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A Migrant Labourer’s Journey of Hope

History

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China’s Heroines The Women of the Long March People

Meet Vietnam’s Jamie Oliver Technology

Mapping The World

Marriages That Bridge the Cultural Divide

Love Without Borders 5

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48 4 | Editor’s Note 5 | @Work 6 | Unseen Asia

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7 | Money Savvy 9 | Voice 11 | Unbelievable 2

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42 14 | For The Love of Pandas 22 | Journey of Hope 32 | Laugh

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34 | Mapping the World 40 | Love Without Borders 48 | A Day in the Life 54 | Know One Teach One 62 | Feet Unbound 75 | The Guide 82 | HealthSmart 88 | Life 91 | Last Laugh

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Editor’s Letter

S

even years ago, just like

so many others in the region, I found myself out of a job. But I was young, single, care and debt free (as opposed to now when I’m young, single, and with many responsibilities plus a mortgage).

I was a little wild back then and so I decided to throw sensibility to the wind and take the year off.

My mother was not at all pleased.

Telephone conversation between Dora and her mother: Me: Hi Mum! I got laid off . . .

Mother: D5, it’s not you, it’s the economy.

Me: I know, I’m a little put off, but I have plans.

Mother: Good!!!! Come home.

Find work here and a husband and give me grandchildren.

Me: Errmmm . . . maybe next year? I’m taking this year off. I’m going to TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD!!!!

Making good use of my severance pay.

Mother: WHAT?!!!! You save that money for a downpayment and COME HOME!!!!!

Needless to say, I didn’t go home. I bought a round-theworld air ticket, started off in Bangkok and kept heading east, till I finally came full circle nine

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months later. I lived like a pauper, got robbed in Italy, clung on for dear life atop a runaway camel in Egypt, and had my passport stolen in Russia, among other things. I had the best time EVER. Which is why I so love this month’s travel stories (p60).

Robert Frost got it right. Two roads diverged in the woods and I, I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.

One last thing. The picture of me and Dora the Explorer was taken just before I embarked on my travels. It’s especially for a reader, Parachitt, who wants to see me in something other than my colourful silky jacket.

Dora Cheok, Editor rdaeditor@readersdigest.com

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@Work ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

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cott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, asked visitors to his website to describe their job in one sentence. Here are some of our favourite responses:

My job is to… n Ensure that stupid people stay in the gene Lifeg uard pool. n Spend most of the day looking out the window.

Pilot

Bring a little rain into the lives of flood victims. n

Gover nment Debt Collector

Run away and call the Securit y Guard police.

illustr ati on paul woo d s

n

Copy and paste things on the internet. S t u d e n t n

n Talk in other people’s sleep.

University Professor

“So how are things down on the wind farm?” a little harder – so the prints would be clearer.

L eih An n e R. O do n o Philippines

One of our hotel guests complained to me about a spraying showerhead: “I can’t get in the shower without getting wet!”

up and walked out of the tomb. Now, what do you think those people were thinking then?”

One of my students had an interesting take on the event: “All that work for nothing.”

Rebec c a Nuesk en

So n ya D av is

One day in the office,

I was teaching the story

my printer ran out of ink. Unfortunately, it happened when one of my clients was in a hurry.

Upon seeing the blurred printout, the client had this suggestion: I should press the keys on my keyboard

of Lazarus to my Sunday school class: “After his death, many people gathered to console Mary and Martha.”

“They treated Lazarus’s body, wrapped him, and laid him in the tomb. After four days of mourning, Lazarus stood

A shoe store customer liked a pair of Reeboks but wasn’t feeling completely satisfied.

She stopped an associate and asked, “Does this come in A l ex Ch ow a Nike?”

Your favourite new joke might be worth $$$. Go to p.7 or rdasia.com for details.

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Unseen Asia

c e l e b r at i n g t h e b e a u t y o f d a i ly l i f e

E

n route to the UNESCO World Heritage site of the rice terraces in Ifugao, Philippines, Oman Serapio came across this awe-inducing sight: a hanging house by the edge of the road. Inspired by the contrast between the serene surroundings

and the potentially perilous position of the house, Serapio snapped this photo to remember. He later found out that the house serves as a resting place for trekkers and hikers who are exploring the area.

Log on to rdasia.com to submit photos of what Asia means to you.

Send us your photos of Asia. Entries published here will win a limited edition Canon camera 4GB USB flash drive.

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rda s i a .co m

money $ avvy

with g abriel yap

photo g et t y i mage s

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t’s been a bumpy couple of years for Asia. Our economies have taken a beating; our stock markets have endured rollercoaster ups and downs, and let’s not even talk about property.

For many of us, out jobs and lifestyles have been affected.

Families and individuals alike have had to tighten their belts and cut down on spending.

And yet, we also all know of at least one fiscally savvy friend who’s fortune in a bad situation. It hardly seems fair does it? Why them and not us? Why aren’t we as financially fit as those people?

Money. Many would say it’s the root of all evil. I’m not one of those naysayers. Money is good. More money is better.

But the fact is, money can never buy you happiness. I say this from personal experience.

I used to head up the regional unit of an international stockbroking firm. Life then revolved around travelling for road shows to fund managReader’s Digest Asia assumes no responsibility for any losses, damages or liability whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person, resulting from or attributable to the use of the information published on this site. Readers use this information at their sole risk.

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ers, mutual funds, endowment and varsity funds in the major financial centres like New York, London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

When I made a career switch to Institutional Sales in 1996, the travels and eating and drinking at Michelin-star restaurants increased substantially. My move to New York laid the foundation for my dealing career.

I moved back to Asia in the late 1990s, just when the economy really took off. I made a lot of money timing the market correctly, which was instrumental in my client profile growth. Over the past decade, I have come to advise many billionaire clients across Asia.

And then, I took the leap and left the stockbroking industry that’s been such an integral part of my life the past 20 years.

“What on earth are you doing?”

“Are you nuts?” “You’ve really lost it!” were some of the comments I got from my friends. But to me, it was a natural decision. It made me happy.

The meaning of happiness for most people resides in the future rather than the present. To me, this isn’t healthy. To me, happiness is doing all those things I want to do in the “now”, not later.

So now, I work with international aid organizations like the Charities Aid Foundation and Asoka International.

You hear this from doctors all the time. They say being healthy is all 8

about balance. It’s absolutely true and this likewise, applies to your financial health as well. Are your finances in order? Do you have a handle on debts and assets? Are you fiscally fit?

If you’re not, how can you change and improve your financial habits to get back on track to fiscal fitness?

That’s where I hope to help. Ask me. Send me your questions on all things financial. It’s not just about what stocks to buy or when to buy; it’s about how to keep yourself and your family healthy money wise.

Having enough money to meet your monthly expenses contributes to your overall happiness, in much the same way as a rock-solid marriage or love for your job does.

Having more money is great, but it doesn’t always make you happier.

And we all know falling short makes life tough.

You can achieve financial fitness in your life and achieve the “now” for yourself. Write in to moneysavvy@readersdigest.com and I will answer all your money-related queries as detailed and in-depth as possible.

I’m looking forward to reading your letters and sharing my thoughts on how all of us can strive to be Money Savvy.

Editor’s Note: Gabriel has asked that a portion of his fees for his column be donated to the Charities Aid Foundation (http://www.cafonline.org). Reader’s Digest is happily supporting his request. rda s i a .co m

Voice yu sasamoto

Yu Sasamoto of Microsoft wonders out loud whether computers and mobile phones have turned us into better or worse communicators

photo y u sasamoto ; il lu str ati on danie l b ejar

B

y now the arguments are familiar. Computers and mobile phones are turning us into lazy writers, ruining our spelling and grammar and reducing our attention span. We’re losing our social skills and becoming virtual junkies. We are facing a communications crisis.

Yet one thing is undeniable. Social networking sites, blogs, instant messaging and e-mail are actually improving our ability to reach out to our fellow man. To quote Andrea Lunsford, a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University, technology isn’t killing our ability to write. It’s reviving it, and pushing our literacy in bold new directions.

The 2008 US presidential election is a great showcase of modern-day communicators. Never before has an election created such an unprecedented volume of interest across the four corners of the globe. As the campaign unfolded, blogs, popular networking and photo-sharing sites were abuzz with first-hand accounts, pictures and updates. Through their mobile phones and PCs, people instantly shared moments of historyin-the-making with each other.

Another example, this time closer to home. In September 2009, typhoon Ondoy brought a month’s worth of rainfall to the Philippines in just a few hours, causing severe flooding. Social networking sites and services were flooded with news accounts, reports, photos and videos of Ondoy’s aftermath. The stream of information soon became a hub for coordinating rescue and relief efforts for those who had access to the internet. The phone and the PC became critical communication tools for survival.

On a personal level, relationships of all types – romantic, classmates, 9

family, co-workers – have been kept alive and even resurrected thanks to modern technology. For those with family members or partners far away, the PC and the phone are completely essential in staying connected.

If it does seem that standards of grammar and spelling are slipping, it’s probably because there are vast numbers of people writing now, who, in a pre-internet age, probably wouldn’t have bothered to write at all. Surely it’s better that people are writing and communicating their viewpoint, than not?

Think back to the days when we left home to go to university or work overseas. The most cost-effective means to communicate was through letters. When we did get round to writing them, these often arrived weeks after they were written, resulting in long stretches of silence.

But now, even my 76-year-old mum is texting and e-mailing me using the Windows phone I bought her, proving that you’re never too old to embrace technology!

Today people have a huge choice in how they express themselves, be it using words, photos, videos, audio clips, even emoticons. We have different networks for different needs; tracing old friends, finding videos, outreaching to potential employers, connecting with travellers. The issue then becomes how we manage all this information and not get overburdened. You guessed it – there are services out there that even help with that. For example, with 10

Windows Live, you can aggregate updates from different social networks into one place, providing a streamlined, holistic view and an easy way to manage multiple contacts and the streams of information.

Of course, there has to be a balance. There are many occasions when we should leave our phones and PCs out of reach, for uninterrupted human-to-human interaction.

We’ve all been there. You’re pouring your heart out to someone when they get distracted by their beeping phone.

You’re having an earnest conversation with your boss who is more intent on reading emails.

You’re having dinner with people who have their head down looking at their phones throughout the meal.

I thoroughly advocate and encourage the discipline and etiquette of usage, yet the benefits of the phone and the PC far outweigh the annoyances.

But for the girl who announces on Facebook that she has taken an ‘unofficial’ day off work for her employer to see, or the guy who decides to propose to his girlfriend via mobile IM – well there are just some things communication tools can’t help with!

TTYL! Yu Sasamoto is the marketing officer for Microsoft’s Consumer and Online group for Greater Asia Pacific. Let us know what you think of this topic and suggest new topics. Write to us at asiacomments @readersdigest.com. rda s i a .co m

Unbelievable T r u e t a l e s f r o m A s i a b y n u r y v i tt a c h i

illust rat io n o liv ier kugl er

Trust me, I’m a comedian It’s hard to get people to believe in you, Nury Vittachi confesses

T

rust was the theme of a business conference I was at in Bangkok recently. Speakers clambered onto the stage and blissfully extolled the blessings of having faith in one another. By the fifth one, I felt like stealing their wallets. Then it was my turn. I went to the podium and spoke two words: “Trust me.”

Everybody laughed. Why did those words create such mirth? It may have been the devastatingly brilliant ironic tone of my voice.

Or it may have been the fact that I was wearing a badge that read: “Government Official”.

Humour is a strange thing. Trust is even stranger. When I was a schoolboy, I caught a classmate stealing from a candy jar on my desk. But I’d loaded it with cod liver oil tablets, ha-ha! In revenge, he put an earthworm in my lunchbox. I put a frog in his. This battle turned us into best buds. (It’s a guy thing.)

I soon learned that creating trusting relationships as a young adult is way harder. I read loads 11

of surveys about “What A Woman Looks For In A Man”, and they all highlighted “sense of humour”. So I treated women to my funniest pranks (involving worms, cling film, frogs and fake dismembered limbs).

Not one female was even mildly amused!

Those evil, lying surveys ruined my late teens.

In my 20s, I got a job as a business reporter. A media tycoon released a statement flatly denying rumours that he was about to buy a rival firm, and then, less than an hour later, he bought the company. “That’s what I call a snap decision,” I said to the business editor. He shook his head and said, “Brazen.” I said, “No, I think he’s from Hong Kong.”

Speaking of bad guys, last summer, a gang of thieves stole a fortune in gold and diamond jewellery from a shop in Mayfair, London. But they were robbed before they could spend the loot. You can’t trust anyone these days.

Anyway, one of the speakers at the trust conference told me, “You build trust by delivering positive messages.” Oh yeah? A friend of mine on inspection duty went into a factory. “SAFETY FIRST” said a poster on one wall. “QUALITY FIRST” said a poster on the other wall. This scene sent a clear message to visitors about this company: “BRAINS LAST”.

But the real enemy of trust is lies, I’m told, so I asked readers to tell me what they reckon were the world’s 12

most common untruths. Here are the 12 Most Common Lies At Work: 1) He’s in a meeting. 2) I’m not here to sack people. 3) I only need five minutes of your time. 4) I’m not trying to sell you anything. 5) Our people are our greatest assets. 6) I didn’t get your email. 7) I can’t talk right now, I’m on my way out the door. 8) The cheque’s in the post.

9) The customer comes first. 10) I am from the government and I am here to help you. 11) You may already have won a million dollars.

12) Leave your CV and we’ll call you when something comes up.

And here are the 12 Most Common Lies Outside Work: 1) Fun for the whole family. 2) I love the sweater you knitted me! 3) I’ll call you.

4) Don’t worry, mum, I’ll be good.

5) No, you don’t look fat in that.

6) The dog ate my homework.

7) You haven’t changed a bit, really!

8) I only had one beer. 9) You made it yourself? It tastes great! 10) Actually, we’re just good friends.

