Longevity and the cure-all pill

Kee Loong showing an antique grinding roller used to grind herbal roots in the early years at the factory in Bukit Minyak.

YOU have seen those little round pills in almost every shop, from the old mom-and-pop shops to the new 24-hour franchise retail outlets.

They are the cure-all medicine – a time-honoured, old wives remedy for tummy aches, runny bowels, nausea and even seasickness.

While many Malaysians would have taken it at some point in their lives, many may not realise that the Teck Aun Chi Kit pills are a part of the country’s national history.

Sold for mere cents back then, it was a must-have for rubber tappers, sugar cane farm hands and tin miners toiling in the 1920s and 1930s under British colonial masters.

During the Japanese Occupation, every home kept little vials of it.

It was medicine that every coolie loading cargo ships had to have. And the medicine maker himself was once a coolie.

Boon Ng Tong first set foot in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, from Canton, China, in the 1920s.

“He worked as a port coolie. But one advantage he had was his knowledge of herbal remedies and a store of herbs he had brought with him,” said his grandson Oon Kee Loong.

A printout featuring Boon along with the products sold by Teck Aun Medical Factory.

“When his fellow workers were unwell, he would prepare medicine for them.”

Kee Long said demand for Chi Kit pills fuelled his grandfather’s dream of better tomorrows and in 1936, Boon founded the brand.

“He sold Chi Kit pills door to door by bicycle. He also convinced coffeeshops to sell the medicine by consignment.”

Eventually, Kee Loong’s father, Datuk Oon Phaik Choo, joined Boon and they opened their first shop, Teck Aun Medical Hall, at No. 15, Jalan Stesen in Bukit Minyak in the 1940s.

He said business was difficult at the time.

The Japanese Occupation of Malaya then began and there were curfews. Ironically, Kee Loong said business began booming during these tough times.

“During the curfews, it was hard to get goods. People could only obtain supplies during the restricted times, so they would stock up on two major items – food and medicine.

“Our herbal medicine sold like hotcakes and that was the turning point of our business,” Kee Loong said.

Chi Kit pills became a household brand and the firm became a private limited company in 1965.

“My grandfather, who died in 1989, remembered the Japanese Occupation as a time of suffering and humiliation. A ruthless war.

“With my father, my uncles and even my grandmother, he kept on making the medicine and selling it as cheaply as he could. It was practically the only locally made medicine that any home could buy.

“There were many uncertainties during the colonial times. My father and grandfather spoke of a sense of belonging after Indepen­dence,” he said.

Chi Kit pills are manufactured in accordance with the Good Manufacturing Practice standard set by the Health Ministry in 1989.

The company obtained the GMP licence in 1994 and became the first local Chinese medicine factory recognised for producing safe and reliable traditional medicine.

The company also introduced other herbal medicines such as the Teck Aun Herbal Pills, Teck Aun Male Tonic Pills and Teck Aun Female Tonic Pills.

Teck Aun Medical Factory took part in the World Congress of Chinese Medicine and the Teck Aun Chi Kit Pills won first prize for excellent product in 1998.

Teck Aun Medical Factory also entered the Malaysia Book of Records as the largest traditional herbal medicine manufacturer in Malaysia in 1999.

In 2003, the Health Ministry recommended the company to the World Health Organisation as a leading Chinese herbal medical factory.

However, Kee Loong, who has been in the sales industry for 30 years, said times were bad now.

“We can see a drop in consumers’ purchasing power and the weak ringgit,” he said.

Asked about the direction of the company in the coming years, Kee Loong answered that the company would continue to strive and move forward with the country.