Zack Petersen

Boxes with burning moxa herbs on a patient’s feet. (Photo: Afriadi Hikmal, JG)

Needles, Herbs and Qi: Traditional Chinese Medicine in Jakarta

Hai Gung, a herbalist at Fu Jeng Tang, a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Sunter, begins every consultation by giving the patient a visual once-over.

“Go ahead, place your hands on the towel. Palms up,” he says, nodding at a white folded towel on his desk.

He leans across for a closer look.

“Stick your tongue out,” he instructs.

His eyes narrow and his gaze moves quickly across my forehead before moving down the bridge of my nose, then he cocks his head while checking my cheekbones. His white lab coat, starch-stiff, bends slightly at the collar. Finally, he scratches the side of his cheek and swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing slowly. He rests his index finger across his lips and silence fills the room.

There are four people present at this herbal consultation.

Apart from myself — the patient — and Hai, there is his translator (Hai speaks Mandarin, she translates into Indonesian) and Derice Sumantri, co-owner of the clinic, who translates once again to English. “Let me see your fingernails,” he says, she says, she says, and I oblige.

Hai rests his fingers on the back of my wrists, checking my veins one at a time.

Later he explains that each vein coincides with a main organ, be it the heart, lungs, intestines or liver. They work in concert. He reads them. It’s half math, half gut feeling.

The idea of having a doctor who would rather place his hands on the patient appeals far more to me than one who just scribbles out a prescription.

Hai applies extra pressure to a stray vein on my left arm, and before I flinch he’s already released his grip and is leaning back in his chair with his head tilted toward his interpreter. “You have a problem with your liver,” I am told third-hand. “But the whole body works as one.”

5,000 Years of Learning

Before my consultation, in the waiting area of the crisp, clean clinic, Derice explained why the clinic was founded over warm Pu’er medicinal tea.

“After three years of research, we found that people who believe in [traditional Chinese medicine] find the consistency and quality of TCM treatments in [Indonesia] questionable,” she said. “These people end up going to Singapore, Hong Kong and China for it. We thought that it’s unfortunate that sick people had to go out of the country and travel to find an alternative cure for their medical problems. We wanted to make sure that we brought whatever they can find overseas and have it available locally.”

Wayne Sung, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and a partner in the clinic, handpicked a team of doctors skilled in the 5,000-year-old Eastern medicine. They treat everything from sports injuries to chronic back pain, gout, arthritis, women’s reproductive problems and stroke.

“We discovered that there were a lot of people who knew about TCM but didn’t have enough knowledge about it, which is the reason they didn’t have the confidence to use it as an alternative medicine for more than just sports sprains,” he said.

“Our first objective is to be able to help as many people as we can by offering an alternative solution for whatever illnesses they have through a practice that offers a medical solution and an environment that is natural, holistic, comfortable, accountable and professional.”

Some people, Derice said, come in knowing what they want fixed.

“There are others that discover a potential health problem brewing in their bodies,” she said. “One that they’ve ignored while symptoms persisted. The symptoms are usually felt as minor discomfort that patients experience but learn to live with or bypass in their day to day life, waving it off as nothing when it should be a concern — I think our fast-paced modern lifestyle includes living with pain and not listening to our bodies.”

Indonesians, expats and clients from China, Singapore and Malaysia flock to Fu Jeng Tang when modern medicine fails them or they feel a connection with the practice and methodology of its Eastern counterpart. “I believe Chinese medicine can treat the root of the illness with less invasive treatment,” said Eva Wong, a Central Jakarta resident who has attended the clinic more than 15 times.

Fu Jeng Tang is a complete treatment center. It offers moxibustion, in which containers of herbs are burned over strategic spots on the body to strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of qi (life energy), and maintain general health. Moxa Tui Na massage is a technique that seeks to establish a more harmonious flow of qi, allowing the body to naturally heal itself, and is practiced alongside traditional and fire cupping, steam and hydrotherapy and herbal consultation.

After my consultation with Hai, I went down the hall to see Deng Qi Dong,a graduate of Hebei Medical University in China, and Hendry Widjaja, another practitioner.

Getting the Point

Deng also wanted to see my wrists.

Again speaking through an Indonesian translator, he asked questions, nodded his head, and then asked me to change clothes before directing me to one of eight beds in the acupuncture wing.

Deng had many patients waiting, and he and Hendry spoke briefly, before rubbing iodine on about 10 spots on my body. Deng showed me one of the needles he was about to stick in my body, awaited a smile of approval before proceeding.

Treatments vary in duration depending upon the severity of an illness and the body’s current condition. After applying the needles painlessly, Deng moved off to another patient. His soft footsteps were barely audible as my treatment began to take effect. The clinic smelled of burning herbs and crisp sheets.

Hendry and others of Fu Jeng Tang’s cordial staff members checked on me intermittently, letting me know how much time remained for my treatment.

Acupuncture normally works in coordination with other treatments such as fire cupping or moxabustion. Fire cupping uses metal cups or bottles containing a cotton ball soaked in alcohol, which is burned inside the vessel to remove all the oxygen, creating a vacuum. The vacuum seals the cup to the skin, pulling it upward. This is believed to open pores, stimulate blood, realign the flow of qi, break up obstructions and encourage toxins to leave the body with ease.

Sandrea, a former Jakarta resident who now lives in the United States, first heard about Fu Jeng Tang from a friend

“The skilled doctor geared a personalized treatment program for me. Each of the doctors at the different sections of the clinic — tui na, moxibustion, acupuncture — are well-trained and have an intrinsic knowledge of how to heal people using their specialized skills. I had been to several clinics prior to and since going to Fu Jeng Tang’s where the treatment prescribed was very general and ineffective.”

Audrey, a resident of Kemang, said she went to the clinic out of curiosity.

“I was curious about Chinese medicine, as well as the other treatments that the clinic has to offer, such as tui na massage and cupping,” she said.

“Moreover, we are all exposed to such a busy and stressful daily life that it’s important for us to have regular medical body check-ups. At Fu Jeng Tang, the doctors are able to analyze what is missing from our health, prescribe us healthy and natural herbal Chinese medicines, simply to keep our health in check. I was having probably the same as so many other people, problems with constant fatigue, as well as insomnia.”

Hai and Deng explained yin and yang concepts to Audrey in simple terms.

“Most of us have problems with our internal yin and yang, thus creating poor blood circulation inside our body, as well as a poor digestion process,” she said. “In my case, I had too much water in my system, which is why I was always cold and tired.”

Leaving Fu Jeng Tang was the hardest part of the process. After fire cupping and acupuncture, my body was so relaxed that bed was the only place I wanted to be. Moving my head was a chore, lifting my legs was unthinkable and leaving the calm of the treatment center was a serious effort. But I did, and walking down the stairs and back to the hustle and bustle outside, I blinked out the bright light, relieved and relaxed and ready to face the big city once again.

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