wanted to visit, she begged me not to.
$50,000 to dismiss the case against “I don’t want you to see me like this,”
her. I let her charge the $50,000 on my she said. But I insisted. So I logged on
to the prison’s website to schedule a
visit. That’s when the true devastation
she had wrought on my life started to
reveal itself.
The website showed that Mair was
serving time for felony grand theft.
This was no slap on the wrist.
I took the day off and rushed to a
Los Angeles courthouse. With trem-
bling hands, I reviewed every record
I could find from Mair’s case. I dis-
covered she had lied to me about
everything. I couldn’t breathe.

rdasia.com 91

I was a TV producer, not a detective. prison, I confronted her. She denied PHOTO: SALLY PETERSON
But I was determined to get justice everything. “That’s not true, Johna-
than! That’s not true!” she protested,
I learned that the $50,000 I let her tears streaming down her face. But I
charge on my credit cards had gone was done believing anything she had
to pay $40,000 as part of a plea agree- to say. I clenched my jaw and walked
ment to a theft charge she faced for away. We never spoke again.
stealing more than $200,000 from the
travel agency she worked for. Had she I went to the police days later, in
not been able to come up with that March 2017, and filed a report. The of-
$40,000, she would have received a ficer interviewing me seemed scepti-
five-year prison sentence, not a mea- cal that there was anything they could
sly 30 days. do. “Don’t give strangers your money,”
were his parting words. So I started my
Her bank accounts had never been own investigation.
frozen. There was no inheritance. She
was not even Irish! Those were all lies I dug up Mair Smyth’s high school
she used to entrap me. yearbook and learned that she was
born Marianne Andle in Maine. She
I went home and collapsed in my later moved to Tennessee, where,
husband’s arms. “How could I let this according to estranged family mem-
happen to us?” I sobbed. bers, she claimed she had breast can-
cer and allegedly scammed friends
Eventually, my pain was replaced and neighbours out of thousands for
by anger. I was a TV producer, not a “treatments”. They told me Mair was
detective. But I was determined to get oddly obsessed with wanting to be
justice. Irish. In 2000, she went to Ireland on
holiday. She ended up marrying a
The day Mair was released from local and stayed for nine years.

In the same way that wooden stakes
kill vampires, publicity kills con art-
ists. I began turning my pain into a
profound sense of purpose. I started
a blog, johnathanwalton.com, detail-
ing how Mair had scammed me. Soon,
other victims of hers reached out.

I heard from one who claimed Mair
had scammed her out of $10,000 by
impersonating a psychologist. She
allegedly tricked our landlord out
of $12,000 in rent by pretending to

92 august 2021

Scammed By My Best Friend

have cancer. Mair had iron-deficiency be her checkmate move? I wondered. I

anaemia and would purposely avoid was apoplectic.

iron-rich foods so she would be ad- Thankfully, the judge refused to

mitted to hospital for iron infusions. grant the restraining order, and Mair’s

While in a hospital bed, she’d ask a trial proceeded. The prosecution pre-

nurse to take her photo, then she’d sented a mountain of irrefutable evi-

email it to her victims to better sell her dence. Though she was charged with

cancer story. scamming only me, the judge allowed

A police detective in Northern Ire- testimony from three other victims to

land told me that authorities in Belfast demonstrate a pattern.

had been looking for Marianne Smyth On January 9, 2019, Marianne

for years. The detective said she had Smyth was found guilty of conning me

worked as a mortgage broker in 2008 out of $91,784 and sentenced to five

and had scammed many people and years behind bars.

then vanished. I BEGAN I spent two years
All in all, Mair Smyth TURNING MY pursuing Mair. I had to
PAIN INTO file for bankruptcy be-
used at least 23 dif- A PROFOUND cause of what she had
ferent aliases and has done to me. And the
been charged with SENSE OF 24 court appearances
fraud and grand theft in PURPOSE I made even before the
Florida and Tennessee. trial – for continuanc-
es, pretrial motions,
I was determined to
get justice and called

the Los Angeles Police and hearings – meant

Department every day. A year after I’d I missed a lot of work and lost even

last seen her, Mair was arrested and more money. Not to mention the cost

charged with grand theft for scam- of hiring private investigators in mul-

ming me. She was released on her tiple states and countries to ferret out

own recognisance. all her scams.

