When Tiong Jia En's mother lost her sense of smell due to Covid-19 in 2021, she was none the wiser.Her mother, who enjoys cooking, began to ask her for help with little things, from taste-testing food to smelling if milk was going bad.«She subtly gave me hints,» the 19-year-old told AsiaOne on Thursday (March 12). «But I never picked up on it immediately that there was something wrong.»I just thought like it was normal, maybe… she just wanted to include me in the cooking experience.«It was only two years later in 2023 when Tiong brought something to her mother to smell that she started to realise something was amiss.»I kept repeatedly asking her over different [occasions] to smell different things. And then that's when it occurred to me that there might be an issue there that she's not willing to say out loud.«When I persisted, that was when she actually admitted to me that she hasn't been able to smell since Covid-19 happened.»While she does enjoy helping out her mother in the kitchen, it came as a bittersweet experience for her. Read more