The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.115).

2019 • 10 58 ellness Paying the Price for Cups of Sweet Indulgence Most of the younger generation fail to realize that a 500 ml cup of brown sugar pearl milk tea contains around 90 g of sugar (approximately 18 teaspoons), which is double to triple the daily sugar intake recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Translated by Lee Shee Yik M y father would spend some time reading and writing every day during his lifetime. He passed away many years ago, but I will never forget the sight of him either reading, writing or deep in thought at his writing desk. At the end of the second semester for primary schools in Singapore, my daughter Rui Jia’s form teacher remarked to my husband and me that although Rui Jia might be prone to mischief at times, she would retrieve a book from her bag and read in silence in the intervals between lessons. The teacher also noted that Rui Jia’s reading habit has enhanced her comprehension skills, along with her ability to process knowledge. Amusingly, my friends were convinced that I have been boosting Rui Jia’s academic performance with plenty of additional nutrients. To satisfy their curiosity about whether I have enriched her diet with some expensive milk powder or health supplements that purport to be effective, I have an interesting anecdote to share. Recently, I was selecting novels for Rui Jia at a bookstore when I overheard a young girl of about 8 or 9 imploring her mother to buy her a Roald Dahl title. I was silently impressed by the girl’s fine taste in books, but her mother’s reply took me by surprise: “I’ll be off shopping now. Stay here and read the book so that we don’t have to buy it. Don’t spend unnecessarily.” For the record, the book cost S$8 (approximately RM24). As I was leaving the mall, I passed by an outlet of a bubble tea 1 franchise and saw the mother-daughter pair I encountered earlier at the bookstore. They emerged from the outlet chatting and laughing among themselves, each holding a cup of brown sugar pearl milk tea – fairly costly, considering each cup was priced at about S$5–6 (approximately RM15–18). A cursory glance revealed that the long queue extending from the bubble tea counter largely consisted of youths. I, on the other hand, value my precious time too much to spend more than ten minutes standing in line for a cup of bubble tea, much less buy one for my daughter. I would rather spend the equivalent of the price of the beverage on one of Roald Dahl’s classics for Rui Jia to be read anytime. A young relative of mine consumes bubble tea every week and posts photos of them on social media. Upon learning that I prohibited Rui Jia from consuming such beverages, the relative’s mother appeared startled, exclaiming, “Even these drinks are bad for health too? I thought that brown sugar pearl milk tea would be a healthier alternative to carbonated drinks as it’s made with brown sugar, unlike the typical pearl milk tea!” It baffles me that food and beverages tend to earn a renewed reputation as healthy