Pig

I would be lying if I said that I knew, one year ago, the meaning of a caption "This pig could save your life" in the National Geographic magazine this May. Now we know. And more so after the headline from the scientific journal Nature yesterday, announcing the news "Amazing feat: US man still alive six months after pig kidney transplant." And surprise, surprise, there have also been stories of pig heart transplantation in human body.

The scientific breakthrough of genetically modified pig kidney is unparalleled. No one can argue with the enthusiasm. And yet, the impact is still beyond our imagination. Anything can go south. Any time.

For a start, there is never a guarantee that xenotransplantation will halt the global donor shortage overnight. This brings me to the idea of researcher Roy Amara. Amara's law, which I learned recently, stated that as a society we often overestimate how technology will change the world in the short run and undersell its effect in the long run.

So, in all likelihood, pigs will more often appear on our dining table than in hospitals for the time being. And finally, dialysis will either disappear or simply serve as a bridging therapy, when pig kidneys are powered by major revolutions ten years later.

Vaccine

500 million US dollars. That's how many research grant contracts in mRNA vaccine development are being cancelled and scaled down in the United States recently.

It's a drastic and unprecedented cut. When I heard about this news, I knew it would not be a good idea to bring a book about Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci during my conference trip to the United States. They are the husband-and-wife team behind the discovery of BioNTech. I waited and read their inspiring story on my flight to Kuala Lumpur this week.  

An interesting trait of this German couple from Turkish immigrant families is the strict discipline. Whenever they fly, Uğur would insist on paying extra to check in an additional suitcase bursting with electronics, including a laptop and two large monitors, without which he found it impossible to map his thoughts. The family would also bring their own coffee machine and grinder along. Doing so can ensure a consistent quality for their early morning work. 

Oh, that's too much. I could tell I'm far less hardworking. I didn't even have checked-in luggage for my conference trip to Kuala Lumpur. A laptop, yes. Two computer monitors, hey, definitely not. I didn't have to bring my coffee machine even I usually wake up shortly after six in the morning. I wore a pair of shoes that look reasonably formal for conference and yet sturdy enough for running. A chance to run would be more refreshing for me.

Walk the Walk

As is often the case among the elderly, an episode of fall with broken bone is a double whammy. They dare not move too far. My dad is one of them; he is now more inclined to stay in the Rapunzel-like tower. 

The art of aging is to break this downward spiral in the elderly. The less you move, the more likely you are to lose bone density. The same goes for your muscle, which is a lot about "use it or lose it." 

The good news about getting old is we have more walking aids nowadays. We bought a sturdy rollator, walking sticks, a quadripod, and a wheelchair. The best kept secret to encourage my dad heading out, I must say, is going to visit him for a walk. 

As my dad walked with a rollator with me and my sister this afternoon, ambling in an expression of pure freedom, the joy of stepping out of his comfort zone is all the more precious for being so fleeting. There's no greater wonder than to see my dad smile after going outdoor.

Sustainability

Mention O‘ahu and you will think of Lilo and Stitch, or surfing and hiking for that matter. My daughter (okay, and I, just a bit too) can’t imagine I visited Hawaii for a conference. 

There weren't much for me to pack; a handy carry-on baggage was what I needed. How about sunscreen? I didn't bring that because most of them would have exceeded the allowed capacity.

And I realized that there is the concept of leaving nature as it is or making it better in Hawaii. That's referred to in the islands as mālama ‘āina, meaning to take care of the land in Hawaiian. After checking in the hotel, I asked about sunscreen and the staff simply handed me second-hand one, presumably passed on from previous hotel guests.

On the day of checking out, I knew an eco-friendly or mālama ‘āina act would be to return the sunscreen, hopefully to be passed on.

Honolulu

Staying in Honolulu for five days, mostly for conference as what I do this week, won't cover much for first-timers to O‘ahu. 

Mark Twain spent four months in Hawaii for the newspaper Sacramento Union. Paul Theroux, a prolific travel writer and novelist, stayed there for three decades. 

To make up for my short stay, I borrowed Paul Theroux's fiction, Hotel Honolulu. Paul Theroux strings together dozens of guests staying in a tumble-down hotel. That's how I know more about Hawaii. And oh, my experience is very different. My hotel doesn't have rats running around. I don't have that much exotic (absolutely not sexual) encounters, of course. 

Still, his book is a good companion to anyone visiting Honolulu. Even without much chance to try Native Hawaiian cuisine or drinks, there's at least chance for me to hear about kawa (a ceremonial drink made from a root plant), poke (spiced-up cubes of raw marinated fish), loco moco (a dish of rice, fried egg and hamburger patty topped with gravy).

I had tried the last item at campus cafeteria today, by the way. 

Wit

Almost everyone gets an impression after reading the opening lines of a book. And every author wants to write an opening hook to keep readers coming back.

Trust me, this is getting more important. Now that our attention span is shrinking, readership is losing the battleground from competitors like Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Fredrik Backman, the Swedish author of My Friends, is one of the best qualified. His book starts with the statement that teenager is the best kind of human. Why is this so? The answer from Fredrik Backman is very simple. Here's how: little children think teenagers are the best humans, and teenagers think teenagers are the best humans, the only people who don't think that teenagers are the best humans are adults. 

Which is obviously because adults are the worst kind of humans.

This is as naughty as knock-knock joke, but it works for readers of all ages. 

Taylor

If Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel were a pill, it should come with a warning label about addiction. In other words, you'd be expected to keep turning pages. Then you finish one and start another book of hers. 

The point is that you can never have enough of stories crafted by Taylor Jenkins Reid. 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo set in the sixties. Daisy Jones & The Six about seventies rock and roll. Malibu Rising in the eighties.

When it comes to Malibu Rising, we are reminded how family histories repeat. We recognise this all too well in the characters. The more we read about the life of Nina Riva, the more we see the way she resembles her mother. Both of them won't turn on lights for longer than enough. They won't waste money on La Mer skincare to do for crow's feet. They simply use Noxzema.

The same goes for Nina's father and husband, who keep cheating. Maybe our parents' lives are indeed imprinted within us. 

Try as you might, you won't be able to outrun the blood that runs through our veins. And try as you might, you won't be able to stop reading Taylor Jenkins Reid's stories. My daughter and I had finished reading all three books of hers.