11) No, really, it’s fine, I prefer it cold. 12) I’m not biased. Some of my best friends are [fill in minority group here].

One guy at the conference described himself as “an executive coach”, which made him sound like a bus. He told us he developed trust using “a trust fall”. People close their eyes and fall backwards into his arms. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this when I was young and single? It would have worked better than the frogs. n rda s i a .co m

A mother panda is generally unable to raise two babies at the same time. Whenever twin pandas are born, human caregivers have to take on the role of “nanny� to the newborns

for the love of

pandas

B y E r i n Y e photography by lei yu & hua xiao-feng 14

rda s i a .co mrda | month s i a .co09 m

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t’s nine o’clock in the morning of July 22, 2009 in Ya’an, Sichuan. An event that occurs only once every 500 years is taking place: a total eclipse of the sun. Standing under the eaves, Huang Zhi and Luo Bo watch the pens some 100 metres away sink into darkness at the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge base of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center.

The storm on the previous night had damaged the power supply circuits. Within the entire 716,000-square-metre compound, the only light now emits from the maternity and nursery wards, powered by their own generators.

The rain keeps pelting down, with heavy clouds blotting out the sky. Although they are unable to witness the eclipse, both Huang and Luo, the two directors of the Department of Animal Management at the Center, are in high spirits. After an entire night’s waiting, together with panda breeder Feng Gao-zhi, they had just delivered a pair of twin “sons” with their own hands, the first delivery for Nana the panda.

This first pair of panda twins born in 2009 is also a lucky pair: a month before they were born, the Center had signed an agreement for a three-year panda conservation plan with automobile giant Mercedes-Benz China. The company pledged to 15

help improve the living conditions of baby pandas through its Green Legacy Program, a specialised fund for nature conservation it had launched in 2007.

Christening the twins Xing Hui and Xing Rui respectively, the company committed to funding the twins for the duration of their lives.

Early Days

The total solar eclipse over the Bifeng Gorge has shocked the 13 baby pandas born shortly after the Wenchuan Earthquake in May 2008.

They stop playing and grab hold of the trees, looking up to the sky in confusion.

Meanwhile, Li Guo, the chief of the nursery, has just checked on Xing Hui’s nursing crate. The little fella is lying on its front quietly, sound asleep under a piece of panda hide. The warmth of the box and the softness of the hide provide the baby panda with a strong sense of security. Owing to his relatively undeveloped senses of sight and hearing, his sweet dreams have been thankfully uninterrupted by the din and uproar ensuing from the eclipse.

Xing Hui is the first baby panda resident of the nursery this year. Like all other newborn baby pandas, he doesn’t look very attractive. His body, the size of a rat, is a flushed red and furless all over, with the characteristic black and white fur distinctly absent. Caregivers liken the appearance of these tiny baby mammals to skinned rats.

The panda nursery is located next to the “Panda Kindergarten,” both of 16

Feeding time at “panda kindergarten”

which belong to the Mercedes-Benz Giant Panda Theme Park. The panda twins will spend half of their first six months in the nursery, after which they will begin schooling at the kindergarten with other baby pandas of the same age group.

In addition to four pens, the kindergarten also boasts two openair amusement parks. At the centre of each park stands a wooden platform over a metre high, with six small trees each about two metres high planted at small intervals around it. rda s i a .co m

Two tyres – playthings for the baby pandas – hang from one of the trees.

Good Parenting

Human caregivers look after the baby pandas from the time they are born through adolescence. Interestingly, there are more male than female caregivers here, with four “daddies” and two “mummies” divvying up the responsibilities of taking care of the young. The main task of these “nannies” is to be there with the young pandas through their

mealtimes, playtime – even during their toilet breaks.

At about 7 am, Xing Hui takes his first sip of milk, much to Li Guo’s relief. The first feeding is typically the toughest. While baby pandas are equipped with the natural ability to locate and feed from their mother’s nipples, things are not as simple with foster breeding. First, the caregiver has to carefully wrap the baby panda’s little body with a cotton gauze patch folded thrice over with one hand, so that only its tiny head is exposed.

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One-year-old baby pandas playing with each other

Using the other hand, the nanny has to hold a 50-millilitre cylindrical milk bottle and either gently touch the baby panda’s mouth with the bottle teat, or squeeze the bottle to smear some milk on its lips. Hopefully, the milky flavour will arouse its sense of smell, enticing its tiny mouth to open.

“The baby panda has no idea what you are doing, nor does it know what a bottle teat is. It won’t open its mouth instinctively. In this case, it’s important that the hand holding the baby panda simulates a mother’s embrace, so that it feels comfortable and safe.

If it gets too nervous or frightened, it won’t feed.”

Li Guo is a senior “daddy” in the nursery. In 2006, there was an astonishing time when he had to take care of six baby pandas all by himself every night. Often, when one 18

A “daddy” tending to baby Xing Hui

was feeding, another would become restless. Super-Daddy Li would then have to multitask, hugging one while patting the other. By the time he was done feeding all six babies, it would often already be dawn.

Thankfully, Xing Hui is a good rda s i a .co m

baby, saving his caregivers a lot of trouble. When it comes to the more fussy ones, however, feeding can be challenging enough to drive anyone mad. There have been times when Li Guo has had to try feeding a newborn baby panda over and over again.

A single gram of milk would get cold and had to be warmed up repeatedly, and the baby’s tiny mouth moistened with a small cotton ball dipped in purified water every so often. It could be a whole night of pottering about before the baby panda would finally feed for the first time.

“The key to breeding pandas is to be careful, patient, and loving,” says caregiver Zhang Ya-hui, a Shaanxi native who transferred here two years ago. Prior to coming to the conservation centre, he had done jobs such as field monitoring, habitat surveying, and wilderness training as part of the Scientific Research Department. From the rough-andtumble nature of fieldwork to the gentleness and meticulousness necessitated by nannying the pandas, Zhang recalls how drastic and difficult the transformation had been: he was practically trembling the first time he held a tiny baby panda, which weighed only as much as two eggs, in his hands.

The nursery shift operates on a 24-hour basis: a group made up of two caregivers do a 24-hour shift (starting at 8 am) at a time. When he first started out doing the 24-hour shifts, Zhang would be very restless. Time itself seemed to stand still, especially

Chronicle of a Baby Panda’s Development t 7 days Colours of the limbs, eyes, and ears start to change t 10 days Black and white patches appear on the skin t 45 days Eyes are fully open t 3 months Leaves the nursing crate; tries to walk t 4 months Acquires basic ability to walk; sent back to be with its mother t 6 months Enters “Panda Kindergarten” with other baby pandas of the same age group t 1.5 years Leaves “kindergarten” for the Baozi Mountains, where two or three cubs live in one pen t 3 years Begins to get territorial t 5.5 years Attains maturity

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during the wee hours. Thankfully, he eventually got used to it.

Pandering to Their Every Need

For the first seven days of his life, Xing Hui feeds on colostrum (milk secreted during the first three days after parturition), consuming one to two grams, depending on his appetite, once every three hours. He then moves on to a mixture of colostrum and milk formula, and, subsequently, milk formula after ten days. Since the blend of ingredients and quantity varies with each meal, caregivers have to weigh each ingredient carefully to ensure that the right formula is fed to the growing baby pandas.

Before feeding, the caregivers also have to help the babies regulate their bladder and bowel movements.

A panda younger than three or four months old cannot defecate by itself, and requires the help of its mother or caregiver. Li Guo places a petri dish under Xing Hui’s tiny body, and gently taps at his behind with a cotton ball pre-moistened with purified water to induce defecation. The whole process, complete with feeding, takes about an hour.

When Xing Hui is two months old, his new “daddy” Zheng Xin arrives at the nursery. With his now distinctly black and white fur, fully open eyes and developing hearing, Xing Hui is now recognisably a panda, although he is still unable to walk erectly, and also still spends most of his time in his crate sleeping.

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It’s time for gymnastics, and Zheng Xin takes Xing Hui into his arms.

Baby pandas feel uncomfortable if they sleep for too long without sufficient physical activity. Zheng pinches Xing Hui’s arms and legs and then pats his back, massaging his belly using a clockwise motion from time to time. If he feels satisfied, Xing Hui will huddle up, staying still in his “daddy’s” arms; if not, he will almost certainly make his protestations clear, wriggling incessantly.

Xing Hui enjoys being held up the most. Although pandas seem to wear a “poker face” all the time due to their underdeveloped facial nerves, Zheng is nonetheless able to sense if Xing Hui is in a good mood. rda s i a .co m

PR manager Wang Yan with a baby panda

Life Besides Pandas

Panda breeder Feng Gao-zhi has also missed the total eclipse of the sun, even though it is an extremely rare occurence.

After Nana’s delivery, Feng returns to his dorm. There is only one thing on his mind: sleep. After a 24-hour nursery shift, sleep is always the topmost priority for the caregivers. By the time he wakes up, the day would almost be over.

It’s the same for all his colleagues too. Last year, Zhang Ya-hui’s wife came to Ya’an to reunite with her husband. But Zhang would fall into an exhausted sleep as soon as he got back from the nursery. His wife complained, “At home, I am always alone.

I didn’t expect to be alone here too.”

Zhang felt very apologetic, but also helpless. “I have no other choice,” and “You just have to get used to it” – these are probably the most ready answers the caregivers give to others.

Here, it is only too typical for married couples to live in separate provinces and for caregivers not to head home for Chinese New Year.

Disconnected from the outside world, they are gradually divorced from their social circles. Most are paid a meagre salary less than the typical going wage; many would never be able to afford an apartment in their lives.

It seems scarcely likely that these sacrifices would have been made for anything less than a genuinely deep love for wildlife.

“It’s simple – I adore the panda,” Feng explains. A law graduate, he would never have become a panda breeder otherwise. Zheng Xin is the same. When one of his primary school teachers tasked the class to write about their ambition, Zheng wrote “animal protection”. When he chose wildlife conservation as his major when he was applying for an undergraduate programme, his mother thought he had gone mad.

These young caregivers are not only protecting the baby pandas. They are protecting their own dreams.

Despite the tribulations that are part and parcel of their work at the Center, they continue to stand proudly by what they do: playing their part in ensuring the continued survival of the giant panda. n 21

special report Every year, thousands of migrant Asian labourers arrive in a new country eagerly anticipating the lucrative jobs they’ve been promised.

Many have their dreams shattered

The

Journey Of

Hope

S

afi Ullah leads us up a narrow flight of stairs and into a small airless cubicle that is his temporary home. The 33-year-old Bangladeshi is nervous. “Please don’t tell anyone where I’m working,” he pleads, eyes darting. We agree and he looks visibly relieved. He even manages a little smile as he shows us photos of his wife and child. “I’ve not seen them in months,” he says. “I’m afraid I might not see them again. I 22

feel like I am trapped in Malaysia.”

Safi Ullah has every reason to be fearful. He has no money, no passport and is stuck in a country that’s not known for being hospitable to undocumented foreigners. RELA, a civil paramilitary volunteer force formed by the Malaysian government, conducts regular raids on illegal migrants. The irony? Safi Ullah had paid good money to come to Malaysia. A manpower agent in Bangladesh had promised him a rda s i a .co m

ph oto lynn lee photo / illustr atio n cr ed it

By Lynn Lee

A training centre in Dhaka, where young men acquire new skills in the hope of securing better jobs overseas

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A Thriving Trade “Migrants are recruited to work in phantom companies,” says Abdul Aziz bin Ismail, an Industrial Relations Officer from the Club Employees Union Peninsular Malaysia, who is now helping Safi Ullah with his case. “These companies have no physical factories, no plantations, nothing. Why would they need so many workers?”

The answer, it seems, lies in the kickbacks these companies receive from manpower agents: monetary incentives to reward them for procuring valuable visas and work permits.

“There is a contract, an unseen contract,” says AKM Asaduzzaman, a licensed Bangladeshi manpower agent who has had extensive dealings 24

with Malaysian companies. “A huge amount of money is going to Malaysia, to get visas and approvals.”

Immigration authorities in Malaysia have been fighting hard to salvage their battered image, tainted by allegations of wrongdoing at the highest level. In July 2008, Wahid Don, then-Director General of Immigration, was arrested on charges of corruption and graft involving the issuance and extension of work permits. His trial is still ongoing.

“Corruption,” says Irene Fernandez, who heads Malaysia’s leading human rights group, Tenaganita, “is embedded in the whole process of recruitment, placement and employment of migrant workers. So many people are benefiting but no-one is taking care of the workers.”

Current Director General of Immigration, Abdul Rahman bin Othman, agrees that the situation is serious and that something needs to be done.

“Our image is at stake,” he says in an interview with Al Jazeera television.

“We will start charging the [errant] employer. I think we can improve ourselves on that [front].”

“Attitude Problems” Safi Ullah paid his agent some $3100.

To raise the money, he borrowed heavily and sold his wife’s jewellery.

The agent promised him a two-year contract and told him he would earn RM1000 ($300) a month.

But both the electronics job and fat salary failed to materialise. “We had to work in a soap factory, a rda s i a .co m

photo s ly n n l e e

lucrative job in an electronics factory in exchange for a fee. “I thought I would make lots of money for my family,” he says.

But he hasn’t. In fact, since arriving in Malaysia, he’s not worked a single day in any electronics factory. Safi Ullah, you see, is a victim of a recruitment scam. And he is not alone.

Human rights activists say thousands – possibly millions – of migrants are cheated each year. The main targets: workers from countries such as Bangladesh, China and India.

The key culprits? Unscrupulous recruitment agents, greedy employers and corrupt government officials who collude to make huge profits through an illegal but thriving trade in work permits and visas.

The Bangladeshi High Commission in Malaysia runs several shelters for abused workers

furniture factory . . . different kinds of jobs,” says Safi Ullah. “We made about RM350 ($100) a month but they deducted RM150 ($40) for the [government] levy. How could we live on just RM260?”

