Thanks! I evidently did miss the joke, not being a Sunday Times reader.

It is very possible indeed that I may have missed the point. I only wanted to point out that the phrase “giant Buddha” is not that strange to my ears. It does not refer to the actual Buddha, but to many of the representations (e.g., the Daibutsu in Japan).

Far be it from me to defend the man, but there are giant Buddha statues (e.g., the one in Kamakura) and that is probably what he was referring to.