(MY) anything can be eaten

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2007/10/18-New Straits Times

 

Spot Light: Baby mouse keeps illness at bay

 

 

Sinseh Lee Kong Meng says unconventional remedies are usually

preferred by the older generation.

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Curiosity kills the cat, but in this case, it got a mouse killed.

 

 

Chong Siew Pit did not feel squeamish when swallowing a newborn mouse

 

 

Agnes Chang took 'mao ji jiu' during confinement more than 30 years ago

Chong Siew Pit was in his 20s when he swallowed a newborn mouse out of

a healthy dose of curiosity and a dash of peer pressure.

 

He said he was hanging out with a group of friends in a house in Rasah

New Village in Seremban when the mouse fell from the rafters to the

floor.

 

" It was a newborn... its eyes were not even opened.

 

" I picked it up and put it in my mouth.

 

" It was pink and wriggling around my throat, so I took a glass of

water to make it easier to swallow, " he said, adding that the mouse

felt " soft, succulent and smooth " .

 

Although that was the first and last time he had eaten a mouse, Chong

said he did not feel squeamish about it as many of his friends were

firm believers in the medicinal benefits of white mice which were

touted to cure internal injuries.

 

" My friends' work involved heavy labour and I see them swallow baby

mice all the time, " he said.

 

He said although the incident happened more than 30 years ago, it

still remained fresh in his memory as it was one of his life's most

interesting experiences.

 

Chong, 57, and semi-retired, said he had hardly fallen ill and he

attributed his good health to the mouse he swallowed.

 

Chef Agnes Chang said she had taken the mao ji jiu, a brew made from

newborn birds and herbs, when she gave birth to her son more than 30

years ago.

 

" It was given to me by my sister-in-law. Unlike the people today,

people then would take anything that claimed to be beneficial to

health. "

 

She said she took a tablespoon of the liquid every day for two weeks,

a fortnight after giving birth.

 

She said her body felt warm minutes after taking it.

 

She also said she did not feel squeamish about taking it as there were

no bits and pieces of the bird floating about.

 

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2007/10/18

 

Spot Light: Think you can stomach this?

By : Ng and David Yeow

 

 

Red deer antlers (left) are used in Chinese medicine to treat

impotence and arthritis. In recent years, remedies such as this have

lost their popularity as the younger generation is switching to herbal

products. But some still believe that practices such as drinking

Chinese red wine (right), which has as its main ingredient newly-born

birds, will live on.

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Live baby mice wrapped in preserved vegetable, birds

soaked in Chinese wine, shrivelled toads brewed with herbs and bats

droppings mixed with assorted plants.

 

These are some unconventional remedies, said to be good for a host of

ailments ranging from asthma to wind in the body, handed out routinely

by traditional Chinese medical practitioners since the 1960s.

 

The Chinese believe swallowing baby mice can cure internal injury. The

pink, hairless creatures are dipped in Chinese wine, known as Mao ji

jiu, to kill bacteria and served as a remedy to get rid of wind,

especially for women in confinement.

 

The primary ingredient in the wine is a newly-born bird, mao ji, found

on uncultivated land. The bird and its nest are mixed with herbs and a

concoction is formed. The Chinese wine is then left to ferment for

years. It is said that the longer the wine is left untouched, the

better it gets.

 

Bat droppings and its accompanying herbs -- usually made up of various

types of grass -- is prescribed to old folk suffering from poor

eyesight, wind and heatiness. And then there are shrivelled toads, or

lai ha ma, brewed also with herbs to ensure an acne-free complexion

and a cure for itchy skin.

 

Such practices have been around for more than 2,000 years. However,

with the advent of modern medicine and growing consciousness about

hygiene, these remedies have lost their popularity.

 

The Federation of Chinese Physicians and Acupuncturists Association of

Malaysia president, Ng Seow Hooi, said such practices were popular

with the local Chinese in the 1960s.

 

These remedies were brought over by immigrants from China. However,

many of the methods have been replaced with herbs that have similar

efficacy.

 

" We don't encourage our members to prescribe such remedies as these

things may not be hygienic, although some sinseh and Chinese medicine

shops still use them. "

 

Malaysian Association chairman Liu Bao Shen said many

of the remedies could be based on old wives tales or superstitious

beliefs.

 

" Lizards, mice and even bats might have been used by folk in the past

as a cheap form of protein and not strictly for their medicinal value.

 

" As the combination of exotic meats and herbs might have worked for

certain individuals, later generations merely duplicated the recipe,

thinking that it is a cure, instead of studying the ingredients and

their roles. "

 

He believes that it is the herbs which are used to brew the meats that

contribute to the healing.

 

Liu also said that the use of unconventional animals was now only

popular among the older generation.

 

" The younger generation prefer herbal remedies in the form of ginseng

pills and herbal wine. "

 

However, sinseh Lee Kong Meng feels that some practices, such as

drinking mao ji jiu, have survived until today.