Safi Ullah’s employer, Manace Sdn Bhd, disagrees. Director Manicam Perumaal says although work at the electronics factory was no longer available by the time Safi Ullah arrived in Malaysia, there were other jobs waiting for him, which he claims the Bangladeshi migrant was simply not interested in.

Paying the Price In June 2008, Safi Ullah and 29 other colleagues did the unthinkable.

They ran away. “We were desperate.

We couldn’t send money home. We thought we should leave and seek help.”

They left without their passports, which had been confiscated by Manace when they first arrived.

It was a huge risk. A run-in with immigration authorities could mean arrest and detention. “We slept on the streets, and did odd jobs to survive,” Safi Ullah recounts.

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Stranded in Singapore In Singapore, Asad Madber Asad Madber Yeaz Uddin Madber faced a shows us the similar plight. The 38-yearnumerous old was also stranded – not stamps on his because he was lacking Special Pass official documents, but because he was caught up Migrant rights activist and in a government investigation into Malaysian Member of Parliament, the company that employed him.

Charles Santiago, says the practice The Bangladeshi national was a of confiscating workers’ passports prosecution witness.

Five years ago, he lodged a comis unjust. This leads to employers having an unfair advantage over the plaint against the company because of a salary dispute. Singapore’s Ministry workers.

“Lots of workers complain that as of Manpower (MOM) launched an a result of companies keeping their investigation into the matter.

That was when Madber’s nightpassports, they have to work for 14 hours, 17 hours,” Santiago explains. mare started. “They discovered my “The entire migrant infrastructure is boss was doing illegal things.”

Like Safi Ullah, Madber had paid exploitative.” a manpower agent a substantial amount of money for his job. The Dangerous Existence For months, Safi Ullah led a precarious agent told him he would be working existence. He went to the Bangladeshi in the construction industry. But High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. Madber discovered after arriving in There, he discovered the magnitude Singapore in 2001 that there were no of the problem. The Commission construction jobs for him. Instead, he was surrounded by weary, sometimes was sent to work in an amusement angry, Bangladeshis, all with similar park for nearly two years, and at various odd jobs. sad tales to tell.

The illegal deployments only came In the day, they would wait their turn to talk to a High Commission to light because of the salary dispute. official. Few could produce any Madber had hoped to quickly resolve documents to prove their identities. the matter so he could go home to his Most say their passports were taken family in Bangladesh. Instead, he was 26

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from them almost as soon as they got off the plane.

All were stuck in a strange land.

Working Abroad Pays Off

By Michael Wang

For many migrant workers, working abroad is a positive experience. For Fu Shantang his threeyear stint in Japan was the turning point in his life.

“Without that experience, my life would be totally different,” he says.

Fu hails from Xinshui County, the northern province of Shandong in China. He found his first job in a local factory taking care of lathes (metalwork precision machinery) when he was only 19.

But Fu got bored. After several job changes, he was totally lost. “I felt so uncertain about my future and it haunted me day and night. I had no idea where I was going.”

He found inspiration in a

relative’s story of finding a decent life in Singapore. Fu called him to ask about the possibility of working there, but was ignored.

“I don’t quit easily,” says Fu. He tried again, applying for a welding job overseas.

But he failed again. His determination to make more money and see the world kept him going. He kept applying and in 2004, Fu was recruited by Sankei Industrial to work in Japan.

The first three months were tough. Fu’s job was to supervise an assembly line of auto parts. The hours were long and his work was held up to rigorous standards. But Fu persevered, spending his after-work hours studying Japanese.

He made Japanese friends

told he had to remain in Singapore to assist with the investigations.

“They extended my pass by two weeks, and two weeks, and two weeks,” Madber says holding up a tattered document with numerous immigration stamps. “No good. No work. No place to stay.”

The Ministry of Manpower says: “Mr Asad Madber Yeaz Uddin Madber was required to remain in Singapore as a prosecution witness

and immersed himself in the language and culture.

And then, there were the paychecks. “There’s simply no way to earn 8000 yuan ($1170) each month in my small hometown,” Fu said. Three years flew by.

Fu’s contract ended and he returned safely to China.

Fu is lucky that his stint overseas was a good one.

“I would be very happy if I could have one more chance to work in Japan.”

As a matter of fact, Fu is actively working on finding another position abroad.

following MOM’s investigations into his illegal employment. He was eligible to seek employment under the Ministry’s Temporary Job Scheme until the conclusion of the case.

However, there were no prospective jobs or employers for him.”

Madber finally left Singapore on September 22, 2009. He says he only managed to survive here by breaking the law and working a series of illegal odd jobs.

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for a long time, but it Jobs That Don’t Exist started getting worse Other aggrieved in late 2008, when migrant workers the global financial in Singapore don’t crisis happened.” want to leave the MOM says it country.

They’re is investigating a fighting hard to number of cases. A stay. conviction might Under Singamean a fine and a pore law, employstint in jail for rogue ers can unilaterally employers.

For terminate work perworkers who have mits without first been scammed, that’s consulting foreign cold comfort. The workers under their Ministry’s stand is that employ. This loophole allows Abdul Wahab’s because recruitment fees unscrupulous companies to wife, Nasrin, and their two young are paid to agents outside accept illegal kickbacks in children of Singapore, it has no exchange for procuring visas, basis to help the workers bring in hundreds, sometimes thousands of migrant labourers, col- recover those fees.

Losing so much money can be lect their cut of the recruitment fee, then send the workers home before devastating and heartbreaking. Some workers never recover. the end of their contracts.

“Companies are recruiting men for jobs that don’t exist,” says John Abdul Wahab’s Story Gee, president of Singapore advoca- In January 2009, Abdul Wahab cy group, Transient Workers Count boarded a plane in Singapore and Too. “The problem has been around headed for home in Bangladesh. He had in his pocket S$600 ($430) in compensation. It was the only money Estimated remittances he made from his four-month stint. received in Asia in 2008 (USD Before coming to Singapore, billion, source World Bank) Wahab’s recruitment agent had assured him of a good job with India 51.6 plenty of overtime pay. But, in what China 48.5 is an increasingly familiar tale, he Philippines 18.6 found out when he arrived that his Bangladesh 9.0 company had no work for him. He Pakistan 7.0 had paid his agent some $6000 in Indonesia 6.8 recruitment fees.

A Fisherman’s Story

ph oto / i llust rat io n c re d it

By Manu Remakant

When Henry Benjamin, 44, sets out to sea at 3 am, he is doing what innumerable fishermen from the Kerala coast have done for generations. Henry though, has just returned from a four-year break in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

For many, who didn’t get the chance to “cross the seas”, as Henry puts it, going to UAE is a dream.

When Henry finally got his chance, he borrowed Rs160,000 (about $3500) from a local moneylender to pay one of the many recruitment agents in his small coastal town. Henry’s dreams were coming true when he flew to Sharjah in February 2005 to work for a construction firm.

The fisherman used to live with his wife and two children in a modest house in Kerala. In Sharjah, he was forced to share a room and bath with nine other workmen. Worse, for the first nine months, he had no work, and wasn’t paid, although he was given free food and lodging. Meanwhile, the loan he’d taken at

an exorbitant interest rate kept growing.

At times, he found odd jobs, but Henry’s contract barred him from working for others. When he was caught, his contractor came down hard. For 59 days, he wasn’t given any work or food. “Had it not been for the kindness of my fellow fishermen who’d gone with me,” Henry says, “I don’t know what I’d have done.”

When he finally got a job, he earned 1900 dirhams ($517) a month. After paying for his lodgings, food and the moneylender’s installment, he could send up to Rs10,000 home at times – far more than he earned as a fisherman. Henry’s work was hard; he had to run errands and carry material up skyscrapers under construction. Even so, life had improved for his family back home. Henry’s son and

daughter could go to college. But after four years, the global recession struck.

He was laid off in July 2009 and returned home. Seven months on, his net worth is much lower than it was before he left for Sharjah.

Henry is back working on a fishing boat, earning just Rs150 a day plus a small part of the catch. That keeps the home fires burning, but there’s still the loan – the interest alone is now Rs4000 a month – and Henry can’t pay it back.

Today, Henry’s Rs160,000 loan has more than doubled. “I like my job as a fisherman,” he says, “but I have to go back to the Gulf after the recession ends.

Only then can I hope to become debt free.” Ironically, before he crosses the seas again, Henry may have to take another loan to pay yet another recruiting agent.

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Wahab had no idea what he was going to say to his wife and children on his return. In the end, an explanation wasn’t necessary.

Twenty-six days later, Wahab was dead. His wife Nasrin said he was morose and depressed. “He couldn’t sleep or eat and didn’t talk much and he had heart problems.”

Nasrin is now struggling to bring up her two young children. They

were a middle-class family before her husband left for Singapore. Now, she can barely make ends meet.

The Road Ahead Poverty and destitution. It’s a fate Safi Ullah is trying to avoid. Trade unionist, Abdul Aziz, has managed to find employment at a department store just outside of Kuala Lumpur.

Safi Ullah’s current boss likes him

Irene Fernandez I’ve been campaigning for migrant rights for more than 16 years. My parents were migrant workers from Kerala, India. They came to Malaysia during the British rule to work in plantations.

As a daughter of migrant labourers, every worker reminds me of the struggle my parents went through.

One of the problems facing migrant workers in Malaysia today is the lack of legal protection. They are frequently arrested and detained without access to justice. Workers aren’t allowed to organise or form unions so they often have to struggle alone.

Outsourcing companies bring in large numbers of workers but fail to provide proper jobs or 30

security. And, even when the workers do have gainful employment, if employers terminate their work permits, they lose their legal status in the country and can be arrested, detained and deported. Worse still, their passports are usually held by the employers.

Without their passports, migrant workers cannot file cases in labour court.

And even when they file a complaint, things get complicated because it’s likely that their work permits will be cancelled. They will only be able to stay in the country through a special pass, which lasts up to a maximum of three months.

During this time, they receive monthly payments of RM100 ($29) and cannot

work. If the case is not resolved during this period, they will have to leave the country and return when the case resumes.

There are some memorable cases that keep me going. We won a case against Chong Wah Plastics after a six-year battle to recognise migrant workers as equal to local workers in wages, benefits and treatment in the Federal Court.

The judgement has set a precedent in the treatment of migrant workers. rda s i a .co m

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Migrant Rights Advocate

and is aware of his plight. But even so, Safi Ullah knows he has to resolve his problem quickly or he might not be able to keep his job. “We are very stressed out about our passports. We hope we get them back soon.”

On the upside, he now makes RM600 ($180) a month. “I’m finally going to be

able to send some money home.”

For now, Safi Ullah is keeping his head down, praying hard that things will turn out fine. The photo of his wife and kid is a reminder of why he left Bangladesh. It’s a journey taken by many hopeful young men each year in search of a better life.

The Hard Facts

Useful links

In Southeast Asia, Singapore has the highest number of international migrants – approximately 1.8 million – followed by Malaysia, with 1.6 million. (Source: World Migration 2008 report, IOM)

Tenaganita www.tenaganita.net

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The Economist Intelligence unit (2006) forecast suggests that between 2005 and 2015 , Singapore and Thailand (along with Hong Kong and Taiwan) will face a situation where growth in labour demand will exceed growth in the working age population.

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According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), there were 8.2 million Filipinos working overseas at the end of 2006.

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Transient Workers Count Too www.twc2.org.sg Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) www.home.org.sg China Labour Bulletin www.china-labour.org.hk International Labor Rights Forum www.laborrights.org

United Nations International Labour Organization www.ilo.org

TV Migrant Dreams Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=isZfVhyKLsI

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Five million Indians work in the Gulf states, of which about two million are from Kerala. (Source: The Times of India, November 28, 2009, quoting the CEO of the Kerala Non-Resident Indian Group.)

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Migrant Dreams Part 2 http://www.youtube.com watch?v=J9jdPDgo9bI

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Laugh!:)

“

Help me, doctor,” pleaded a man to his doctor desperately.

“Every night I dream that I am boxing.”

“And do you wake up in the morning feeling all beaten up?” inquired his doctor.

“Not me, doctor,” the man replied helplessly.

“Just my wife.”

Z o l t á n C sá szá r

An ailing grandmother is talking to her favourite granddaughter.

“Lori, I am old and weak, and I know that the time for me to leave is near. I want you to inherit my farm, including the barn, the villa, the tractors, the farmhouse, all the livestock, and the piggery.”

“Wow,” said Lori, stunned. “Thank you so much, Grandma! I didn’t know you even had a farm. Where is it?”

Her grandma replied, “You can find it on my Facebook account. Just click on the Farmville bookmark after you log on. My e-mail address is

32

“OK, who ordered the ridiculously large paperclips?” “dgranny@yahoo.com,” and the password is ‘just4lori’.”

Marice l S. Mañ u go Philippines

16 all over again.”

“Really?” asked his friend incredulously.

“Yup – I smoke in the toilet, and drink on the Józsefné Kovács sly.”

I went to a funeral yesterday with my girlfriend. It was the first time I had met most of her family.

God, they’re miserable.

From Twit ter

Two old friends meet.

One asks the other: “So, how do you like being married?”

“Great! I feel like I’m

What a rip-off these so-called “oven gloves” are. I poured a chicken casserole in mine – two hours later, it was still uncooked, and had only made a terrible mess.

S. Roberts

Your favourite new joke might be worth $$$. Go to p.7 or rdasia.com for details. rda s i a .co m

Comedian Bridget Christie (pictured left) in her former job as a Daily Mail diary columnist: “We are not defined by our day jobs, but we are judged by them. Take Hitler, for instance. He was an extremely talented artist; yet he is doomed to be remembered only for his day job – as a genocidal maniac.”

Q: What’s the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?

A: Beer nuts cost $1.50 and deer nuts are under a buck.

Finn Mur phy

“The reason the new Vegemite is destined to fail is because the iSnack 2.0 isn’t compatible with myToast 3.0.”

— bridgetchristie.co.uk

Genius Blog Worry bags facesinplaces.blogspot.com asks visitors to submit pictures of random objects that look like people – with suitably illustrative captions

Sean Mur phy

Oooh! I say!

