A BETTER YOU IN THE NEW YEAR
How to get a better night’s sleep, keep your marriage happy, nail that job interview, avoid online dating scams and pick friends who make you happy – all great tools to make you page a better person in 2012
69
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2
36 A Game of Life and Death
Colonel Gaddafi crushed their club – literally. But thanks to the revolution, Benghazi is back in the beautiful game
44
A Fighter for Women From Bosnia to the Congo, Monika Hauser has helped the forgotten victims – women raped as an act of war
2 rdasia.com
54 Ticket to Ride
Want to be an astronaut? For about $1700 per minute, you, too, can be a space tourist
62 Quick Study: Space Age
With the end of the US space shuttle programme last year, we take a look at the first 50 years of space travel
85 My Mum’s Secret Life
I thought I knew everything there was to know about my mother. I was wrong
LIVING WITH THE GHOSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE Point Hope, Alaska, is home to the Iñupiat, the people of the whales. These are their stories
page
92
102
Istanbul
110
Miracle on Flight 516
East meets West in Europe’s coolest city
High over northern Russia, the airplane’s control systems begin switching off, one by one. Everyone’s fate is now in the hands of the pilots
118 I Resolve To . . .
Reader’s Digest editors from around the globe share their New Year’s resolutions
120 Where Children Sleep
BOOK BONUS
Some sleep in luxury in large apartments while others call a rubbish dump home. What does a child’s bedroom tell us about his or her life? January 2012
3
D E P A R T M E N T S
Click 07
What’s on rdasia.com
Letters 08
Share your views
@Work 10 My Story 11
Driving the school bus is a lot more interesting than you can imagine, says Krista Fletcher
The Tech Guy 14
With 3D printing, creating a customised, usable 3D object in the comfort of your own home will soon be a reality
Health Smart 18
Health news you can use
Heroes 25
Ismael Feneque jumps on the train tracks to save a fellow passenger
Word Power 27 Voice 29
J.H. Hyun on weighing life’s priorities
Kindness of Strangers 31 Pet Tales 33 4 rdasia.com
Unbelievable! 34
Nury Vittachi uses quantum physics to explain why diets don’t work
Life 52
It’s really like that
Unseen Asia 66
Celebrating the beauty of daily life
Quotes 68 Look Twice 88 What’s Cooking? 101 allrecipes.asia
Service 132
Customer care
Ask Aunty 133
Advice from the heart
Money $avvy 135
Gabriel Yap advises a reader on what to do with his savings
The Guide 137
The lowdown on TED, Jack and Jill starring Adam Sandler
Laugh 144
It’s the best medicine
Puzzler 147 Last Laugh 148
P H OTO S (P RE V IO U S S P R E AD ) J AM E S M O L LIS O N ; GE T T Y IM AG E S ; I STO C K P H OTO ; M A RTI N G E I S S L E R; M I C HA E L C HUA H; DAVE YOD E R ; D.S U / P E AC EP O RTA LP H OTO ( T H IS PAG E ) G E T T Y I M AG ES ; COR B IS ; T H I N KSTO C K
Letter From the Editor 05
Dora Cheok on her resolutions for 2012
Editor-in-Chief Dora Cheok on her plans for 2012
My 2012 To-Do List
P H OTO S COU RT ES Y D OR A C H EO K
E
ver get the feeling that time goes by faster as you get older? I remember when I was nine – the whole year seemed to crawl by so very slowly. School took forever to end each day and let’s not talk about exams – I thought I’d never turn double digit 10. Now, in my thirties, it’s like someone’s hit the accelerator pedal and the years are whooshing by. It’s 2012 and I’m wondering what happened to the last 12 months! It feels like I sneezed in January 2011 and that’s blown me into January 2012. I’m looking at my 2011 To-Do List (check out the resolutions of other RD editors around the world on page 118) and I’ve only Dora wants to go to a Star Trek crossed out one thing – read 20 new books. convention this year! I’m not sure whether to feel woe or just blame my inactivity on spending too much time hurling angry birds at green pigs. But that’s a resolution I’m making and stating. Dora shall not spend more than two hours a week playing Angry Birds. OK, let’s make that five. But back to my 2012 list of things that I would like to accomplish over the next 12 months: 1. Attend a Star Trek Convention 2. Go to Petra 3. Board the Orient Express 4. Write a book Numbers 1, 2 and 4 have now been on the list for a decade. They’ll get crossed out . . . eventually. Perhaps I should add that to our “how to” cover story (p69) – how to cross everything off your to-do lists. But then again, that would really take the fun out of making these lists at the start of the year! Lastly, from all of us at Reader’s Digest Asia, we want to wish all our readers throughout the region a fantastic 2012! Here’s to a fruitful year ahead of us. January 2012
5
A Fighter for
WOMEN From Bosnia to the Congo, Monika Hauser has helped the forgotten victims – women raped as an act of war. For her extraordinary work, she was named the 2011 Reader’s Digest European of the Year BY MARCEL BERLINS
44 rdasia.com
January 2012
45
PHOTO GABBY GERSTER
Want to be an astronaut? For $1375 per minute, you can join Jean Ries and others and buy a . . .
