Let me tell you about my Ah Kong - to me (when i was younger) he was a great big muscly and strong man, mind you he still is up to now, Just ask Ian- he got the Chong treatment when he visited my Ah Kong this year.My Ah Kong has healing hands, so does my mum in different ways. My Ah Kong was a traditional Chinese masseur. People would travel miles and for hours to visit him for his administrations. My fondest memory is of all my visits to his house, him taking me out in the hot humid afternoons and we would be cruising around various housing estates, fields and plantations all the while trying to spot some sort of elusive special plant and roots to make his oils and medicine. I was totally rubbished at it and used to pick lots of weeds out for him! He took it nevertheless and he used to tell me when I was older that  I could never picked the right one and he had to throw all my weeds out into the back garden when i wasn't looking. I wonder if my other cousins ever got the right ones as they saw him and my Por Por (grandma) more than we did. Anyhow, he would always reward me with a trip to the coffee shop for a nice cold drink- which was a big treat then as one have to understand, Chinese people in them days only let you drink either room temperature or steaming hot water or tea whatever the weather as it is not good for the 'khi' or Qi in the long run. In the later years, it dawned to me that the ice cold drink was a bribe as he had to sneak out of the house, to enjoy a cold bottle of Guinness all the while showing me off to his friends telling them I was his grand daughter who was visiting him. I bet he treated all my cousins to cold drinks and ice-kacang so he could enjoy his sneaky pints of Guinness that he said will help strengthen him up for his customers who comes to see him for a massage.

My Ah Kong told me that my mum has healing hands in another kind of way and some of his children are 'psychic' and healers in other ways. My grandfather performed and to my understanding, he still does it now - massages out of his front room. He had never turned anyone who needed help away. He used to call out to me when i was visiting, tell me what to look out for and how he would treat his customers. He wasn't a greedy man, never named a price for his treatment- instead only accepting 'red packets' filled with money on what his customers could afford. He would however named his price to the rich as he knew they could afford it. All his children and grandchildren would receive some sort of 'treatment' from him at some time or another. As we lived quite a distance away, if he or my phor phor ever heard we had a sprain or was poorly, they would try their best to travel to see us and bring his own potions and medicine down. We would get massages as well that would help our 'khi' to strengthen and get us on the way to recovery. One must remember the the body's 'Khi' must be balance and nurtured- this was and still is very important to my Ah Kong and mum. The 'khi' is the centre of the body also known as the chakra.
My mum however would still treat us with her boiled roots and herbs with my phor phor watching over her when she is boiling them to make sure my mum did it right.
Now, my mum also has healing hands, she has strong fingers and does give a rather good massage- her own unique style. She also 'pulls hair' to treat headaches, migraines, etc. It really hurts and i used to curse her for it. All these I grew to appreciate as I grew older and I will still ask my mum if she would pull my hair when i see her. She takes all the cursing i give her when she is administering to me- the only difference now is that she understands we need it and she laughs at us when we curse.