CUPPING

The person with a square patch of the hair on his head shaved is my friend, Haji Hasnin. What happened to him? Certainly, he did not do this because it is fashionable or it is in style. He had actually gone for a traditional Malay treatment called Bekam or cupping.

A couple of my Malay friends tell me that cupping (hijama, bekam) therapy is a unique, safe and effective alternative medicine for the treatment of many diseases by cleaning the blood and promoting blood circulation.

Picture of someone undergoing Bekam

PICTURE SOURCE: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/10/22/the-good-and-bad-things-about-039bekam039.html