The Last Cookie

Gah! Soap tongue!

Take me to your baker

Tulip lips

33

ph oto kr is le b outi ll ie r

never lost again

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By Maida Pineda

The Topography of Digital Mapping 34

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t’s a hot sweltering Tuesday afternoon in Haji Lane, a narrow street in Singapore known for its designer boutiques, shisha cafes, and quirky shops. A sprinkling of fashionistas breeze in and out of the shops in search of the next outfit they can’t live without.

The wide-eyed tourists are taking it all in: the mosque, the refreshing mint tea, and the plethora of Persian rugs for sale.

As life goes on in this cramped back lane, the Google Trike leisurely rolls by. Wait a minute – the Google what?

The Google Street View Trike – a mechanical vehicle comprising three bicycle wheels, a mounted street view camera and a box much like an ice cream man’s cooler for popsicles. But this is no ordinary cart.

The camera has several lenses aimed at different directions to simultaneously capture images of the street. These pictures are then stored on image-collecting hardware.

The images are later processed and stitched together to create maps.

Google then blurs the images of faces and license plates on the finalised maps to protect people’s privacy. The whole process takes several months.

Launched in May 2007, Street View (a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth) provides 360-degree horizontal and 290-degree vertical panoramic views from a row of positions on the street. Street View has 36

street-level imagery for cities, towns, and parks from more than 100 metropolitan areas around the world.

Trotting Out the Trike

Zerus Lin, a 27-year-old Singapore cyclist dressed in shorts, a bright-red Google shirt, and a Google helmet, operates this mapping contraption.

A couple of tourists approach him, ask a few questions, and snap a souvenir photo. Shoppers pull out their cameras, asking Lin what it is.

The accommodating cyclist gamely poses for photos. Two weeks into the job, he’s thoroughly enjoying the stint with Google.

His task is no easy feat. The Street View Trike weighs over 130 kilograms, requiring much muscle power to make it move forward. But the former IT specialist, once stuck working in an office all day, prefers his new outdoor work environment. Google brought the Street View Trike to Singapore almost a year ago to take photos along public roads. Now, the Street View Trike will gather images of public areas not accessible to cars, as well as private areas where permission has been granted by owners.

Lin has already covered the pedestrian-only areas of Holland Village, Chinatown and Haji Lane.

Google also teamed up with the Singapore Tourism Board to conduct an online poll where Singaporeans suggest areas they’d like the Trike to rda s i a .co m

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photoTOUSSAINT KLUITERS / AFP/ Ge t t y Imag es

The Google Street View Trike gathers images of public areas not accessible to cars

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Google Street View is a great invention for armchair travellers

cover during its stay in the Lion City.

Google’s senior mechanical engineer Dan Ratner dreamed up the Street View Trike during a trip to Barcelona, Spain. Ratner caught a taxi to his hotel. The cab driver dropped him off before his destination, saying he couldn’t drive through the narrow alleys leading to the hotel.

It took Ratner 20 minutes to negotiate the narrow lanes to find his hotel. In the process, Ratner realised that the coolest places in Spain weren’t vehicle friendly. The engineer figured if he had a street view map, he wouldn’t be lost. The avid cyclist then went back to the Google office in California and designed a bike that could capture images of the narrow alleys that cars couldn’t access.

He immediately built a prototype using parts from a local bike store, home improvement giant Home Depot and a lot of duct tape. After much innovation, the end result is the Street View Trike, the same one roaming the back lanes of Singapore with Zerus Lin. 38

Mapping Out History

Until the 1960s, cartographers made maps the traditional way. They drew the original map by hand, using land survey measurements. Cartographers produced printed copies depending on the number needed. The advent of computers, satellite imagery, and Global Positioning System (GPS) has revolutionised the way maps are created. Digital maps can now be produced faster, cheaper and more accurately.

Gone are the days of getting lost or turning to a road atlas. Instead, the public turns to sites like Google Maps, MapQuest, Yahoo Maps, or Microsoft’s Bing Maps to find directions.

The world GPS market is forecasted to reach $75 billion by 2013. And while there aren’t any consolidated figures on online digital map usage, Google Maps was reported to have 51.3 million unique visitors in the US alone, while MapQuest reportedly had 42.2 million unique users.

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cyclists can get an idea of their paths before heading out to their routes.

Back in Haji Lane in Singapore, it’s the end of the workday for Zerus Lin, after several hours pedalling on the Trike. He’s keen on taking the Street Trike to unusual destinations like Pulau Ubin, about ten minutes away from the mainland by bumboat.

This island is popular among cyclists for its varied terrain and charming oldA Google Street View camera fashioned village fastened on top of a car in setting.

Amsterdam In the meantime, Lin heads off to meet the Google Truck.

Yes, the Google Truck, which picks up the Street View Trike every evening.

Lin and the truck driver set a different meeting point after every mapping day.

And finding a meeting point isn’t a problem at all – they’ll just Google it! n

photo / illust rat ion cr ed it

the most from the Street Trike, getting a glimpse of destinations they will visit. For example, armchair tourists can view the Sydney Opera House, Times Square in New York City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and Big Ben in London before actually visiting these famous landmarks. Drivers can also check practical details like the closest carpark. Joggers and

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International marriages are becoming commonplace in the age of globalisation. We speak with three couples whose love has crossed geographical borders and the boundaries of citizenship

Love Knows No Borders By dora cheok

P

op quiz: what do celebrity couples David Bowie and Iman, and Seal and Heidi Klum have in common? Apart from the obvious singer-model coupling, they are also part of a huge community who have overcome geographical borders to meet and marry people of different nationalities. Both Bowie and Seal are English, while Klum is German and Iman is Somaliborn.

It seems that being born in different countries – or continents, even – is no barrier to falling in love. And in this day and age of the internet, international marriages aren’t just for the rich and famous.

Here in the Reader’s Digest office, we have at least two such couplings: our American design director David Ross married his Japanese wife, 41

Hiroko, four years ago, while Natalie Thompson, an editor on Discovery Channel Magazine, who is English, is expecting her first child with her Taiwanese husband, Victor.

Global statistics aren’t available currently, but if Singapore is anything to go by – nearly 40 percent of all marriages registered in 2008 involved a non-citizen spouse – what we’re looking at is a social trend that’s more than caught on.

It’s certainly not a new concept.

International marriages have been around for a very long time. Just think of Europe’s royal families. The best way to build an alliance was to marry a royal from another country. Think Henry VIII and his unfortunate first wife, Katherine of Aragon – a failed Anglo-Spanish merger.

Melanie and Cuong on their wedding day in Germany.

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What is new about international marriages in the 21st century is that the couples coming together are about as diverse as they get. That’s really due to the advent of easy, affordable travel – planes have turned our planet into a veritable global village.

Meeting your significant other as a student overseas or while travelling for work or pleasure is commonplace.

But wherever your spouse is from and regardless of how you met, the experts say the same thing: while cultural differences create more possibilities for conflict and misunderstanding, they do not determine the success – or failure – of a marriage.

“It’s more of how couples deal with such differences and disappointments that determines the quality of the marriage,” says Jonathon

Siew, a marriage counsellor based in Singapore. Three couples we spoke to echo this view. Here are their Valentine stories.

photo s co urt esy me l anie alb at and c uo ng tu

Melanie Albat & Cuong Tu

It’s lunchtime at the Asia Garden restaurant in Hanover, Germany. It’s one of the busiest days in August of 2000, but part-time waitress Melanie Albat has things under control. A voice drifts across the cacophony of customers. It’s soft, but distinctive.

Both mellow and soothing, it flows seamlessly between flawless German and English.

Melanie’s interest is piqued. She checks out the owner of the voice, who is sitting at a table that’s not in her section. Undeterred, Melanie deftly proceeds to serve lunch at the table she’s eyeing, and promptly drops a plate of hot beef on the table where an unsuspecting Cuong Tu is seated.

“I was sitting and Melanie was wearing tight pants. I’ll be very honest with you – I thought she was very sensual,” Cuong recalls. The next three weeks saw Cuong going back to the restaurant in hopes of catching her there, but he kept missing her.

Finally, their paths crossed again.

“The moment she saw me, she went, ‘Where the hell have you been?’, and I knew I was in. She was the one.

I didn’t go back for the food; it wasn’t particularly amazing. I went back for her. I was 27 and she 22 at the time.

We’ve been together almost ten years, and have been married for five.”

The classic tale of boy meets girl has a twist – Melanie is German and Cuong is Australian. They met, courted and married despite 10,000 miles separating their native countries.

Born Vietnamese, Cuong is an Australian of Chinese heritage. His family fled Vietnam in an oil tanker together with 3000 people, and were taken in by Germany as refugees.

Cuong lived there with his parents for six years. When he was 11, his family migrated to Australia.

Melanie isn’t your typical German either. Her mother is Spanish, adding a fiery element into the mix of cultures and languages.

Between them, they speak four different tongues. How do they communicate?

“In the beginning of our relationship, we would speak in half English, half German. Later, we switched to German,” says Melanie.

“I’ve decided that at home, we need to speak German, because we speak English all day at work. I also have the feeling that I get my point across much better in German.”

“But when I swear at her, I do it in English,” quips Cuong. “It’s more effective. German swear words aren’t as nice – they’re not as brutal.”

Joy Shiferaw & Sean Searcie

Joy Shiferaw knows exotic. Her mother is from the Philippines while her father is from Ethiopia. They met while her mother was teaching in the Ethiopian countryside.

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Joy met Sean Searcie the traditional way in the US – through a mutual friend, Walter, at church, in Atlanta, Georgia. “Joy was pleasing to the eye,” says Sean, “but I got the impression she was shy, and that wasn’t good because I’m also shy!”

In fact, they were both so shy that it was tough getting past the introduction. It took three months for Sean to ask Joy out to dinner, and that date did not end well. If Walter, their friend and facilitator hadn’t intervened and bugged Sean to try again, it’s quite unlikely that they would be a couple today.

Still, it took Sean almost a year to figure out that Joy was the one. It took even longer to convince Joy. Up till 44

Joy, Sean and Yohannes in Washington DC. The Searcies are expecting baby number two this May

this point, Sean, who is seven years older than Joy, had been in a few other relationships. He was her first. They dated for two and a half years before getting married in 2004.

They talked about everything – finances, work, children – before taking the final step. Religion was the biggest issue. Sean is a Seventh Day Adventist while Joy is an Evangelical Protestant. As Joy puts it, “We were the same religion but the differences in denominations made it really difficult. It nearly became our stumbling block.”

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both sides, but Joy and Sean worked through their issues. Six years later, they are the proud parents of twoyear-old Yohannes, together with one more on the way, due this May. To add to the mayhem, their family will be moving out of the US at the end of the year. Their destination is yet unknown, as Joy is still waiting for the confirmation of her overseas assignment from her employer, USAID. “People always assume that marrying someone from a different culture will bring a lot of problems.

I don’t think that’s necessarily the norm. I think the same issues exist across borders – religion, family and work,” says Joy.

A chance meeting in Gardez, Afghanistan, eventually led to Hiroko and Basil toasting at their wedding in Agra, India

Compatibility and companionship – that’s what all couples look for. It’s a factor that has little to do with nationality. Sean feels exactly that way. He doesn’t think their cultures, as different as they are, clash at all. If anything does, it’s their personalities.

But that’s simply chemistry.

“I’d like to be able to live in Ethiopia, the Philippines and Jamaica so that our kids will know more about where they come from. I’m an anomaly though – it’s rare for a black man to be willing to follow his wife overseas.

But then, Joy inspires me,” says Sean.

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Secrets To A Successful Union Couples who come from diverse cultural backgrounds may face more challenges.

“You have to overcome the initial hurdles of language and unexpected cultural differences and expectations,” says Glenn Graves, a counsellor at The Counselling Place in Singapore. Here are some points to consider: Respect your partner’s cultural values.

“For instance, the wife supports her widowed mother financially. Her husband from a different culture probably can’t understand why that’s necessary, given that her mother is able to work. His parents are older and supporting themselves,” says Graves. The key here is to understand these values and traditions – even if you don’t agree – without being judgmental or imposing your views.

Use a common language. Use a language that you are both fluent in. “Even the slightest mistakes in communication can lead to major debates or conflicts when the colloquial context of a phrase is not considered,” says Graves. If possible, learn your partner’s native language. It shows your willingness to embrace a part of his or her culture. Don’t, however, learn the language from your partner. “You have other important things to focus on and don’t want to drain your emotional and physical resources,” he says.

Get involved in your partner’s life. Go to the places and listen to stories that made them who they are today, says Graves.

This includes cultivating a good relationship with your partner’s family – even if they live oceans away. by l alit h a n aid u

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rda s i a .co m | rda FEBRUARY s i a .co 10 m

Hiroko Takagi & Basil Massey

Gardez is one of the coldest and most desolate places in Afghanistan.

Hiroko Takagi, a reports officer from Japan, working for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had been sent to the field office in Gardez to check up on the Disarmament Demobilisation Reintegration (DDR) project, which Basil Massey, a former colonel with the Indian army, was managing.

There was literally no room at the UN guesthouse for Hiroko, so Basil gave up his room for her and bunked down on the floor of DDR’s half-built office. It was freezing. What neither expected was this: out of the icy depths of winter, love took root and blossomed.

“People had written me off as a lifelong bachelor because most Indian men get married by their late 20s,” says Basil, who was 39 when he met Hiroko. “I never thought I was going to meet my wife when I joined the UN. And of all places, in Afghanistan!”

Thirty-two-year-old Hiroko, on the other hand, had plans. During the farewell party her colleagues had thrown her in New York, she jokingly made the bold declaration that she would find a husband. Two months later, Basil was sleeping on the cold hard floor for her.

For Hiroko and Basil, deciding on marriage was easy. They were both ready. They got engaged nine months after they started dating and were married less than a year later.

What came after was the hard part.