54 rdasia.com
TICKET
RIDE to
P H OTO G E T T Y IM AG ES
BY TIM BOUQUET
The spaceship VSS Enterprise was unveiled on December 7, 2009 in the Mojave Desert, California. It can carry six passengers
January 2012
55
HOW TO
zz
zzzz z z z z z z
’s t h g i N r e t t GetaBe
{ SLEEP} BY MICHELLE CROUCH
70 rdasia.com
ILLUSTR ATIONS JOHN CUNEO
Y
{
’s
ou’re trying to get a good night’s sleep. You pour your last cup of coffee for the day about five minutes after you get up in the morning, and your bedtime routine is so calming, it could put an energetic four-year-old into a coma. You banish worries by writing them down in a special notebook you keep by the bed, right next to your warm milk and homeopathic, fragrance-based sleep aids. So why do you still find yourself staring at the ceiling? It’s time to listen to what some unexpected experts have to say. Their jobs don’t necessarily include long hours in a laboratory studying sleep problems, but what they know about a bunch of other irritants – stomach ills, back pain and windows in need of shades – just might put you out for the night.
}
GetTheBasic Equipment Right
“You don’t need a really expensive mattress or one with a lot of space-age bells and whistles. There’s really only one good study on mattresses, and it confirmed the Goldilocks theory: most people prefer a mattress that’s not too hard and not too soft. So look for something medium firm.” Dr Andrew Hecht,
orthopaedic surgeon and co-chief of spine surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Centre, US
“If your mattress is eight to ten years old, you should probably get a new one. Seventy-two percent of people we recently surveyed said they slept far better
on their new mattress than they did on their old one.” K i m K l e m a n , editor-in-chief, Consumer Reports
“I’m not a fan of sleeping with two pillows if you’re a back sleeper because it makes your upper back curve and strains the neck and back. If you need to sleep high for medical reasons, get a wedge and put your pillow on it.” D r K a r e n E r i c k s o n , chiropractor
It Could All Be In Your Head
“My research has found that any new smell, even one associated with relaxation, like lavender, can make you more alert and vigilant. You’re better off with a scent that makes you feel comfortable. There really is something to cuddling up with your spouse’s undershirt.” D r P a m e l a D a l t o n , sensory psychologist
“We expect to sleep for eight solid hours, but that’s actually not normal
Point Hope, Alaska is home to the I単upiat, the people of the whales. These are their stories
LIVING WITH THE GHOSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
WORDS BY JEREMY HSU PHOTOGR APHY D. SU/PEACEPORTALPHOTO
92 rdasia.com
A whale bone cemetery, the only one of its kind in existence made by disassembling traditional funeral stanchions (made of whale bones) and creating a fence for the cemetery January 2012
93
Istan East meets West in Europe’s coolest city BY PICO IYER
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER MAGAZINE
BY MARCEL BERLINS
102 rdasia.com
nbul PHOTO GABBY GERSTER PHOTO DAV E YODER
The city’s charm lies in its part-Islamic, partWestern culture
January 2012
103
I Resolve To...
Reader’s Digest editors from around the world reveal their New Year’s resolutions Try to run a bit further and faster on my somewhat sedate jogging expeditions. We’ve got the Olympics in London this year, for heaven’s sake. Gill Hudson, editor-in-chief, UK edition
I’d like to take the time to cook with my kids, who are 15 and eight years old, at least once a week. I have experienced how preparing a recipe with children teaches them patience, precision, creativity, pride and selfconfidence. I also would like to go to a place I’ve never been before, appreciate a taste I’ve never experienced before, embrace a new idea I’ve never heard about before and become friends with someone I’ve never met before.
I’d like to learn French in order to practise it with my daughter who is studying it in school. Also, I want to spend more time outdoors with my family and recycle as much as possible. Genevieve Fernandez, editor-in-chief, Mexican edition
118 rdasia.com
I have to pay more attention to what I’m doing in order to avoid injuries like the three broken toes from the mishap in the bathroom. I will also try to remember people’s names. Lastly, I’m going to allow myself one sweet treat a day. Renata Cervenkova, editor-in-chief, Czech edition
PHOTO ISTOCKPHOTO
Stephane Calmeyn, editor-in-chief, French edition
I’d like to improve my tennis serve, and try to get to bed earlier. Raycine Chang, managing editor, Taiwan and Hong Kong edition
I never make New Year’s resolutions. I think every day is a new beginning so you can resolve to do something any day.
Get my driver’s license, learn how to cook and continue reading – at least two books a month. Michael Wang, managing editor, Puzhi
Mohan Sivanand, editor-in-chief, India edition
My resolution for 2012 – as for the past five years – is to learn how to swim. And, oh, world peace. Siti Rohani, managing editor, Reader’s Digest Asia
I have to waste less time playing Angry Birds. (Just as soon as she clears level 24 with 3 stars.) Dora Cheok, editor-in-chief, Reader’s Digest Asia
As Asians, we’re not used to hugging
one another. But as my mother is getting older, I feel that giving her a hug is a simple way of expressing my love. I’ll give my mum a hug before going to work every day. Sunee Thanalertkul, managing editor, Thai edition
Think of each new day as a new chance, go to yoga classes at least once a week and remember birthdays and send cards in time! Sue Carney, editor-in-chief, Australia/New Zealand edition
January 2012
119