Muar Medicine Woman

Jane Seymore

There was a tv series 20 years ago with this title, starred by the beautiful Jane Seymore as Dr.Quinn back in 1993. I used to try not to miss any episode. When you have a time quota for watching tv, you tend to choose carefully what to watch so as not to waste it on boring stories.

Last week, we went to see a medicine women (tabib cina) in Muar coz someone my husband (Mr.H) cares for was terribly sick and modern medicine did not show any improvement. After she examined the person, she said it would be difficult coz the person had been sick for too long. If Mr.H still wanted to try, the cost would be rm2,200 and treatment would take at least 6 months. She told us we'd better stay at her house for 2 weeks first and see if there's improvement. 2 weeks? That was too long. Even my wedding PLUS honeymoon was only one week.

Mee Bandung Muar @ Tanjung

That evening, we went to Tanjung and had mee bandung muar. The playground was in dire state, not to mention hazardous. It's quite sad really coz there were so many families "lepak-ing" here, kids playing at the playground despite it being rusty with missing steps and sharp edges. You wouldn't imagine this kind of playground in a town nicked "Bandar Maharani" (Her Royal Highness's Town).

The first night, I had a bad "misteri nusantara" dream and at the same moment I awoke from it, Umairah awoke also and immediately sat up and said "hantu" over and over again. Waking up the exact same time as I did from a bad "dream" encounter. How freaky is that? It was the first time Umairah ever did that.

Kedai Murtabak Singapore @ Muar

"The" Murtabak

2nd day (Monday), we went to Giant and Kedai Murtabak Singapore. Both across the bridge. I think the murtabak was around RM6. We ordered the special one, around RM15 kot...but they said sudah habis. I ordered sup kambing, which was really nice if only it wasn't too oily. Then, we went to the night market (pasar malam) next to the stadium.

Before the tabib went to sleep that day, she commented that i was fairer than even most Chinese and asked me if I had Chinese blood in me. I said most probably not but most Kelantanese have descended from Siam (Pattani). She told me she had been to Kelantan a very long time ago and she remembers that the Malays there are very different. I didn't want to prolong the "Kelantan" topic coz for most Kelantanese, I'm not even really considered a Kelantanese (despite being pure descendants for generations) just because I can't speak the dialect. So I didn't ask her what she meant by being "very different".

Mumchy Cafe @ The Store

"Tapi you sangat pucat," she said pointing at her lips, "badan juga sangat lemah" (yes, in those exact words) and told me I had to eat more fish and oats. "Tak mau makan minyak2 (oily food), ayam, rambutan, nangka, cempedak, cha koi, ketam, udang, sotong..." The list goes on. I can't remember.

On the 3rd day (Tuesday), as we sat with her in her yard while she was sorting veggies from her orchard, the tabib said the same thing to Mr.H, that I'm fairer than her and she thinks i'm Chinese descendant (somehow it seems like in her mind, only mat salleh and Chinese are fair) and he replied "Memang la dia lagi putih dari Aunty. Dia bukan pergi kebun. Hari2 duduk pejabat saja. Saya pun boleh nampak macam Cina itu macam". Ahaha. Dream on. She also scolded us for having breakfast late yesterday. "Saya tengok semalam you pukul 11 baru keluar makan. Tak baik itu macam. Lewat sangat makan. Saya banyak tak suka." I tried to tell her that I've had breakfast in my room (I brought cereals and etc.) but she insisted I follow her to her kitchen and made me eat her oats (which I mixed myself).  She pointed there was even bread with halal logo and insisted that we eat in her kitchen every morning. Her Malay language was quite bad but she understood about halal logo? Interesting. We had lunch at a restaurant in The Store Muar, which was so-so. That evening we were so tired all of us slept till 7.15pm. We had to rush out to buy dinner (bungkus) since our host sleeps at 9pm. That night I told Mr.H that I really don't feel comfortable staying at a stranger's house, despite them being very hospitable. I prefer to be at my own home, and I don't see why we need to trouble her much longer since we already know how the medication goes and could DIY at home.

One of the MANY praying area in the house

On the 4th day, Mr.H told the tabib that we were going home today. Yeay!!! I was so happy and immediately started packing. The tabib provided a 2-month-supply of medicine. The downside was, though she had earlier on the 1st day agree that Mr.H would first pay RM1,000 (and he paid it on the 2nd day) and the rest of it when he comes back to her house after raya to get the next 4-month-supply, she asked for another RM700. Mr.H refused to pay. I felt the air being tense so I checked my purse and found out that I only had RM400. She accepted it and we went back to Mr.H's parents' house in Seremban.

It's not that I don't believe in alternative medication but when it's something as vague as this, I tend to be a bit of a pessimist. I say it's vague because I don't know the content of the medication she gave. All she would tell is that they are made of herbs. Mr.H's parents know two of her patients who had healed after undergoing her treatment. Two out of so many others (which I saw in her record book). So many others who had paid between RM1,000 to RM8,500.

"Yang penting kita usaha," says Mr.H.