Both had thriving careers that sent them to the far reaches of the earth.

Hiroko had only one precondition for marriage. She told Basil, “If we are going to be in separate duty stations, it can’t be for more than a year.”

This was easier said than done.

Hiroko and Basil stayed in Afghanistan for two more years after they were married. In 2007, Basil moved to Khartoum, while Hiroko went to New Delhi on a temporary assignment.

Hiroko was posted to East Timor later that year, while Basil stayed on in Khartoum.

Their marriage was put to the test in 2008. When working in India, Hiroko experienced a sudden hearing loss in her left ear. Doctors didn’t know what happened. Six months later, she contracted dengue fever and had to be evacuated to Australia.

“Because of the flight connections, it would take me three days to make it to East Timor from Sudan,” Basil explains. The time difference – Dili is six hours ahead of Khartoum – was also very stressful. Hiroko would spend her lunch hour waiting to talk to Basil on Skype before his breakfast.

Finally, enough was enough.

Hiroko resigned from her position in East Timor in 2009 and joined Basil in Sudan when she found a new assignment in Khartoum. “We were always close, but we’d taken our togetherness for granted. I’m very glad we made it through 2008,” says Hiroko. n 47

Tokyo Stock Exchange

hroughout the years, stock markets have constantly fascinated people.

They possess a romantic allure of instant wealth – turning people into millionaires overnight. They also have the ability to turn millionaires into paupers in a blink of an eye. So what is this institution, with the power to make or break fortunes?

The stock market, or stock exchange, is a place where people can go to buy or sell shares in publicly traded companies. Asia boasts of having 48

three of the largest stock markets in the world by domestic capitalisation: Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bombay.

The common perception is that traders and brokers populate the stock exchange. But, there are many other people who work vastly different jobs at the exchange. To commemorate Labour Day, we spent a day at three stock exchanges, in three different cities, in three different time zones, observing people at work.

Tokyo, Japan

Takahashi Hiroyuki is 24-year-old Trade Monitoring Officer. His job is rda s i a .co m

ph otos ge t t y imag es

T

A Day @ The

Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Bombay Stock Exchange

Stock Exchange to monitor the stock market in real time. Takahashi makes sure that there is no manipulation of market prices, insider trading and breaking of other market rules by market participants. He checks and monitors prices, volumes, participants, officially and unofficial company news, economic news and market trends.

He gathers and analyses all the relevant data, reporting irregularities to his TSE management.

7:00 am Takahashi walks 10 minutes to the train station and boards the train for the half hour ride to his of-

fice. He enters his office on the tenth floor and goes into the Trade Monitoring Group section. In preparation for the market’s open, he checks for the latest business news online and then gets two sets of newspapers to search for important news for the day.

9:00 am The Tokyo Stock Exchange bell rings. Takahashi looks up at the huge electronic trading board up on the wall in front of him to check the blinking prices of individual stocks as buying and selling begins. Takahashi then focuses on the two terminals in 49

front of him to check for unusually large orders or price movements. He knows that the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York fell 103.84 points the previous night, pulling most stocks on the TSE lower. Takahashi checks to see if any stocks are rising significantly instead.

Hong Kong

It’s 6 am in Hong Kong as Tokyo trade gets underway. Lawrence Takahashi Hiroyuki scanning the papers for Sit makes his way to business reports the Now TV broadcast centre in Wanchai. Lawrence, age market opens, Lawrence does an 24, joined the round-the-clock busi- on-air check with the main studio ness news channel as an anchor/re- in Wanchai. His guest for today, Eric porter two years ago. Like many in this stock-obsessed city, Lawrence, Lawrence Sit reporting ‘live’ dabbles in the market himself. Natufrom the HKEx rally, he took to market reporting like fish to water.

8:45 am Lawrence leaves for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx).

In the mini studio on the exchange floor, he begins preparing for his on-air reports. He looks through the Reuters terminal and picks out companies and sectors that he thinks will be active. He also does a quick scan through the exchange’s website for any major company announcements that might have come out overnight.

With half-an-hour to go before the 50

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Chong, an equity analyst with Chief Securities, arrives for his interview.

The two go through the topics of discussion.

10:00 am As soon as the opening bell rings at 10 am, Lawrence is on-air with his first report. It’s not a good start for the Hang Seng Index (HSI).

It’s down 57 points at 19,453. He runs through his report for about 8 minutes before conducting a live interview with Eric. All in all, Lawrence has to give a 7-8 minute stock update every half hour until the market breaks for lunch at 12:30 pm. It’s quite a busy morning. The computer hangs, twice, minutes before Lawrence is due to go air. In addition to that, he also has to take care of guests coming in for interviews. All this while he’s trying to monitor the stock price movements. .

Mumbai, India

As the HKEx gets into full swing, a couple of men are making morning cups of tea at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Security is tight – the BSE has been a terrorist target in the past. Madhu Kannan, 36, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the BSE is well aware of the security situation. He spends an average of around 13 to 14 hours at the BSE everyday and knows the place like the back of his hand.

7:40 am Madhu has already checked his Blackberry for urgent messages.

He’s skipped breakfast for his preferred a cup of coffee. He enters a large hall on the 15th floor. No one has yet come in. Madhu trots down to the 14th floor to see how his colleagues in IT Operations are getting ready with tests before the market opens. He reads commentary on what is happening in international markets along with macro data on global events that may affect markets today. Just before the BSE opens, Madhu checks on how indexes in international markets are faring.

9:00 am Over 90,000 BSE terminals come alive all over India. The BSE has a non-strop high availability server that allows people to start trading at 9 am everyday. Madhu turns to look at CNBC TV18 business channel as the market kicks off. Then, checks out details on his computer. From here on, it’s a blur of calls, discussions and meetings with over a dozen individu51

Madhu Kannan scrolls through e-mails at the BSE

als from BSE.

LUNCH BREAK 11:00 am Tokyo The lunch break bell at the TSE goes off. Takahashi looks up at the closing level of the Nikkei 225 Average and checks his terminals for the settling prices of individual stocks. He heads to the staff canteen for lunch. Twenty minutes later, he is back at his office to have a cup of green tea and brush his teeth.

The market re-opens at 12:30 pm and it’s back to work.

12:30 pm hong kong Lawrence

does some last minute preparation as the market heads for a lunch break. At 12:37, Lawrence gives his final update for the day. After a slow start to the day, the HSI ends the first half of the day up 35 points. By 1 pm, his duty at 52

the stock exchange is over. Lawrence’s colleague, Jasmine Lee, arrives at the HKEx to begin her shift.

1 pm mumbai

Unlike other stock exchanges, BSE does not have a lunch break. Madhu takes a break from hectic internal meetings to watch a cricket match – Madhu is a huge fan.

India is playing South Africa in a Test match. India is trailing having made just 148 for 4 in their second innings and is on their way to losing the Test.

2.30 pm mumbai

The HSI resumes trading after the lunch break and Jasmine does her first market report of the day .The index is up about 29 points. Jasmine, a 25-years old reporter, feels market news has its own special adrenaline rush. Compared to the constant stream of guests in the morning, it’s a much quieter time in rda s i a .co m

The Top 10 Stock Exchanges in the World Exchange

1. NYSE Euronext (US)

2. Tokyo Stock Exchange group

3. NASDAQ OMX (US)

4. NYSE Euronext (Europe) 5. London Stock Exchange

6.Shanghai Stock Exchange 7. Hong Kong Exchanges

8. TMX Group

9. BM&FBOVESPA

10. Bombay SE

the afternoon. At 4 pm, Jasmine does the final wrap-up of the trading day.

The HSI is up 239 points to end at 19,790. The market may be closed, but Jasmine’s working day has just begun.

She has to go to a press conference at 6.15 pm. Her day will only end at midnight.

3.00 pm tokyo The trading session ends at 3 pm, but that’s not the end of Takahashi’s day. He gets a stack of evening newspapers, spreads them out and reads them to mark out important news items for cutting and filing the next morning day. He looks at the economic and company news from both local and foreign economic news agencies and checks for unofficial company news that may affect the market. Once that’s done, Takahashi takes over a colleague monitoring the movements of large buy and sell orders. At 5:30 pm Takahashi goes back to his desk to turn off his

US bn End 2009

11 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

838 306 239 869 796 705 305 305 337 306

computer and packs up his things to take the train back to his hostel.

3.30 pm tokyo The market closes 0.8 percent higher for the session.

But Madhu’s day isn’t over. He checks the news to get a sense of how the day went. He then goes through a report comparing the BSE’s turnover with competition and shoots off emails on some clarifications he needs. At 6 pm, Madhu, Ashishkumar Chauhan, the deputy CEO and L.P. Aggawal, Chief Financial Officer of BSE, meet over coffee to discuss new strategies.

“This is our war council,” says Ashishkumar. Madhu makes his last call at 7 pm before leaving for an awards function. He still has two more meetings outside the office and will probably only get home after 10 pm. But he is looking forward to spending whatever time he has with Shubha, his wife and daughters, Veda, Vatsal and Vasuda.

53

Know One, Teach One Jimmy Pham’s Recipe for Success

I

By Christopher R. Cox n his Hanoi office, Nguyen Hoai Nam, the 27-year-old operations manager for iTravel Vietnam, works the phones to arrange custom tours for clients from around the world, effortlessly switching from his native Vietnamese to English as he conducts business. It’s hard to believe that barely a decade ago Nam was little more than a street urchin, a high-school drop-out from the countryside shining shoes and selling postcards to survive, sharing a dismal room at night with a dozen similarly desperate, undocumented kids.

“Sometimes I imagine if I hadn’t meet Jimmy,” says Nam. “I don’t know what I’d be doing now.”

Throughout Vietnam, there are hundreds of other once-destitute youths with similar stories about “Jimmy” – it’s what everybody calls Pham Viet Tuan – the big-hearted founder of KOTO, an innovative not54

Ph o t o g r a p h s j u s t i n m o t t for-profit restaurant and vocational training programme. Jimmy Pham is driven by the knowledge that, but for a simple twist of fate, his life could also have been filled with unrelenting hardship.

Born to a Vietnamese mother and Korean father in war-wracked Saigon in 1972, Jimmy migrated at age two to Singapore, just a year before South Vietnam fell to Communist forces from the north, and then again to Saudi Arabia at age five. By age eight, the family had settled in Sydney, Australia, where Jimmy struggled to learn English and adapt to a new culture. His mother, Diep, an orphan, preached a sense of service and empathy to others; Jimmy served as an altar boy at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church and volunteered in the local Italian-Greek community.

By 1996, Jimmy had an office job with a travel company, which sent him on a two-week trip to familiarise rda s i a .co m

55

himself with and scope out one of its new destinations – Vietnam. Jimmy returned to Saigon, now renamed Ho Chi Minh City, to check out hotels and tourist attractions. It was there that he met a quartet of street kids, whom he treated to bowls of beefand-noodle pho soup. He learned they sold coconuts and, to avoid beatings and the theft of their cash crop, slept in the trees of Cong Vien Van Hoa Park. The following day, he took nine homeless kids to dinner. By the end of his two-week stay, the count had grown to 60. “Word got around that a new sucker was in town,” Jimmy, now 38, wryly recalls.

By official estimates, there are 16,000 “street-wandering children” in Vietnam, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and the port cities of Haiphong and Danang. According to Lisa Sherburne of Save the Children in Vietnam, these youths often emigrate from rural provinces to earn money for their impoverished families; many are missing at least one parent.

Poorly educated and undocumented, they are doomed to menial jobs. Most are unregistered and do not have residency papers. Violence, drug abuse, prostitution, and HIV infection are all-too-common consequences of this hard life in the shadows.

Jimmy was determined to help the young people he’d met. Some day they’d grow up and the “cute factor” wouldn’t persuade tourists to give them handouts anymore. What were their prospects then? Back in Sydney, he asked to become a tour leader, so 56

he could return to Vietnam. When the company refused, he quit and joined Melbourne-based Intrepid Travel, which supported his goal.

In 1997, while guiding an Intrepid group, he met a charismatic young con artist, Pham Van Long, outside Hanoi’s Victory Hotel. Believing Jimmy to be another affluent, gullible tourist, Long tried to sell him a packet of postcards at an inflated price.

Speaking Vietnamese, Jimmy invited Long for ice cream, then asked about his life. Long’s father had died when rda s i a .co m

he was a boy and he’d left school at age ten to help on the family farm in the mountainous Yen Bai province, 180 kilometres north of Hanoi. After his stepfather committed suicide, Long moved to Hanoi in the hopes of earning money for his family. He paid 2000 Vietnamese dong (about ten cents) a night to sleep in an informal hostel while he scrimped and saved; the owner would eventually steal this nest egg. Needless to say, Long didn’t trust anybody. “The first time I met Jimmy, I just thought he was a

foreigner,” Long recalls. “I just wanted to make money from him.”

Jimmy told the teen he needed to complete his education to have a better future. Over the next few months, Jimmy returned to Hanoi with more tour groups. He gradually built a friendship with Long, and through him, several other kids, including Nam, who also worked the streets around the hotel where Jimmy’s tourist groups habitually stayed.

Jimmy then made a crucial decision: he would rent a small house and 57

The kids at KOTO learn important skills like cooking and hospitality

support Long, Nam, and seven other youths while they completed their schooling. “The rent wasn’t much,” says Nam, “but for the food, he had to pay. We ate a lot.”

Jimmy poured the bulk of his salary and tips into supporting the youths, as well as several other kids around Vietnam. “I came from a disadvantaged background,” he explains. “I have empathy. I’d often travel along Highway 1 and see old women work58

ing in the rice fields and men driving cyclos (pedicabs) and I’d think: That could have been me if I didn’t have an opportunity for an education.”

Despite his good intentions, Jimmy struggled to sustain the group. In early 1999, while leading a tour, he found them waiting outside the Victory Hotel. The food and money had run out. He took them to dinner, where Long confessed they’d been ripping him off on the rent. rda s i a .co m

“We thought you were a big, fat turkey we were going to roast,” Long said. “We thought you were going to make promises and disappear, like everyone else.”

