Fair Minded should reveal his real identity if he is so convinced about the virtues of his alternative treatment for Sars and other ailments. Both my family and I have had bad experiences with alternative medicine.

Quite recently, my mother, aged 85, died of liver cancer with other complications. She had other medical problems too. She was treated by some of the best medical specialists in Singapore using the latest drugs. After three months, they stopped the treatment as her cancer continued to spread to other organs.

During the short period before she passed away, we were inundated with many unscrupulous alternative medical practitioners from places as far as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ipoh guaranteeing their treatments. But they wanted us to pay up-front first. They backed away when we offered them double only after they worked. We are not so gullible.

One of my uncles died of cirrhosis of the liver by taking Chinese medicines as he thought that Western medicine took too long to cure him. When I was a kid, I used to be given brewed Chinese concoctions every weeks for two years to treat my sinus with zero results. It was subsequently cured by an allergist.

My son who had eczema when he was a young boy was given a concoction which consisted of all kinds of herbs including sulphur to wash his body. I tested it first by putting my foot in and was burnt by the acids in it. The quack said it was a disease caused by germs. What utter rubbish!

I used to have a flatmate. She was a librarian and suddenly became a quack by treating sickness with crystals and magnets. She is now dying of cancer. Her crystals didn't help her.

The problem with alternative medicine is that anyone can practise it. There is absolutely no control and accountability. Treatments do not have documental tests and evaluations. I have learnt from past bitter experiences. I shall stick to the known.