Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM is hugely popular in Singapore, not just with the old but the young as well. It is so popular that Western medical centres such as Raffles Medical has even started their own TCM clinics to provide alternative treatment for people seeking non-Western medication. The charges, however, can be rather expensive and as TCM treatments are often long-term. So I was quite surprised to find that you can actually get free TCM treatment in Singapore, if you are prepared to wait!

Free Traditional Chinese Medicine at Thong Chai Medical Institute, Singapore

Located on quiet Chin Swee Road near Chinatown is a pink building that houses the Thong Chai Medical Institute. It has been providing free treatment and consultation for all people irregardless of race or religion since 1867.

Registration and Wait Time At Thong Chai Medical Institute

As it is free, wait times can be rather long, especially if you are a first time visitor. Head there, take a number and be prepared to wait quite a bit to be registered. Do inform the registration counter if you are there to visit their specialist doctors from the Acupuncture, Diabetes, Oncology, Nephropathy or Infertility Clinics and they will give you the relevant number. Take the lift up to the relevant floor and leave your pink registration card and a copy of your number on the relevant doctor’s desk and wait for your number to be called. Wait time can range from half an hour to over an hour, depending on the time you are there and the popularity of the doctor.

Treatment is done the traditional Chinese way by taking your pulse and prescriptions are in the form of Chinese herbs for which a unique combination is given to each individual patient, depending on their needs. Once done, head downstairs to the main lobby and wait for your medication to be prepared. Minimum wait time there can be up to 2 hours!

Medication is prepared by a team of old men behind a medication counter. They actually still use traditional methods of carefully weighing each herb with hand-held scales before wrapping up each portion in pink paper with your name and prescription on it. As with all Chinese medicines, you will then need to boil it to reduce the portion from 3 bowls to 1 bowl and drink the brew to strengthen your body and immune system.

If you are prepared to wait, it is a place where you might want to consider for free traditional treatment. All you need to do is to provide a voluntary donation for the services and medication you have received.

I’ve also heard very positive things about Thong Chai’s Infertility Clinic and a large number of women have successfully managed to conceive after treatment there when Western methods failed.

For a listing of their consultation pre-requisites and hours, please visit the Thong Chai website at http://www.stcmi.org.sg/index.asp