Yesterday I was visited by a 49 year old lady who later turned out to be my ex-MU college mate (78-79) asking my opinion regarding her newly diagnosed breast cancer. She is a very educated lady; knows her disease pretty well, but 'caught in between her scientific knowledge and traditional belief'. She is scheduled for a mastectomy and axillary clearance (surgery for the breast cancer) sometimes next week in KL. She came back to Kelantan before her surgery to visit her parents.
Offering to help, her mother invited a bomoh to 'treat her' and later 'certified cured' by the man. Not to offend her mother she came to me to be re-investigated to see whether the cancer is still there or not. Of course, it is there !
You see, even a very educated person can be swayed by this so-called faith healer, what more ordinary kampung folks. What I don't understand is the bomoh themselves.... They don't even know what cancer is all about, yet claim 'can treat and certified cured' a cancer patient. To me, these are not faith-healers or traditional medicine men, they are outright bluffers !
Ada bomoh-bomoh yang jujur dan mampu merawat penyakit-penyakit tertentu (yang boleh dibomohkan), tapi bagi penyakit yang bukan bidang mereka, tak payahlah menyusahkan orang. Ini ada sampai ada yang tertipu dan akhirnya mati dengan keadaan yang menyedihkan.
P/s The picture above has nothing to do with the lady in this article. It is a picture of the breast cancer of a lady (deceased) who came to me last year with lung metastases after months of intensive treatment by various bomoh.
