http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_archive.jsp?ccid=1 Reader's Digest Asia - Features Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:27:00 -0000 http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7814 Weand nbsp; trust our family and our friends – people we know and are closest to. But when it comes to public figures – individuals who we may never meet in our lives – trust goes beyond our own personal relationships. Placing our trust in a public figure may mean we rely on a person's integrity, strength or ability. We may place our confidence in the individual's commitment to his work. We may even view this person as a role model. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7815 In the current climate of economic, environmental and political uncertainty, now more than ever, people are looking for security and assurance in their lives. Part of this includes deciding which public figures they can rely on and trust. Filipinos are no different. The decision is even more significant in the Philippines as this is a country that’s had major grievances with those it has trusted. That’s why Reader’s Digest is pleased to reveal the results of our exclusive survey, which looks at trusted people and professions in the Philippines.and nbsp; http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7816 Apart from hailing from Penang, these four have also topped the charts in the inaugural Reader’s Digest Trust poll conducted recently in Malaysia. Together with Dr Jemilah Mahmood, founder and former president of MERCY Malaysia, these top five people have similar traits that warrant public adoration: perseverance, simplicity, honesty and down-to-earth grit. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7813 One of the meals I really look forward to preparing each year is the reunion dinner my family shares on the eve of Chinese New Year. Also referred to as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the first moon of the lunar calendar. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7812 We’ve reached a strange tipping point. Last October, the World Health Organization (WHO), revealed that more people worldwide now die from being overweight and obese than from being underweight. According to WHO statistics, there are approximately 1.6 billion overweight or obese people in the world; atand nbsp; least 2.5 million deaths are attributable to these conditions annually. Nearly 18 million children under age five worldwide are estimated to be overweight. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7807 Pop quiz: what do celebrity couplesand nbsp;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 Somali-born. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7809 One eye was frozen shut. He hadn’t slept in days, and he was hallucinating. P> The visions had been appearing for 36 hours already. Out of one eye, he could see his grandfather’s house, but when he turned to look, it would disappear. His grandfather, wife, sisters, and nephew would all appear behind him. He knew they weren’t really there – his grandfather had died in 2002, and the others were back in the United States – but he figured he’d go with it anyway. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7810 In Chinese mythology, the white tiger was appointed the guardian of the west. Legend had it that if a tiger ever survived to its 500th birthday, its tail would turn white. Consequentially, white tigers would only appear to emperors who ruled virtuously. They were the symbols of a peaceful reign. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7796 After making waves in the Malaysian entertainment scene for the last 13 years, Irish-born Sarimah Ibrahim is ready to step on the regional stage. The half-Malaysian, half-Irish actress-singer-emcee-model hosts the first season of ''The Biggest Loser Asia'', the Asian variation of the hit US series where overweight contestants from Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia compete in two teams to lose the most weight and pick up the $100,000 prize. The reality TV show began its run on November 24 on the Hallmark Channel. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7797 Sydney-based Kristy Curtis had some battles of her own when it comes to weight. At 15, she suffered from anorexia and saw the disease rob her of her health. “I weighed about 37 kilos . . . [and] I started losing my hair,” she says. With professional help, she turned her life around. “I now know the benefit of looking good and feeling good. I can help others with that journey, that’s why I do this job.” http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7798 Shanti Shinde standsand nbsp; at the edge of the pit and points to the foul black water at its bottom. “We’ve first got to pump that out,” she tells me. “Then, line the ground with large paving stones.” http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7799 Make it a year to remember: cross off at least one thing on your personal ''Ten Things to Do Before I Die'' list. Me? I always wanted to write a book, climb the Himalayas and learn to salsa. Tick, tick and tick. I've also jumped out of a plane from 10,000 feet (awesome), and hosted a gourmet dinner party for 12 (confidence boosting). So what's left? Oh, just the things I'm lousy at, like curbing my appetite for carbs, saying no to a glass of champagne, or resisting the urge to book two air tickets to Bali and a gorgeous villa, all on my credit card. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7800 The story begins in London in the swinging '60s. In the exotic-animals section of the legendary department store Harrods, with its motto Omnia Omnibus Ubique – all things for all people, everywhere – a lion cub sits in a small cage. Two fashionably long-haired, bellbottom-wearing young Australians, John Rendall and Anthony ''Ace'' Bourke, chance upon the little African cat and decide to buy him. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7787 After making waves in the Malaysian entertainment scene for the last 13 years, Irish-born Sarimah Ibrahim is ready to step on the regional stage. The half-Malaysian, half-Irish actress-singer-emcee-model hosts the first season of ''The Biggest Loser Asia'', the Asian variation of the hit US series where overweight contestants from Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia compete in two teams to lose the most weight and pick up the $100,000 prize. The reality TV show began its run on November 24 on the Hallmark Channel. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7788 Sydney-based Kristy Curtis had some battles of her own when it comes to weight. At 15, she suffered from anorexia and saw the disease rob her of her health. “I weighed about 37 kilos . . . [and] I started losing my hair,” she says. With professional help, she turned her life around. “I now know the benefit of looking good and feeling good. I can help others with that journey, that’s why I do this job.” http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7789 Shanti Shinde stands  at the edge of the pit and points to the foul black water at its bottom. ''We've first got to pump that out,'' she tells me. ''Then, line the ground with large paving stones.'' http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7775 December marks the approach of yet another year's end. It's a time to take stock of what's been accomplished, or not, in the past 12 months. And it's also a time to look forward, at what we want out of the New Year – our hopes and wishes. We put this question – what is your wish for the New Year? – to some very special people across the region and this is what they shared with us. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7776 One of the first pictures my son drew in school was of himself peeking out from behind a tree. He called it “I Hide”, and I saved it for years, stuck to our refrigerator, because I found a lot of humour and truth in it. When you’re small, hiding things is a daring game. With age, not only do we lose our secret hiding places, but it becomes tougher to conceal our flaws, our opinions, our past, our emotions, our mistakes, and, of course, our treasures. What follows isn’t designed to help you hide from the law or pull off anything illegal. Rather, its purpose is to help you preserve some measure of dignity in a world that wants to know and expose all. Here are ten little trees, so to speak, that you can squirrel things away in or crouch behind. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7777 In a dilapidated hospital ward in Phnom Penh, Somaly Mam, a slightly built woman with warm brown eyes, bends over a child’s bed. In it lies a five-year-old girl covered in band-ages. She is clutching a teddy bear and staring silently at a stained and peeling ceiling. Her name is Sreytouch*. http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=7778 No matter where you imagine yourself partaking of your Christmas feast this year – religious beliefs notwithstanding – chances are, the menu will include a ham, fruit cake and perhaps a roasted turkey, with all the trimmings.