Deepen understanding

Acupuncture and massage are the most popular treatments among Malays in Brunei and visiting Malaysians, according to Ran Huaming, a doctor from Beijing who worked in the branch for more than a year.

The most sought-after treatments by local Muslim people are for knees, because they pray several times a day, Ran said.

“In addition, they are reluctant to drink the usually bitter herbal teas and they tend to believe that treatments which do not involve taking medicine are the best,” he said.

Ran, who often used his “just-so-so” English to communicate with local patients to try deepen their understanding of the philosophy of TCM, said the belief that treatment without medication is good can be a misunderstanding.

“Sometimes they asked me how long it would take for the traditional Chinese medicine to take effect the moment they stepped into my consulting room. I would tell them that the medicine, which is unlike Western pills, would take longer to work,” he said. “The fortunate thing is that most of them understood that the process would be slower.”

Not expensive

Compared with the problems Ran encountered, Wen, the manager, said Beijing Tongrentang in Brunei faced some more urgent challenges.

“There are people complaining about the high price of our products, but the fact is, except for the freight fee, the prices are not much higher than in China. But in a rich country, which offers free medical services to its citizens, the cost seems expensive,” said Wen.

In addition, the short-term work permits for foreigners do not allow doctors from China to develop a stable customer base, said Wen.

“Brunei also doesn’t issue work permits for people aged over 55, but most of the experienced Chinese doctors who would like to go abroad for a job are retired,” he added.

Wen said the company needed to carefully consider whether to open more branches in Brunei in the near future, despite their wish to do so.

“We are waiting patiently to see. After all, it takes time to get to know a new region,” he said. “But we won’t stop. Opening one Tongrentang branch overseas is not only about business, but also a matter of developing Chinese culture in the world.”