Asia's weird 2023: from Dalai Lama's gaffe to 'puking mullet bird', stories that amuse and enrage

As we bid farewell to 2023, here is a selection of the most peculiar stories published by This Week in Asia in the last 12 months.

The Dalai Lama, the 87-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, set tongues wagging globally after a viral video of him asking a young boy to suck his tongue drew widespread condemnations.

The video shows the Dalai Lama planting a kiss on the boy's lips as the child leans forward to pay his respects. The Buddhist monk is then seen sticking his tongue out and asking the child in Tibetan, "Can you suck my tongue?"

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He later apologised over the incident.

Many users on X, formerly Twitter, slammed the Dalai Lama, calling him "disgusting" and "absolutely sick".

But some defended him, saying reactions to the video were "blown out of proportion" and an attack on the Tibetan way of life.

Journalist Tenzin Pema said Tibetan culture had been misconstrued to create a false narrative against the Dalai Lama. Some gestures - not commonly known to the rest of the world - were considered by Tibetans to be "pure unadulterated acts of love, faith and compassion".

The words nge che le jip, uttered by the Dalai Lama in the video, are a common and playful refrain uttered by Tibetan elders and innocent-sounding to Tibetans but they did not seem that way to outsiders when translated into English as "suck my tongue", she said.

To cope with his grief at losing his wife of 39 years, a 65-year-old retired civil servant in India spent US$30,000 on a work of art.

Tapas Sandilya commissioned a life-size silicone sculpture of his wife Indrani, who died of Covid-19, to be placed in his living room.

His relatives tried to discourage him from his unique way of remembering his wife. But Sandilya argued that if people can keep pictures of their dead loved ones, why not statues?

It took a sculptor more than six months to create a replica resembling Sandilya's wife. The sculptor said the project was challenging as he needed to use old photos of the woman to make a realistic 3D image of her facial expression.

Let's talk about sex, or specifically, its supposed positive impact on men's longevity.

A man could add years to his life if he is more interested in having sex, according to a study conducted in Japan.

In contrast, the death rate was significantly higher among men who lacked sexual interest.

About 9.6 per cent of the men who had no interest in lovemaking with women died over the nine years of the study, compared with the 5.6 per cent death rate among other men who had such an interest over the same period.

However, researchers found no link between sexual interest and risk of death among the women who were involved in the study.

It is an unpleasant and smelly task, but who should be responsible?

Nurseries in Japan have been told to stop handing parents their soiled children's nappies and should instead bin them at their sites.

This came after a study showed around 40 per cent of nurseries insisted parents take home their toddlers' soiled diapers at the end of the day.

When asked why, 43 per cent of the nurseries said it would enable parents to verify their child's health through waste examination, 14 per cent said it was troublesome to store and dispose of used nappies, and 9 per cent said they did not have the funds for such disposal.

Another 30 per cent said they either did not know why parents were handed the used nappies or that it was accepted practice.

How far would you go to show your love for man's best friend?

In the case of a man in Japan, known by his X username Toco, he was willing to spend 2 million Japanese yen (US$14,000) to create a lifelike rough-collie costume so that he could live a dog's life.

He has made online videos of him wearing the furry suit and frolicking around on all fours.

The company behind the unique creation, Zeppet, known for making models and movie sculptures, said the outfit took 40 days to make.

In an interview with Japanese media, Toco said he chose the costume because the rough collie's long fur would obscure the humanlike aspects of his figure.

"I made it a collie because it looks real when I put it on. My favourite animals are quadrupedal ones, especially cute ones," Toco said. "So I made a suit of the collie, my favourite breed of dog."

Meanwhile, the extravagance of two dog owners in Indonesia sparked an uproar after photos of their Alaskan malamutes dressed in traditional Javanese outfits were shared online.

The dogs had attended a fake wedding ceremony costing US$13,000, prompting criticisms that the owners were "wasting money and defying God".

The dog owners apologised and said they had "no intention to insult the Indonesian and the Javanese culture".

Singapore-born American comedian Jocelyn Chia jested about an airline tragedy, but the joke was on her instead.

Not only did Chia's joke about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in March 2014 fall flat, it caused turbulence on social media when online users slammed her for being insensitive during her act at a New York comedy club.

The act even prompted Singapore's high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur to apologise to Malaysians for Chia's "hurtful remarks" even though the comedian was no longer a citizen of the city state. Foreign ministers from both countries also denounced her.

Chia reportedly deactivated her social media accounts soon after the show.

Some chief executives are known to be colourful and unconventional. Then there is AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes who appeared topless during a conference call.

Fernandes had posted a shirtless photo of himself on LinkedIn while receiving a massage as he presided over the call.

The airline chief received flak for his action with some commentators calling it inappropriate for a top executive to behave in such a manner during work.

In his defence, Fernandes said he had just endured an 18-hour flight and the massage was a spontaneous suggestion by someone.

Fernandes was also in the news over another incident - this time for posting a photo of him boarding a flight on rival Singapore Airlines.

According to him, he had to travel with the competitor as there were no seats available via AirAsia.

Online users were divided over his action - some praised the low-cost airline boss for being open-minded while others teased him, saying "don't lie Tony. Even you don't wanna fly AirAsia".

New Zealand was organising a competition to choose its bird of the century when comedian John Oliver ruffled feathers by embarking on a personal campaign to help swing votes for his preferred "puking mullet bird", or the puteketeke.

The British-American star of the HBO show Last Week Tonight said he found a loophole in the rules, which allowed anybody with a valid email address to cast a vote.

Oliver had a billboard erected for "The Lord of the Wings" in New Zealand's capital, Wellington. He also put up billboards in Paris, Tokyo, London and Mumbai and even had a plane with a banner fly over Ipanema Beach in Brazil to urge people to vote for the puteketeke.

His campaign reached new heights of hilarity when he appeared on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show to talk passionately about the puteketeke while wearing a huge costume resembling the bird.

Thanks to Oliver, the puteketeke soared above the competition to trounce all feathered rivals - even the kiwi, the icon of New Zealand - and win the competition.

"After all, this is what democracy is all about," Oliver said on his show. "America interfering in foreign elections."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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