The teens also told him they needed more than basic schooling – they needed a marketable skill. Jimmy regarded the smooth-talking Long: the young man’s charm, if channelled in a positive direction, would make him a perfect waiter. Jimmy had travelled enough in Vietnam to realise the lack of decent restaurants and service staff. Having worked in restaurants as a teen, he also realised that cooking and hospitality were ideal skills for someone with just rudimentary education.

That June, he opened a modest, 15-seat sandwich shop on Quoc Tu Giam Street, a short walk west of the train station. He also provided each student room, board, a small monthly allowance, and medical care. When a hospitalised trainee asked why he cared so much, Jimmy replied, “I want you to achieve all your goals.

You can repay me by paying forward and helping someone else. If you know one, teach one.”

The acronym for this motto – KOTO – stuck. Before Jimmy could even begin lessons from the cookbooks his mother had sent, however, the students had to learn about basic hygiene, the safe handling of knives, and even how to operate a can opener.

Jimmy got a break when Intrepid awarded him the Hanoi contract for its tour-group breakfasts. “The buffet 59

was very inconsistent,” Jimmy admits, “but they bore with us and also gave us constructive criticism.”

He was even more fortunate when Tracey Lister, an Australian chef whose husband had a Hanoi posting, volunteered to develop the kitchen-training programme. Within a year, KOTO grew to 20 students.

To generate more revenue, Jimmy needed to expand. He borrowed $70,000 from friends and family and in September 2000 he opened a larger café at nearby 61 Van Mieu Street, overlooking Hanoi’s iconic 11th Century Temple of Literature.

With the higher profile, KOTO received donations from several Western embassies. A few months after the move, Jimmy also received a celebrity luncheon customer – American President Bill Clinton. But the publicity wasn’t a boon for Jimmy, who says Vietnamese authorities immediately became suspicious.

“Straight after that, I was under this black cloud,” says Jimmy. “They thought I was CIA. Why would the world’s most important man come to visit a small project that had just opened, unless he had some sort of connection?”

It didn’t help that Jimmy was Viet Kieu, a Vietnamese who has returned home after many years away, or that his charity included a restaurant – a social enterprise that was an unheardof concept. Jimmy says his telephone was tapped, his e-mail monitored, his house ransacked. There were also dark rumours of child smuggling and 60

drug dealing. “But what can you do?”

Jimmy asks. “The suspicion ended when the kids started getting jobs.”

Nam was hired by an Italian restaurant, while Long went to work for the Hilton Hotel as a pastry chef. In fact, every student who has completed the two-year KOTO programme – more than 300 at this point – has found a job upon graduation. More important, these former dead-end kids have hope and dignity.

Every six months, KOTO admits 25 to 30 new students, who are carefully selected from approximately seven times as many applicants. Nearly 60 percent of the latest class has no parents, says Jimmy. Trainees live in group homes, separated by gender, with adult chaperones. To instill discipline and a sense of belonging, ownership and community, they are expected to do chores, abide by curfews, and eat dinner together.

They receive vocational training, in addition to English language lessons and training in life skills. Upon graduation, the graduates receive a portion of the fund, contributed to by tips received in the restaurant. Most trainees strive to work in international hotels, which are considered good environments to learn.

“Without any previous experience, they become fantastic chefs,“ says KOTO executive chef Nissan Dray, who trained at London’s famed Le Cordon Bleu and has cooked for such A-list clients as Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John. “I never had this satisfaction rda s i a .co m

Jimmy Pham’s desire to help kids comes from his own disadvantaged background

before. Even working with the biggest celebrities in the world, it’s not the same. Because these kids appreciate what you do, and that’s satisfying.”

Long, now a sous chef at Jaspas, a popular Hanoi restaurant, says, “KOTO taught me a lot of skills: how to treat your friends, English, and cooking. It will give me a good life in the future . . . if I didn’t meet Jimmy, I think my life would be terrible.”

Jimmy is especially proud that graduates such as Long remain in touch with KOTO. “I share in their joy and despair,” he says. “I started this when I was 24 years old, and I’ve literally grown up with them.”

And KOTO continues to thrive.

In 2007, the restaurant quadrupled in size by moving next door to 59

Van Mieu, a four-storey space with 200 seats. Recently, it opened Café Hideaway at its West Lake training centre; Lister has also produced a new cookbook, KOTO: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam. In late 2009, KOTO opened a second training centre, this time in Ho Chi Minh City.

“I started KOTO on a promise that I’d help find a better future for the nine kids,” says Jimmy. “Everything for the last seven years has been a bonus for me . . . I’ve never really had an opportunity to come back and help those Saigonese kids. It was a personal dream for me, ten years in the making. I’d really like to close the circle in Saigon.”

For more information, visit koto.com.au.

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photo /g illustr et t y image atio ns cr ed it

Feet Unbound

By Ng Khee Jin with Dora Cheok photographs by ng khee jin

62

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bonus read

photo / illustr atio n cr ed it

The Long March is arguably the most important event in the Chinese Communist Revolution.

Faced with the prospect of certain annihilation at the hands of Chiang Kaishek’s Nationalist Kuomintang forces, over 68,000 Red Army troops abandoned their bases in east and southeast China and retreated to Shangxi in northwest China.

By foot, they travelled over 12,500 kilometres across sub-tropical forests, torrential rivers, snow-covered Himalayan peaks, uninhabited highland marshes and barren desert, most of the time under enemy fire.

In 2005, filmmaker Ng Khee Jin embarked on an journey to retrace the route taken by the Fourth Front Army, later renamed the Western Route Army. With him came Elly, a then 28-year-old journalist from Beijing. Together, they uncovered the story of the greatest military failure of the Chinese Red Army. For Elly, retracing history and speaking with the survivors of the Long March compelled her to confront her own identity as a modern Chinese woman. This is the story of the teenage female soldiers of Mao’s Long March. And this is the story of Elly’s own odyssey.

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The Long March of the Fourth Front/Western Route Army

Elly: It’s my last working day today. I’m tired of this job. It’s too easy. I didn’t do anything today. Most of the time, I was monitoring TV news, checking e-mails from news programmes, telling the editors about some stories that could possibly be interesting. And as usual 64

they had no interest. I feel like I’m wasting my life. So now, I’m looking at the marks I made on the map for The Long March trip I’m taking. I think this will be such a cool trip!

Out of over 68,000 troops in total who took part in the March, only one percent was female. Most had run away from extreme poverty and ill-treatment as tongyangxi, or child brides – a misnomer for slave girls. An overwhelming number of women had come from families that were so poor they were fortunate to get by on one meal a day. Some barely had clothes on them, and many had bound feet.

Feet binding was the erotic and cruel practice of bandaging a young girl’s feet so tightly as to impede proper development. ‘Lotus feet’ were considered a symbol of beauty and grace as a woman with bound feet could, at best, only totter about on her deformed stumps. If there is any visible object to symbolise the oppression of women through 4000 years of rda s i a .co m

illust rat io n ng k he e jin

Some people have the misconception that The Long March was a single journey led by Mao Zedong.

Firstly, Mao wasn’t in charge at the start; he was politically sidelined before the March. Secondly, the March consisted of three main armies originating from different bases in south and central China.

All three marches were long, treacherous and filled with stories of super-human feats that captured the imagination of the peasant masses.

But the journey of the Fourth Front Army led by Commander Zhang Guotao is unique. It was the march with the most women – nearly 2000 in all – mostly teenagers, some as young as 12.

photo / illustr atio n cr ed it

Elly Zhen is now a mother to a one-yearold daughter and lives in Shenzhen.

She continues her work as a freelance journalist and is the author of a popular blog on parenting. She plans to write a book when her daughter is older.

65

Chinese history, this had to be it.

When the Red Army came through the villages, every young male and female peasant got swept along not so much by revolutionary fervour, but by the promise of three square meals a day and a better life without the constant bullying of greedy landlords who took away their crops and left their families with too little to live on.

Females were told they would be treated as equals to their male counterparts in the Red Army. Even the most uneducated of peasant girls appreciated the concept of liberation.

Most of them signed up in a hurry.

They cut off their pigtails and foot bandages and cast off 4000 years of cultural bondage.

Elly: My original English name was Elsie. I used that name for many years.

Then I met an Irish guy and he told me that Elsie is a cow’s name because the saying was, ‘C’mon, let’s milk Elsie next!’ So I changed my name. I don’t want to have a cow’s name. I don’t want people to milk me. So I changed my name to ‘Elly’ because it’s easy and it’s simple. I like simple names, I like simple things.

Jialing River, Cangxi

Sichuan Province For the women in the Fourth Front Army, their journey began at the Jialing River in Cangxi, central Sichuan. Here in 1935, they fought a bloody battle to cross the river. And 66

thus began their long trek on foot across 11 provinces over a period of two years.

Deng Xiuying was born in 1921, deep in the central Sichuan countryside. Xiuying’s family was very poor. They never had enough to eat and clothing was scarce. Her family didn’t own any land and before joining the Red Army, her father worked as a farmhand for the rich landowners.

She was just 12 years old when she joined the Red Army. Xiuying was in the Children’s Group, guarding and checking permits. Her father and brother were part of the Fourth Front Army – the 27th Corps in the 31st Army Group.

Xiuying was there at the start of the Fourth Front Army’s Long March. Her father left with the Red Army, while the rest of the family went after him.

It took them eight days to catch up with the troops. Her mother was very ill, so Xiuying carried her little brother on her back. She remembers fighting, and then having a break for one day or two, but mostly just walking. Day and night she kept walking. She was in the infantry, not the cavalry. There was no horse for her to ride, only her two feet, one step after another, one day after another, with her brother on her back.

Xiuying wasn’t there at the end of the March. Her father died in the Grasslands of Tibet. With her mother so sick, the family dropped back behind the troops. She was captured by bandits who sold her into slavery. rda s i a .co m

s

Deng Xiuying (right) and her little brother, whom she carried on her back in the Long March

Elly: My grandma’s feet used to be bound when she was a kid. After my grandma’s feet were released, she couldn’t walk because the smallest toes were underneath the other toes. So she got surgery to cut off the smallest toes.

She’s got eight toes now.

The Snowy Mountains

Sichuan Province To evade Kuomintang forces and secure a safe passage to the north, the Red Army retreated across the Snowy Mountains and Grasslands close to Tibet.

When the First Front Army and the Fourth Front Army met up in Li-

Caption caption caption caption

anghekou, troop numbers swelled.

Zhang Guotao wanted to move westward and establish a base in an area populated by minorities. But Mao Zedong wanted to proceed north to the Communist base in Yan’an.

Zhang’s decision to head west resulted in the Fourth Front Army crossing the Snowy Mountains twice and the Grasslands three times. It was a disastrous move that wiped out over three-quarters of his troops.

Elly: It’s so beautiful here, high up in the Chinese Himalayas. The nature is amazing. And then it suddenly occurs to me that no Long March soldier ever talked about the beautiful nature. Back 67

then, it might have been even more beautiful than it is today, but the soldiers never talked about nature. They never talked about the beautiful scenery.

The Snowy Mountains and Grasslands are places that Li Yunan doesn’t want to remember. Yet she cannot forget. It was a nightmare – 25,000 li (12,500 kilometres) – how can anyone forget a journey like that? Yunan remembers the army leaders fighting for power, and because of that, they were forced to cross Jiajin Mountain again. Nobody wanted to go back there again, but they had no choice.

Yunan remembers coming down the mountain. She passed more than 200 soldiers who were wounded, sick and old. They pleaded for help. If they were abandoned, they would freeze and starve to death. But her own legs were weak and she could barely walk herself. How could she possibly help them? They kept pleading for help, but there was nothing she could do but move on.

Elly: It isn’t snowing in the mountains yet, but I’m already so cold. Soldiers were warned not to fall asleep on the mountains because if they did, they would never wake up. Many soldiers died like that. The bodies in sitting positions were seen by the roadside. They were everywhere. I’m imagining what would happen if the car stops and the driver says, ‘Elly, we don’t want you anymore. You have to get out of the car right now.’ What am I going to do? I will 68

keep walking because I have no choice.

Grasslands

Sichuan Province Du Wenkai was a 12-yearold runaway child bride when she joined the Red Army. She had dreams of a better life. Instead, she crossed the Grasslands three times. There was no shelrda s i a .co m

Caption caption caption caption

Elly, against the backdrop of the Snowy Mountains. Inset: Long March survivor Li Yunan. She lives in central Sichuan and spends her time knitting and watching action movies on TV

ter from rain, sleet and snow. There was no dry ground to lie down on so soldiers slept by leaning back to back. There was little vegetation, no animals and no food. Everyone held on to long sticks. It helped them guard against the pits that dotted the marshlands. People who had the misfortune to fall into the marshy pits usually never made it out.

Wenkai tells of the 100,000 enemy troops chasing them from behind and the Kuomintang aircraft raining bombs from above. They just kept running, they never took a break. So many soldiers died, but there wasn’t time to bury them. They were simply left behind, lined up in the tall grasses.

Elly: It’s snowing and so windy out 69

in the Grasslands. I get out of the car and the snow hits my eyes. The grass is so wet that my boots and socks got soaked. I’m supposed to start a fire and make leather belt soup like what the Long March soldiers did 70 years ago. The driver gets a bottle of gasoline from the car. He pours half of it onto the wood and the fire starts at once.

But the wood is too wet.

The snow and the wind together kill the fire. The freezing cold seeps through my boots and socks – I’m trembling in the freezing wind, standing in front of the big black wok, looking at the two leather belts in the pot and wet wood underneath.

I’m overwhelmed with desperation.

“Let’s give up! I can’t do it.” I’m crying, the tears won’t stop. I felt bad about myself.

I give up, and pour the water out. I pick up the pot and belts and walk back to the car. I get in shaking. I have no idea what I’ve done. After a little while, Khee Jin comes over. I pray he won’t ask me to do it again. He opens the door and gives me a big hug.

