http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_archive.jsp?ccid=1 Reader's Digest Asia - Features Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:00:00 -0000 http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6299 At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, a member of the Chinese team will take an oath on behalf of the 12,000 assembled athletes to abide by the Games' rules "in the true spirit of sportsmanship." http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6301 Six years ago, Kuala Lumpur resident Kamalavath Kandiah, now 75, started experiencing severe headaches and tiredness. The retired teacher visited a local doctor who prescribed her pills to control her blood pressure and cholesterol. In 2005, Kandiah visited a cardiologist who ran a stress electrocardiogram on her - a standard test that checks for blockages in the arteries - but did not find a problem. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6302 On a fine day  in September 1995, Howard Rocket, a driven 48-year-old entrepreneur, leaped for a pass in a friendly touch-football game in downtown Toronto. He slipped and fell, hitting the back of his head, and a minute later came to with a wicked, ever worsening headache. Then, dark spots floated into his field of vision. He ignored these things until three weeks later, when he was home alone and suddenly lost control of his arms and legs. A sharp, deep pain pierced his head and darkness closed in. He groped his way to the phone, slowly tapped 9-1-1, then collapsed. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6304 Three friends and architecture students in Chiang Mai, Thailand, were fast running out of money for their respective thesis projects. It was 2002 and they were in their fourth year of a five-year course at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna Northern Campus. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6306 It was the summer of 1936. The Olympic Games were being held in Berlin. Because Adolf Hitler childishly insisted that his performers were members of a ''master race,'' nationalistic feelings were at an all-time high. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6373 If anyone had told me that after 28 years of marriage I could swap my ageing, snoring, overweight, unhealthy husband for a younger-looking, slimline, non-snoring, healthy one, I would have said, ''No. Don't tempt me.'' But I didn't have to, because one day he woke up and decided to do something about his weight and his health. From that moment on, he slowly but surely changed from one to the other. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6173 BUY NOW A> STRONG>Be the first toand nbsp;get hold ofand nbsp;a copy of Sleep to be Sexy, Smart and Slim. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6174 When Chris Lee's wife got a job transfer from the US to Hong Kong last year, the senior project manager for a web marketing firm decided he would not work full-time anymore and would stay at home with the kids: two girls aged three and one. With his wife bringing home the bacon, Lee took the challenge of being with the kids at all times. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6175 Clocks across China are counting down to 8 in the evening of 08-08-08, the moment when Beijing will launch the games of the XXIX Olympiad. In preparation for its moment at the centre of the world stage, the city has transformed itself from the dowager of old to a dazzling young star decked out in a stunning display of architectural haute couture. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6176 It's early February and Delhi is hit by a cold wave. So it's an irony that I'm here to interview Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, PhD, about global warming. His fifth-floor office in the India Habitat Centre is cluttered with books and files. It's also remarkably small for someone who'd just picked up a Nobel Prize on behalf of IPCC, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN body that looks at existing research on climate change and makes assessments. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6177 As a shy, nerdy student in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, Tina Fey wrote a satirical column for The Acorn, her school newspaper, taking aim at the usual subjectsand nbsp;- rigid teachers and even more rigid school policies. Her writing didn't propel her to cool-kid status, but it did make people laugh. Fey was hooked. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6178 Like millions of his compatriots, installation artist Alfredo Aquilizan left his native Philippines in search of a better life for his five children. He moved his family to Brisbane, Australia, in late 2006, and although his job as a part-time university lecturer and artist ensures his quality of life is better than many Filipino emigrants, the feeling of displacement is just as strong. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6073 As parents, we want our children to get the best education possible, but the best isn't always what they get. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6074 Leaving the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, in 2001, Denise Bebenek had a vision. As she drove away from the parking lot, she looked in the rear-view mirror and saw people circling the hospital, holding hands. "Most people would have thought, 'I'm seeing things. I'm going crazy,'" says Bebenek, now 47. But for her, the apparition made something clear: "I finally knew what I was being called to do." http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6075 Sleep is one of the most talked-about topics among parents. We quickly learn just how important sleep is for everyone's wellbeing. For a start, it means the difference between a cheery or grumpy baby, between a calm or frazzled parent. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6077 The buzzer sounded in the gym and the basketball game was over. Even though 12-year-old CJ Givens's team had lost, his aunt Melanie was nonetheless ecstatic. CJ had scored every single one of his team's 24 points - including a couple of three-pointers. As he loped over to his family waiting in the bleachers, the hugs and compliments started flying: "You were awesome! Way to hustle for all those points!" http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6078 Here's an interesting fact. Everyone has, at some point, appearedand nbsp; naked, drunk, unconscious, rude, crude or felonious online. OK, maybe not everyone, but surf the Net and that's certainly the impression you'll get. On social networks like MySpace and Facebook, you can find pages only a hedonist would love: "Thirty Reasons Girls Should Call It a Night," "Beer Pong Dream Team," . . . you get the idea. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6079 Alternative energy STRONG> is a term applied to energy sources that create less environmental damage than fossil fuels, such as wind, flowing water, solar energy and biomass, which is derived from organic matter that's been photosynthesised. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=5885 Every year, we wade through reams of medical research, attend physician conferences, pick scientists' brains, take doctors to lunch and even scrub up for the operating roomand nbsp;- all to find the most amazing discoveries, devices, tests and potential cures out there. http://www.readersdigest.com.my/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=5896 Shortly before midnight on a Saturday in November 2002, a friend dropped Susana Trimarco off near a bar in one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Tucumán, Argentina. "If I'm not out in an hour, call for help," Susana told her friend.