Who’s the Alternative Practitioner then?
posted in - CAM watch, - Feedback, - Palmdoc |Dr. Liew’s funny post on Alternative Medicine strikes a chord:
Ah Soh : “Actually I come to you because my legs swollen only…”
Dr. Liew : “Alamak! Since when?”
Ah Soh : “Long time liao lor… The sinseh I have been frequenting all these while told me I am out of his hand and I need to seek alternative medicine. That’s why I come to you.”
Dr. Liew : “Me??? Alternative medicine??? WTF???”
Ah Soh : “You want to treat me or not?”
LOL. That’s something I have not thought of. Perhaps a segment of the populace actually consider Sinsehs and Bomohs their mainstream healers. Conventional doctors are then the “Alternative Medicine” practitioners. BloodDoc commented that some members of the public don’t think much of “Western Medicine”.
But is this true? Dr YYYap sent in this link, on a a Poll that Doctors are Most Trusted in Giving Advice. We have already mentioned a similar local poll in the MMR that People trust Doctors, well at least to tell the truth.
Reading about the Concern over bomohs and Sinsehs, I wonder how gullible people continue to be in putting their trust in these people, some of whom are outright charlatans.
Spiritual healing has become a thriving industry but unregulated, it has also become open to abuse.
A number of rape cases have been reported – the most recent being a woman patient who had to sleep with a medium 51 times to rid her illness and paying him between RM20 and RM50 for each “ritual”.
There have also been numerous reports of bomohs, mediums or bogus priests making off with large amounts of cash, valuables or jewellery after promising to make their clients well or prosperous.
In the wake of such abuses, the Government has been urged to set up an authority to monitor the activities of these “practitioners”.
I think regulation of bomohs and sinsehs and indeed all “alternative” practitioners is URGENTLY required. It’s ironic if a registered medical practitioner steps out of line, he can be disciplined by the authorities. If it is a bomoh or sinseh, anything goes, until they step outside the boundaries of the law, e.g. in the case of rape and sexual molestation.
Dr YYYap has also started a thread in the MMR Forums on Regulating Bomohs, so you may wish to add your thoughts and comments there.
Technorati Tags: alternative medicine, complementary medicine, sinseh, bomoh
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