I think about the Long March soldiers. How did they get fires going?

They had no gasoline. Neither did they have a choice. This is the difference between my life and theirs. Life is about choices.

The Silk Road/ Hexi Corridor

Gansu Province In October 1936, the Fourth Front Army attempted to cross the Yellow River in order to set up a base 70

in Xinjiang Province, close to the Soviet Union. They were cut off at the crossing by the cavalry of the Muslim warlord of Qinghai, Ma Bufang. Only half the troops, their numbers already decimated by the Snowy Mountain and Grassland journeys, managed to cross the river.

The 30th, 5th and 9th Divisions made the crossing. They were renamed the Western Route Army. Out of a total of 21,800 soldiers, 1300 were from the Women’s Independent Regiment, under the command of 23-year old Wang Quanyuan.

They had orders to push through to the west. But their nightmares were only about to begin. Like a desert storm, the Ma Cavalry swept through their ranks on horseback with broadswords and fury. They were tall, bearded and renowned as sharpshooters. The poorly armed, poorly trained and under nourished Red Army didn’t stand a chance. Within months, the Western Route Army was pursued and destroyed.

Quanyuan and the other women fought hard, but she was captured by the Ma bandits. She was tortured and forced into marriage with a Muslim officer. She tried to escape but was caught yet again. Quanyuan’s punishment was a severe beating.

Twenty sticks were used to beat her – she barely survived the ordeal. She awoke on a bed in jail with paper stuck all over her body. Her captors had used paper to stop the massive bleeding. She finally escaped the warlord’s prison in 1939, two years rda s i a .co m

Du Wenkai lives in a village for retired army veterans. She spends her time tending her vegetable plot and raising chickens.

after the end of the Long March.

Elly: Some of the troops were real soldiers with guns. Most of them were just cooks, nurses and performers. They faced Ma Bufang’s bandits. They had no guns. They used scissors, rocks, everything they could find to fight the bandits. After they got captured, they were raped, they were sold to other people, they got pregnant, they had to bear the babies, and they had to perform, had to dance, had to sing for their enemy. What choice did they have?

Liyuankou Pass

Gansu Province The road to tragedy for the women ended in a

deserted mountain pass called Liyuankou in western Gansu. A small tablet in the desert marks the place where the remaining soldiers from the Women’s Regiment of the Western Route Army were ambushed by the Ma Cavalry and slaughtered. The majority of them were killed and the rest captured.

There were only a handful of survivors left including Wang Quanyuan and a few others. They had to make their own way after that. The main force had classified them as missing in action.

Elly: Although they were called soldiers, when those Western Route Army troops died, most of them were just 71

teenagers. They were just a Wang Quanyuan group of kids from the Fourth lives in Jiangxi on her military Front Army. They left their pension homes in Sichuan, joined the Red Army and started the Long March. They crossed the Snowy Mountains twice and crossed the Grasslands three times. All through this ordeal, they clung on to the hope and mantra – “Return to Chengdu to eat rice”.

But once the women of the Western Route Army, like Wang Quanyuan, had crossed over to the western banks of the Yellow River, most of them never had a rice meal again. The ma- peasant’s grandmother.

I offered these to those brave teenage jority of them never went back to their girl soldiers here in Liyuankou where homes in Sichuan.

This whole place is so different they died, thousands of miles from from what I had imagined. No trees, their Sichuan homes. I lay these small no rivers, no big rocks, no trenches, gifts on their monument. I hope I can nowhere to hide. Just an endless plain make their spirits feel a little bit closer between two hills. I can picture those to their home.

I weep for the girls, for the choices 1300 women soldiers walking the land, heading to the west with few weapons, they never had, for the better life they wounded, hungry, cold and helpless. were searching for. I don’t have to fight The Ma Cavalry appeared high above to unbind my feet – that battle was on their horses, equipped with rifles fought by them 70 years ago. and swords. No wonder the battle only took two hours. A small monument Xingxingxia, Gobi stands in their memory. It knows the Desert whole story, but it doesn’t seem that Xinjiang Province way. How can such a small stone con- Xingxingxia was the last vey the tragedy that took place here? stop of the Western Route I collected water from the Jialing Army. It all ended here. Xingxingxia River in Cangxi, where their Long is a frontier town, skirting the edge of March started. I collected earth from the Gobi Desert. Its existence seems farmland along the road of their Long inconsequential to anyone but those March. I collected rice from a Sichuan who happen to be there at the time.

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KHEE JIN (Director):

Our small crew of four filmed the final segment in Xingxingxia. It was cold and we couldn’t wait to get out of there. As far as we were concerned, the film was ‘in the can’. We had in barely three weeks retraced nearly 5000 kiloKhee Jin filming in Shanmetres of the Long March. dan, along the Silk Road This did not include a previous six weeks spent It was not surprising then the nezipping from Beijing, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Gansu, filming and interviewing glected monument marking the conclusion of the March in Xingxingxia female survivors.

For me, it was also the end of a troubled her so. I don’t think any of us personal odyssey. I felt I had become expected our journey would come to someone entrusted with carrying a such an anti-climactic end.

We brought with us at the start of cargo of precious memories. Somehow, I had become intertwined in the lives our trip, a pair of straw sandals, just of Long Marchers, dead and alive, and like the ones the Long Marchers used. felt I bore a burden of responsibility to I symbolically placed it on the dashboard of our four-wheel drive as a them and their families.

We interviewed and filmed six sur- ‘mascot’. At our journey’s end in the vivors at length in 2005, ranging in age Gobi Desert, Elly placed the sandals from 84 to 95. Only four are featured on the desert floor. She inscribed the here. As far as I know, all six are still words Sichuan in the sand and drew alive as of this publication date. Tell- an arrow pointing in its direction. A ing others their story, I began to realise, signpost for lost souls looking for the was their way of bringing closure to way home. the sad and painful memories of those We have 5 copies of Ng Khee life-defining moments.

Jin’s Feet Unbound DVDs to be The journey and the stories brought given away for the best to life the Long March for Elly and afletters to the editor. Share with fected her in ways she never imagined. us your thoughts on this story at She came to realise the frivolity and asiacomments@readersdigest. aimlessness of her life. The freedom com. You can also buy the DVD at www. she had taken for granted had been all-entertainment.com.sg. paid for by those who came before her.

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In the spring of 1937, a ragged band of 438 survivors from the Western Route Army were found wandering in the area. They had no food, no water, no maps and no ammunition.

There were no women amongst the survivors.

These men were all that remained of the original 21,800 soldiers who crossed the Yellow River. They were led by Commander Li Xiannian who later became the President of the People’s Republic of China.

With their rescue, the Long March of the Fourth Front/Western Route Army, came to an end. This was a stretch of the Long March that left a trail of blood so long that Mao tried erasing it completely from the history books.

But memories of those who survived live on. The voices of the women who didn’t make it to Xingxingxia have been recorded. Their stories will be told. Their feet have been unbound. n 74

COURTESY O F WESTERN ROUTE ARMY MARTYRS ’ MAUSOLEUM

The Hexi Corridor where the Western Route Army and the Female Regiment fought many battles ducking in and out of the Qilian mountains .

Bodies of soldiers who died en route to Linze, Gansu province

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LIFESTYLE+TRENDS+ENTERTAINMENT

photo g et t y image s

Travellin’ Lite Can’t wait to share all about the amazing people you’ve met and the unique experiences you’ve had on your RTW (round-the-world) backpacking sabbatical? Set up a free travel blog at Blogs.BootsnAll. com, one of the first websites to offer travellers the opportunity to record all their adventures, post photos, keep in touch with family and friends, as well as tap into other people’s adventures.

Since its beginnings in 1998, BootsnAll has developed into a comprehensive independent travel resource for a growing

online community and network of open-minded independent travellers.

Registration is free and fuss-free, and you can choose from a range of different themes and templates to customise the look of your blog.

Think you’re all ready to pledge?

Consider these partly tongue-incheek member guidelines laid out in the BootsnAll’s Traveller Code of Conduct: “Being a loud, obnoxious foreigner while travelling is unacceptable and grounds for dismissal,” and “Describing in great detail how your bowels reacted to the local food is encouraged, especially when sitting down to a meal.” – Joyce Sim

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Travel

Into Hidden Jakarta Skip the usual attractions, says Robert Finlayson, and embark on a tour of the kampungs to discover the real Jakarta Behind the bright lights of the hotels, malls and restaurants of Jakarta, Indonesia, lies the “shadow-world” where the majority of the capital city’s residents live: kampungs (villages). Like London, Jakarta is a cross-cultural melting pot of a megalopolis formed by a cluster of villages annexed together.

On each alleyway, behind every row of glitzy office towers and malls along the major boulevards, sits a kampung.

These winding neighbourhoods, a side effect of rapid urban growth, are pretty much off-limits to visitors and foreigners to Jakarta, even if this is one of the friendliest cities in the world. Without a 76

local as a guide or the ability to speak the national language (Bahasa Indonesia), you’d probably be at a loss at navigating by yourself, knowing what to do, or how to talk to the locals.

Jakarta Hidden Tours lets you find out what life is like behind the shopping malls and westernised lifestyles of the middle classes. Run by local NGO Yayasan Interkultur, a network of arts and cultural workers in Indonesia, these informal tours of “the real Jakarta” take small groups of visitors into the heart of some of the poorest areas of the city, during which they are introduced to the residents. rda s i a .co m

photos courte sy yayasan Int er kult ur; rob ert f finl ays on

Kali Galur

(Top) A group of Ciliwung Merdeka kids hamming it up for the camera (Right) An alleyway in Galur

Founded and led by Ronny Poluan, a Jakarta resident for the past 40 years, these tours aim to increase the awareness of sociocultural conditions in Jakarta by introducing visitors to the local people and conditions of Galur, Ciliwung and Luar Batang.

The tours are about three hours long.

Each is an eye-opener offering a rare chance to meet and have real conversations with ordinary Jakartans and to see how they live.

You can arrange for a time and pickup place to suit you. Travel through the area by local public transport and on foot and be invited into people’s homes . Hear their stories as you meet the local kids and their parents. Chat with workers and managers in tofu and tempeh factories and local shops, and hear about the frequent flash floods. Marvel at how shop staff continue on working even as the high tide washes up their calves, and find out what they earn and how they spend.

Along the way, you’ll also get a mild dose

of the history of these areas, which were early settlements of the Dutch.

While the conditions of these areas can be startling for first-time visitors, the warmth and friendliness of the residents quickly overcome any hesitation, and often lead to sustained relationships from which both locals and foreigners benefit.

Donations and proceeds from the tours contribute to micro-development projects set up by the local residents, among Jakarta’s poorest, to help build “local human infrastructure.” Expatriates, visitors and residents are currently working closely together to establish children’s libraries, health services, micro-finance schemes, and mini schools.

For more information or to make a booking, visit realjakarta.blogspot. com, or contact Ronny Poluan on +62 81 2803 5297 or jaktour@gmail.com.

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Food

Nonya Platter at Nam, Bon Ton Restaurant & Resort

Foodie Hotels Gastronomes with a case of wanderlust, listen up. Aun Koh has an idea for your next trip: destination dining hotels Most people determine where they’re going before they decide on the hotel.

But there exists a rare breed of hotel – a destination hotel, the most exciting of which are often carefully guarded cult secrets among savvy travellers.

For my wife and I, travel invariably revolves around gustatory experiences – we will literally go anywhere for a great meal.

Luckily, some of the best places to eat in the Asia Pacific also happen to be housed in some pretty sexy digs. I love visiting these B&Bs – all the better if there’s lunch and dinner thrown in. The lazy gourmand in me certainly relishes being able to roll from dining table to bed, and vice versa.

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The most exciting cult destination dining hotel of the moment has to be the Royal Mail Hotel. Situated at the foot of the Grampians Ranges in Victoria, Australia, this member of the Mr & Mrs Smith collection of swish boutique hotels (www.mrandmrssmith.com) houses Dan Hunter, formerly head chef of the two Michelin-starred Mugaritz in San Sebastián, Spain. In just three years, his exquisite menus have turned the hotel into a bona fide foodie pilgrimage site that’s been cited as Australia’s answer to Ferran Adria’s highly acclaimed El Bulli in Barcelona (98 Parker Street [Glenelg Highway], Dunkeld, Victoria 3294, Australia; Tel: +61 rda s i a .co m

ph otos court esy B on Ton R estaur ant & Re sort; E arl C art er

3 5577 2241; www.royalmail.com.au).

Another Aussie hotel foodies love checking into is The Prince in Melbourne. Its signature restaurant, Circa, is considered one of the very best in the city, if not the country.

Helmed by Matthew Wilkinson, this chic modern Australian dining institution has earned two Chef’s Hats, the antipodean equivalent of the Michelin star (2 Acland Street, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria 3182, Australia; Tel: +61 9536 1111; www.theprince.com.au; www.circa.com.au).

One of my favourite places for both pigging and chilling out in Asia is the quaint Bon Ton Restaurant & Resort in Langkawi, Malaysia. This small boutique Smith hotel, set up on a forCirca Restaurant at The Prince mer coconut plantation by Australian restaurateur Narelle McMurtrie, consists a traditional onsen (hot spring) bath, of eight lovingly restored, individually decorated 100-year-old stilted Malay villas. topped with a lavish multi-course meal showcasing the local seasonal produce.

