Traditional Chinese medicine no longer a cheap choice in Malaysia
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A display of traditional herbs.
PHOTO: ST FILE
JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is no longer the cheaper alternative it once was in Malaysia as prices of herbs have skyrocketed due to the global economy and high demand worldwide.
As a result of the weak ringgit, it is now more costly to import such medicine from China, said Malaysia Federation of Chinese Medicine Dealers and Practitioners Association secretary-general Kerk Ee Chan.
He said the price of some herbs went up by as much as 50 per cent after the GST implementation in April last year. The cost has continued to rise steadily over the past year.
Besides medicinal purposes, TCM herbs are used in Chinese meals like soups.
"Traders are also feeling the pinch as we have members complaining of 40 to 60 per cent drops in their businesses.
"They are barely scraping through each month," he said.
Mr Kerk said there was no sign of the prices stabilising due to the global economy and the weak ringgit, advising consumers and practitioners to brace for a continuous increase that was expected to become more acute after Chinese New Year.
"The price increase does not only apply to herbs but also medicinal liquors and ointments, commonly used for tui na (a form of Chinese therapeutic massage), which has gone up by a whopping 150 per cent," he added.
This led to a negative impact on the development of TCM as there are patients who have avoided going to TCM clinics because of the cost, he said.
Southern University College (Southern UC) TCM clinic department head Teo Chee Fung said the tai zhi shen, a root herb, costs about RM140 (S$45) per kg - a sharp increase from the beginning of the year, when it was sold at RM50 per kg.
He said the wu wei zi, or five taste fruit, said to improve memory and the nervous system, went up two-fold from RM60 per kg in January to about RM120 per kg by year end.
Prices for common root herbs like dang gui and dang shen, usually used in tonics and soups, have gone up by about 10 per cent to RM110 per kg and RM140 per kg respectively since the start of the year.
A check at Chinese medical halls showed that the prices of other common herbs have increased by about 5 to 10 per cent since the beginning of the year. Jing ying hua (honeysuckle flowers) costs up to RM55 per kg, chrysanthemum flowers now sell at RM50 per kg while the price of red dates went up slightly, to around RM10 per kg.
Southern UC TCM management committee chairman Lim Boon Hime said besides the high demand in traditional medicine, another contributing factor was the improvement of China's economy, lifestyle and standard of living in recent years.
Many Chinese herb farmers have given up agriculture, causing a blow to the global TCM industry.
"A trip to a TCM hall or clinic used to cost about RM20 to RM30, but nowadays it is common for the bill to come up to more than RM100," he said, adding that the price of certain herbs has increased from RM20 per kg to thousands of ringgit.
