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Malaysian
Bomoh
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Traditional healing in Malaysia is not limited to utilizing therapeutic,
physical means or to prescribing a dose of medicine or herbs; it is a holistic
approach that caters for the spiritual and psychological needs of patients,
together with all other modes of treatment.
Regarded
as one of the Asian modalities of treatment known in the West as “alternative
medicine,” the traditional healing system that the people of the Malaysian
Peninsula (Western Malaysia) had inherited from their forefathers, later spread
to parts of Eastern Malaysia.
A
folk medicine practitioner in Malaysia is called a bomoh, dukun, or pawang
according to the period a student spends studying. The studies undertaken, which
equip practitioners to prescribe proper medication to patients, cover the
philosophy of life; therapeutic usages of herbs, metals, and animals parts; and
the relation between the above disciplines and human beings and their lives.
Folk medicine practitioners, especially the elders who are called touks,
are treated with great respect, particularly in rural societies.
Knowledge
of traditional healing is usually passed on from one member of the family to
another, allowing them to practise folk medicine as a career or as a secondary
occupation. The healer usually chooses a younger family member he deems most
suitable to pass his knowledge to. The youngest of the family, however, does not
attempt to seek such knowledge unless the family is afflicted with a calamity
that forces him to do so.
Bomohs
start their education by studying the sciences of the Shariah (Islamic
law), including jurisprudence, monotheism, and Sufism, which are necessary for
the bomohs not only to practice but also to get the recognition of the Muslim
communities in which they live; especially with the prevalence of Islamic
awakening, these communities will not recognize bomohs who have no knowledge of
medical-related Shariah injunctions, without which bomohs are bound to get
entangled in superstition and trickery.
To
qualify as a bomoh, a student must study at the hands of teachers, who are
scattered throughout the country (some bomohs study under as many as 21
teachers). In his pursuit of knowledge, a student is required to travel to
distant villages or even provinces, especially when he wishes to study under a
renowned bomoh teacher who is steeped in traditional medicine and endowed with
extensive knowledge of the Shariah. Some teachers may be knowledgeable of the
usages of some 4,000 extracts from herbs, animals, metals, and liquids.
Aspects
of Treatment
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The
old and the new hand-in-hand in Malaysia.
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Traditional Malaysian medicine is inspired and guided by Islamic teachings.
Bomohs, as well as their patients, believe in the comprehensiveness of these
teachings and in the cure and protection (from disease and harm) that the Quran
and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)) provide.
Using therapeutic means that are halal (lawful) and tahir (pure)
is essential to maintaining good health; therefore, bomohs must not expose their
patients to any unlawful or impure remedies. There are three main aspects of
treatment:
1) Spiritual therapy for the treatment of spiritual and psychological
conditions, including obsession, panic, depression, insomnia, and magic spells.
Bomohs, who adhere to a professional code of ethics, use ruqia (Quranic
recitation over the patient) and prayers reported in authentic sources.
Malaysians’ belief in the effectiveness of these methods facilitates their
healing. Bomohs also use lemon extract, as well as water obtained from the well
of zamzam, rain that falls on Thursday nights, or local boreholes
(boreholes are scarce, as rain and river water are Malaysia’s main sources of
water supply).
2)
Massage therapy is widely practised in South- and North-Eastern Asia, where each
region has its own distinct methods, balms, and instruments. A Malaysian massage
can be (a) a whole-body massage, which many men and women practise in their
homes, shops (including barbershops and hairdressing salons) and specialized
clinics; (b) the massage of a particular part of the body, such as the head,
neck, or spine; (c) a massage for the treatment of a specific ailment or
condition, such as infertility, weakness of men’s sexual performance or
impotency, where massage helps restore blood circulation.
3)
Herbs used are numerous and available in many forms: liquids, oils, balms,
pills, tablets, powders, and leaves (boiled like tea leaves). Herbal
remedies function differently from modern medicines manufactured according to
western methods. In principle, herbal remedies work to restore the natural
balance to body organs and systems. This can be achieved by cleansing blood from
harmful elements, improving blood circulation, improving the digestion and
assimilation of food, treating swellings and tumours, relieving pain and
discomfort, balancing body secretions, and improving the appetite.
While
some herbal remedies are available on the market and ready for consumption,
others are homemade; anyone with general knowledge of traditional medicine can
prepare a few simple blends or medicinal solutions whose formulas are well
known. Because of the trust patients place in their practitioner, they prefer
getting their medication from him rather than buying it because he prepares it
himself, sometimes in their presence.
The
Malaysian herbal industry has grown in the Modern Age with the introduction of
home-based and small commercial factories, as well as factories owned by big
companies, which prepare medicines using cutting-edge technologies throughout
the process, which includes the mixing, grinding or squeezing, and packaging of
herbs. Some of these companies are renowned for using quality control methods
and for testing their products before obtaining a permit from the Ministry of
Health to market them.
On
the other hand, some companies manufacture and sell their products without
obtaining the Ministry’s permission. These products can be effective,
ineffective, or even harmful when manufacturers use unethical
practices—similar to those that exist in the modern medicine industry. Since
there are remedies that cater for specific target markets such as single or
married women, many manufacturers, driven by greed, use unethical practices to
produce these remedies and promote them among city dwellers.
Obstacles
and Challenges
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Traditional
medicine in Malaysia is centuries old.
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Traditional medicine and its survival as a healing system that has proven its
effectiveness throughout the centuries, are faced with obstacles, such as the
unavailability of a directory listing all bomohs throughout Malaysia and the
lack of a written collection of the vast medical information and expertise that
are transmitted verbally. Because bomohs don’t usually commit their knowledge
to paper, a great deal of information is lost when an experienced bomoh dies.
When a bomoh attempts to publish his recorded reservoir of knowledge, he usually
grapples to get the support he needs. Many bomohs prefer not to divulge the
secrets of the medicines they prescribe for fear that others may produce them or
that these medicines might be misused, which could cause other health problems.
More
often than not, when an effective medicine is discovered by a bomoh, it does not
get registered as most bomohs live in rural areas and small towns. Thus, the
newly discovered medicine does not reach a wider market that could provide for
maximum commercial benefits. The association concerned with traditional healing,
which was established in 1979, has not been active in providing professional
development training for practitioners.
There
is an enormous amount of information circulating amongst bomohs, but no
comprehensive collection of the herbs and remedies used by practitioners has
ever been published. Such a publication would certainly benefit researchers,
students, and practitioners themselves, some of whom do not know about the
experiences of others who are situated far from them. Given the multitude of
products on the market and the similarities among the ailments for which these
products are prescribed, it is very difficult for consumers to compare products
and select the right one without the aid of a reference book, which could be
published periodically or annually.
What
concerns those who favour folk medicine the most is that many bomohs are
advanced in age and have not recorded their expertise. Some of them rely on old
books that contain a massive body of information but have not been reprinted or
revised. Also of concern is the absence of a learning institute that could
impart this knowledge to students in a methodical and professional manner, and
graduate competent practitioners. The establishment of such an institute could
be shouldered by a specialized educational institution, which would serve the
community through promoting traditional healing, facilitating the bomohs’
work, and ensuring the safety of patients by regulating the medicines available
on the market. 
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