The resort’s restaurant, Nam, is possibly the best in Langkawi, with simple but beau- My personal favourite is the gorgeously built Hinanoza on the edge of Lake Akan tifully prepared food and flavours drawing in Hokkaido. Each of the 25 posh rooms inspiration from both East and West. Its has its own private, outdoor hot spring signature Nyonya Platter is deservingly tub, while a fabulous gazebo off the raved about, and draws vacationers back lobby offers great views and a hot spring time after time (Pantai Cenang, 07000 footbath. The food at the hotel’s Hina Langkawi, Malaysia; Tel: + 60 4955 1688; Restaurant is truly sublime. Course after www.bontonresort.com.my). course of the freshest local produce will Of course, there’s no real way to talk send you into food paradise, which, after about travel and food without mentionall, really isn’t all that far from the truth ing Japan. For a really unique gourmet here (2-8-1, Akanko Onsen, Akan-cho, experience, check into one of the small Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan; Tel: +81 154 67 but super luxurious inns or ryokans that 3050; www.hinanoza.com). dot the country. For the Japanese, the high-end ryokan experience is a one-night Aun Koh muses about all things food on affair of relaxing in the hotel, followed by popular food blog www.chubbyhubby.net taking a walk around town and enjoying 79

Leisure Original Transformers Feeling goggle-eyed or maybe just a little world-weary?

Lift your eyes to the skies and treat yourself to a spot of cloud-gazing, suggests Hazel Flynn

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ph oto ge t t y i mag es

The Cloud Appreciation Society urges people everywhere to “live life with your head in the clouds”

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a cumulus in the shape of Superman, and it’s changing moment by moment. Now it resembles a bear … now a train … now a fluffy white mountain …

If you’re starving for some simple pleasures, it doesn’t get much easier than lying back, looking upwards and gazing at the clouds. It’s such a basic activity that it’s easy to forget just how relaxing it can be.

Children certainly don’t need tutoring in its joys. But somewhere along the way to adulthood, most of us shift our gaze downwards, to bank statements and work rosters and the general rush of daily life.

Not Gavin Pretor-Pinney. A lifelong cloud gazer, he finally had enough of how clouds tend to be, at best, mostly forgotten and, worse, used as symbols of gloom in idioms such as “a cloud on the horizon.” In 2004, he formed the Cloud Appreciation Society. By the end of its first year, the UKbased society had amassed 1800 members in 25 countries.

There are now more than 20,000 followers in 78 countries who believe that clouds are “Nature’s poetry … [and] the most egalitarian of her displays.” Membership is a nominal fee of £4 ($6)plus postage, which includes the cost of a mailed badge and membership certificate, although you don’t have to be a member to submit cloud photos, poems or music.

Visit cloudappreciationsociety.org to see photos of different cloud formations, including a cloud giving the thumbsup and, courtesy of Pretor-Pinney himself, a cloud that looks like “the Abominable Snowman, upset that his pet seahorse is ignoring him”. Yes, it’s pure whimsy – and utterly delightful.

Tech I Came, I Saw, iPad

ph oto cou rte sy app le

All ye i-lovers, rejoice, says Stan Yee. After months of speculation, Apple has finally announced the launch of its new tablet After months of hype, Apple finally unveiled its latest product in end January. Most people were expecting a tablet device, but the iPad was surprising in other ways.

Billed as a “whole new kind of device” and power e-reader offering “the best way to experience the web, e-mail, and photos”, the iPad is meant to fill the niche between the smartphone and the laptop – or rather, the iPhone and the MacBook. Although existing netbooks on the market packed with more functionality arguably already fit the bill, Apple’s solution is the iPad. While thin, the iPad is designed to be used with both hands and sports a wide bezel, so it isn’t exactly small. Standing in its dock (one of many accessories soon to flood the market), it could very well be mistaken for a digital photo frame.

For connectivity, the basic version only supports Wi-Fi. You’ll have to get the costlier model if you require 3G roaming (international prices unavailable at the time of writing). Its crisp screen supports the same lauded multi-touch technology of Apple’s iPhone and iTouch, with an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. And the similarities don’t just end there.

Is this the best way to experience the web, e-mail, and photos?

Instead of the Mac OS (or operating system), the iPad shares the same OS as those i-handhelds, with the same constraints: no multitasking (you can’t simultaneously write e-mail and surf), and no Flash support (you can’t watch video on many popular sites). For an Internet device, these limitations are baffling. It also lacks a built-in webcam for Skype and video conferencing.

Despite these obvious shortcomings, Apple has undeniably succeeded time and again with its “simple is more” approach. So while it may not be as gamechanging as the iPhone, the iPad may yet win over the hearts of the masses.

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HealthSmart+ h e a lt h n e w s yo u c a n u s e

Cohabitants Make for Bride and Gloom Moving in together before marriage may spell divorce

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communication is key to cohabitation.

“Talk about commitment and what living together might mean for the future of the relationship before moving in together.” He adds that compared to dating, break-ups are likely to be harder if a couple is already living together.

Beatrix Hon

photo / illustr atio n cr ed it

Relationships are often defined by stages: from dating to moving in together to marriage. But according to a recent University of Denver study published in the Journal of Family Psychology, cohabiting before marriage could jeopardise your relationship. The study of more than 1000 married men and women found that couples who moved in together before they got engaged had a higher chance of getting divorced.

Some 43 percent of couples who lived together before engagement reported decreased satisfaction with their marriages, compared to those who waited until after engagement (16 percent) and until marriage (41 percent).

According to senior researcher Galena Rhoades, “Some couples who move in together without a clear commitment to marriage may wind up sliding into marriage partly because they are already cohabiting.”

A subsequent study found that most couples decide to live together to spend more time with each other. The second most common reason was convenience, followed by testing the relationship.

Researcher Scott Stanley suggests that

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photo s g et t y image s; isto c kph oto

+ HealthSmart

Work Out and Be Happy The concept of exercise-related endorphins isn’t new, but it’s now clear that their power is more potent than once thought Sweat for a moment, then bask in the good feeling for hours. That’s the message of a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine’s recent annual meeting. The study suggests that the mood benefits of exercise last up to 12 times longer than previously believed.

Earlier research had found that a workout’s feel-good effects last about an

hour – not much longer than it takes the sweat to dry.

But in the University of Vermont research, after men and women pedalled for 20 minutes on a stationary bike, questionnaires showed their moods remained buoyed for about half a day, whether they were fitness fiends or just venturing off the couch for the first time, says researcher Jeremy Sibold.

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HealthSmart +

Tech Aids for Alzheimer’s Welcome developments for patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s

Memory Snapshots

Alzheimer’s disease first affects the ability to remember the recent past, and researchers believe they have found a “memory aid” in the form of SenseCam – a wearable camera set to take photos passively every 30 seconds throughout the day.

In a British study by Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and the UK Medical Research Council, researchers tracked the brain activity of patients with memory loss through fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans and found that SenseCam images sparked genuine memories of their day. The images provided powerful cues that activated parts of the brain associated with normal episodic memory, according to lead author Dr Emma Berry, a clinical neuropsychologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. “Images were not simply recalled,” she says.

“Experiences were remembered through thoughts, feelings and other events not shown in the images.”

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+ HealthSmart

photo s g et t y image s; isto c kph oto

Smart Shoes Researchers have been looking to GPS for Alzheimer’s patients, developing footwear that gives a wearer’s location within 9 metres.

Using Google mapping, carers can also “draw” a “geo-fence” around a designated area – for example, 50 metres around the wearer’s home – and an alert is sent to their mobile phone or computer when that boundary is crossed. “The alert provides a map showing the exact location of the wearer, including a ‘bread crumb’ trail of the path they are following,” says project adviser Dr Andrew Carle, director of assisted living at the College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University in Virginia.

Alzheimer’s patients often remove unfamiliar objects, but Carle expects the shoes will avoid this problem.

“Procedural memory is the last type of memory retained in patients,” he says. “This includes getting dressed.

The idea of ‘hiding’ technology within clothing provides the greatest chance a patient will still be wearing it when needed.”

Social Rejection and Physical Pain Rejection hurts – and finally, science reveals why: a gene that regulates the body’s most potent painkillers is involved in socially painful experiences, too.

UCLA researchers found that people with a rare form of the opioid receptor gene OPRM1 tend to be more sensitive to rejection than those with the more common form.

And in response, this group shows more evidence of distress in brain regions linked to both physical and emotional pain.

Study co-author Naomi Eisenberger says this overlap in pain systems makes evolutionary sense: “Because social connections are so important, feeling literally hurt by not having them may be an adaptive way to make sure we keep them.” Findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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HealthSmart +

Fix It With Food: Knee Pain

SOY People with knee pain reported less discomfort and used fewer pain meds after eating soy protein daily for three months, according to Oklahoma State University research. Soy is rich in isoflavones, plant hormones with antiinflammatory properties.

Study participants consumed a powdered soy drink mix that contained 40 grams of protein, but, says

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study author Bahram H. Arjmandi, PhD, you can get the same benefit from sources like flavoured soy milk, edamame (baby soybeans), and soy burgers.

CITRUS In a study of 293 Australian adults, eating plenty of fruit reduced the risk of developing bone marrow lesions – a marker for worsening knee osteoarthritis and pain. The knee-friendliest fruits appear to be vitamin C–packed ones, like kiwi, orange, mango, grapefruit, and papaya. The researchers suspect it’s the vitamin C in fruit that protects the knee joint and supporting structures.

FISH Many studies have found that fish and fish oil ease the joint pain and stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis. Now a study shows that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may block not only the chemicals that cause inflammation in osteoarthritis but also the proteins known to wear down knee cartilage. Eat two servings of oily fish (such as mackerel or salmon) weekly or take one gram of omega-3s in capsule form every day, says nutrition researcher Dr Artemis P. Simopoulos. Janis Gra h a m rda s i a .co m

photos istoc k ph oto

Millions of people have stiff, painful knees thanks to osteoarthritis.

Remedies range from keeping active and dropping excess weight to steroid injections and even surgery.

But research shows that you can take a tastier route to improvement:

+ HealthSmart

Coffee’s New Perk Enjoy your morning brew – it may provide a hedge against cancer.

A new study of 60,000 women conducted over 17 years shows that those who drank four or more cups of coffee a day cut their risk for endometrial cancer by 25 percent, compared with those who had a cup or less. (Risk fell by 46 percent for obese women,

who are most prone to developing the disease.)

Men may benefit too: Other recent research suggests a 60 percent drop in the risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer among those who drink six or more cups of coffee daily, compared with men who don’t have any.

Beth Howard 87

)

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Lıfe!

W

hile walking home from daycare one crisp autumn evening, my four-year-old son Justin turned to me and asked, “Mummy, when leaves fall down, do they get hurt?”

R a i n a Be e k sm a

My brother and sister­ in-law, Nancy, took their twin grandsons, Brandon and Connor, to a farm to celebrate the fall harvest.

There were many things set up for the kids to do, and there was a little stand where visitors could buy produce.

Brandon had never had a candy apple, so Nancy bought one for him.

On their way out, Nancy asked Connor if he, too, would like to try a candy apple.

“Say no,” Brandon whispered to his brother.

“There’s a real apple in Ann Whittle there!”

While working on my master’s degree, I was enduring a long night 88

Love in an Elevator?

Lawyers rarely let anything get in the way of making money, let alone romance or hope. But Frankfurt solicitor Sabina Stobrawe’s lift advert (created by gkk DialogGroup) is pragmatic, even by her profession’s standards.

of studying in my unfinished basement.

My four-year-old daughter Liz peered down at me from the top of the stairs and asked me what I was doing.

I told her that I needed some time alone to finish a bit of work and that I would come upstairs shortly to play.

Noticing one of my books, she asked me what I was reading.

“A book on finance,” I told her.

She looked very confused, then came

down the stairs and looked in, under and around the book.

“But Daddy,” she said quizzically, “I don’t see any fine ants!”

C. Blair

I once saw a poster outside a church that stated: “Fasting Conference, Fast With Power!”

The brief introduction that followed stated that the conference would allow all participants to come together in prayer while fasting.

However, the next line rda s i a .co m

Here’s how kids see love in action: Love is when my mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.

D a n n y, 7

on the poster really had me stumped. It read: “All meals will be provided.”

J e n n i f e r La h Si ng apore

Street Talk Conversation #1 Girl #1: You know, this whole Ben situation is really starting to tick me off.

Girl #2: I know! I just don’t know what his deal is.

Girl #1: He called me like 12 times yesterday.

Girl #2: He called you?

[Pause] Oh, you mean Ben your boyfriend.

Girl #1: As opposed to?

Girl #2: Ben from “Lost”.

Conversation #2 Guy #1: You know, you look really familiar.

What do you do?

Guy #2: I’m an actor, poet, musician . . .

Guy #1: No, I don’t think that’s it . . . [Pause] Oh wait, I think I know – did you ever work at Bloomingdale’s?

Guy #2: . . . Yes.

Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says that he is handsomer than Robert Redford.

Chris, 7

Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.

Elaine, 5

Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk some more.

E m i l y, 8 From The World According to Kids: A Child’s Eye View of Life, Love and Chocolate Cake (HarperCollins, 2009)

From overhea rdinne w york .com

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The Inexplicable Truth: You can’t put contact lenses on with your mouth closed

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illions of us myopics

wear lenses. Occasionally, circumstances will require you to fit them in public, a discomfiture for two reasons: 1) It becomes a spectator sport as an abacus of gawping faces gather mesmerised and appalled at the sight of someone touching their own eyeball.

2) It’s impossible to fit lenses without your mouth falling open – a sight that, to my eye, manages to knock 30 points off your IQ into the bargain bin.

Despite all efforts to seal your lips, as index finger approaches peeper, you can bet an opening will appear. I’ve managed to perform the task with a shut mouth, but it feels utterly wrong. I have no idea why.

I asked my wife as she was applying mascara, if she’d noticed the connection between working on our eyes and looking like a slack-jawed halfwit.

I didn’t receive a printable answer.

Family Photos are

a feast of ill-advised themes, flawed genetics and uncomfortable participants.

Awkwardfamilyphotos.com has some of the very worst:

C omi c Jeff G r een

Your favourite new joke might be worth $$$. Go to p.7 or rdasia.com for details. rda s i a .co m

g Last Lau h Venn Again, Maybe Not

By Ter r y Co l on

Certain combinations just don’t work. Vinegar plus baking soda causes an explosion, as do Kathy Griffin and an open mike.

Here are some other questionable relationships:

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