A close-up look at the superstar singer gives us a surprise
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Monday, 28 February 2011
Friday, 25 February 2011
GM mosquito released
The end of a massive problem – or the start of a bigger one?
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Forward this to writers
Last call for people who want to be trained as writers; my latest Hong Kong writers’ group starts soon – click here to download the form
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
The Danish cake mystery
Intercultural encounters looked at from three points of view
Monday, 21 February 2011
Shock: China is Scots outpost
Breaking news on ancient fair-haired mummy unwrapped in Xinjiang
Friday, 18 February 2011
Finding: We’re 4% Neanderthal
So the Paleo Solution will turn you into a lean, mean hunter-gatherer
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Epidemic of tautology spreads
People are saying things twice over, people are
Monday, 14 February 2011
Ancient mummy was a blonde!
Earliest arrival in disputed part of China finally unwrapped
Friday, 11 February 2011
A new form of therapy
The risks of asking a businessman to sort out your relationships
Thursday, 10 February 2011
10 Weirdest Car Names
Wednesday, 09 February 2011
Money can’t buy me love
Unhappy family squabbles over dividing up patriarch’s billions
Tuesday, 08 February 2011
Being silly is good for you
Mr Jam and friends deliver a smile with a VERY SILLY one-minute tale
Monday, 07 February 2011
How to hack a sleb phone
Someone finally fingers naughty journalists
Movie clips disguised as news
CCTV slip-up inspires some confessions from a former TV guy
Friday, 04 February 2011
Happy Chinese New Year
East Asia is shut: Mr Jam returns next week (Pic by Petr Kratochvil)
Wednesday, 02 February 2011
50 disguises for sugar
Sneaky business people are out to sugarize our over-hyper kids
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The Diary is Open
Trapped on a mad planet called Earth, NURY VITTACHI and his gang record the absurd customs of Earthling "society". These diary notes appear regularly in newspapers and magazines, and on TV, radio and the Internet, in at least 10 countries. Join the gang. Send ideas using the email link at the top, or get published immediately by using the comment function at the end of each diary entry.- Readers Digest
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- Celebs are above the law
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- I like paying tax
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Under the names "Nury Vittachi", "Sam Jam" and "Lai See" - Press Reviews
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Classic columns
- Does Asian Humor Exist?
- That Fast Food Conversation
- Guide to Global Motoring Styles
- New Words for a New Era
- When SARS Stalked Asia
- Asia Has Too Much Press Freedom
- Why This Stuff Is Inflicted On You
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- Men and Women Speak Different Languages
- 16 Ways Life in Asia Has Changed
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- Examples of Asian humor
- 20 Rules of the Road in Asia
- Asian characters played by white actors
- Residents of Asia as foodstuffs
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- Dogs are male, cats are female
- Additions to the Darwin awards
- World's most pointless records pt2
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You can't make this stuff up
- What financial jargon really means
- How not to introduce a speaker 1
- How Microsoft works
- Hurricanes and typhoons with girly names
- Speak fluent Singlish in four minutes
- An open letter to property developers
- People whose names fit their lives
- The land before email
- Fu's Rush Inn where the rest of us don't
- Before and after families
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- The difference between eastern and western bosses
- Draft questions for an Asian textbook
- A shocker: how much it costs to raise a child
- How to judge a literary prize
- A visit to the world's capital of culture
- Sean Connery steals the show
- Comedians, east and west
- Destiny is out to get you
- A rant over romanization
- Wake up and taste the weasel-poop coffee
- The real reason for the war in Georgia
- Why princesses have blue eyes
- The world's oddest book titles
- The real reason for Asia's low crime rate
Check these out
- World's oldest jokes found
- Airport security and the joke ban
- Murphy's Laws pt1
- Murphy's Laws pt2
- Male vs female humor
- Books for guys
- Telling a story in colors
- How math has changed
- Classic: The school voicemail message
- Answers to What's 2 + 2?
- How to speak tycoonese
- Western girl, Eastern guy
- Things kids say
- History of ketchup
- Why men don't write advice columns
- Light bulb jokes as social commentary
- Computer terms glossary
- Asian mother and son talk
- India is moonward bound
- Downturn humor
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- Japan and extreme politeness
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Good reads
A young woman joins a feng shui agency expecting to spend her time arranging furniture. But then she discovers Mr Wong specializes in examining the harmony or lack of it, at scenes of crime
Comedy-crime caper in which a Mr Wong and his assistant travel from Singapore to Australia in pursuit of a girl who seems destined to die
Mr Wong and his assistant go on a multiple-country tour and solve many puzzles on the way
Mr Wong gets involved with Uyghur freedom fighters and Chinese-American geopolitics in this, the most hard-hitting and thrilling volume of the series
The feng shui detective, facing financial ruin, agrees to tackle a mystery on the world's biggest jet, in the funniest book of the series
Illustrated book for under-eights. In a land where there are no stories, two children find letters of the alphabet and try to make tales which will kickstart their imaginations
Jeri Telstar is new breed of superhero. He doesn't solve his problems with violence. Instead he uses his homework to trick supervillains into submission. Ages 8 to 11
In the second of the series, the homework hero has to solve the mystery of the misbehaving president. And as always, he avoids violence and uses his brain
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Top diary entries
- How to see through the eyes of a child
- The unprintable column: Truthful slogans for nations
- Your warts-n-all Chinese horoscope
- Obama as the ultimate example of globalization
- World's most truthful personal ads
- How to reject a rejection letter
- Exclusive: Bush on Asia in exit interview
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- Diary of a dieter: fail-safe way to become average weight
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- Speak Taxi: Learn any language in 10 mins
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- How to follow your dream
- Ready-made quotes list for journalists
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- World's least accurate holiday brochures
- Bra saves woman's life
- How to write an international pop hit
- The financial community's amazing apology letter
- Animal sounds in different languages
- How to get mommy arrested
- Fresh thinking on fixing the world economy
- Get your share of bail-out money
- Amazing true story of the drop dead goat
- World's most common lies
- Unanswerable questions: The mysteries of life
- How to marry a billionaire
- Mr Jam reviews a book: authors tremble
- Kids can teach us all we need to know about money
Weird world
- The financial community apologizes
- How to write a pop hit
- Bra saves woman's life
- Which type of exerciser are you?
- Weird weddings
- We love dinosaurs, curried
- Dr Google cures anything
- 24 signs you are a post-modern Asian
- A list of unsafe foods
- Twitters of the famous
- Religious images on food
- Self-defeating statements
- Celebrity health superstitions
- How a FaceBook account grows
- Male and female brains differ
- New swear words for the world
- Let us pray
- Urban legends are coming true
- The vanity sizing scandal
- Epitaph for the word "literally"
- Why men don't recall stuff
- World health authorities are unfair to Asia
- Beware of the Phoneheads
- Iconic dates
- Losers are the new winners
- The world's weirdest car names
- Jackpot disasters
- Signs you've been in Asia too long
More classic columns
- Scientists send DVD to Mars
- The strange tale of the funeral strippers
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- World's worst lyrics, part 1
- World's worst lyrics, part 2
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- Genetic differences between men and women
- Exploding animals and other friends
- Worst Chinese songs ever
- The truth about modern art
- What the shrinking dollar means for Asia
- Asia's monster
- On The Rolling Stones
- What Asians think of Obama
- The world's dumbest criminals
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