I never went near her, but one But it was worth it.

month before trial, Mair filed for a re- I am now suspicious of everyone

straining order against me, asserting and everything. Making new friends

that I was threatening her with vio- is not something I’m good at any-

lence. It cost me $1500 to hire a lawyer more. And I’m ashamed, too. But my

to fight her bogus claim. desire to stop her from hurting other

“If a judge grants the restraining people is much stronger than my

order, you would be prevented from shame.

testifying against her at her criminal HUFFPOST.COM (AUGUST 16, 2019), © 2019 BY
trial,” my lawyer explained. Could this JOHNATHAN WALTER.

rdasia.com 93

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QUOTABLE QUOTES

Put all your eggs
in one basket,
and then watch
that basket.

ANDREW CARNEGIE,
INDUSTRIALIST

TO REFLECT IS ONE THING, Every night before I go
BUT TO REGRET IS ANOTHER. to sleep, I ask myself
‘What did I like about
REGRET IS USELESS. today?’ I am trying to
truly embrace being
IDRIS ELBA, ACTOR grateful with what I
have. To truly feel
My vibe is like, hey, I believe the syukur (grateful).
you could probably secret to a long
LISA SURIHANI,
pour soup in my and happy ACTRESS AND UNICEF
lap and I’ll marriage is not GOODWILL AMBASSADOR

apologise to you. just finding
someone you
JOHN MUL ANEY, COMEDIAN can live with
for 50 years.
It’s finding PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES
someone you

can’t live
without.

FRANK CAPRIO, TV JUDGE

94 august 2021



No one saw him fall off the boat in the
middle of the night. How long could he

survive in a storm-tossed sea?

BY Brett Archibald ILLUSTRATION BY Alexander Wells

FROM THE BOOK ALONE: LOST OVERBOARD IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

96 august 2021

rdasia.com 97

READER’S DIGEST

t began with an invitation to surf the world’s
best waves in Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands, an
archipelago separated from Sumatra’s west coast

I by the 150-kilometre-wide Mentawai Strait. The
nine South Africans, all in their early 50s, mates
since school, jumped at the chance.

By coincidence, a similar trip was organised for
nine Western Australian friends, also in their 50s.
Their journeys – the South Africans on the Naga Laut
and the Australians on the Barrenjoey – would cross
and the destinies of two men would intersect over two
unforgettable days.

“I’M GOING TO DIE OUT HERE” like that again, I’m going to pass out.
A great weight forces my chin to my
BR ET T, W EDNESDAY, A PR IL 17,
chest. I’m tumbling. I hear a gurgle as
2.30AM, MENTAWAI STR AIT. From bubbles froth from my ears and nose.
the shelter of the upper deck, I stum- Water swamps my face and washes
ble out to the port railing of the Naga down my throat. I cough violently
Laut, a 20-metre surf charter boat, and open my eyes.
and into the full brunt of the storm.
The sea is heaving. A surge of Coke I’m in the ocean. The wind is howl-
and bile rockets up my throat and I ing and the surf boiling around me.
spew it out over the side. I’ve barely Perhaps 30 metres ahead, the Naga
wiped my mouth when I lurch over Laut is moving slowly away from me.
the side once more.
“Hey!” I scream, waving both arms
My head is pounding, my stom- wildly.
ach a corkscrew of pain. I vomit
a third time. It occurs to me what Baz, the Indonesian engineer on
the offending dish was: the calzone watch, does not hear me. I can make
pizza at dinner, with its dodgy meat out my mate Banger – Benoit Main-
filling. I feel dizzy looking down at gard – lying on the upper deck.
the water churning beneath me. My
last conscious thought is, If I vomit No one has seen me fall overboard.
“God, please make the boat come
back for me,” I pray. It forges on into
the night, leaving me behind.

98 august 2021