Who is Mat Napoh?

"I think it was in '45 or '46," he said nonchalantly, like it was yesterday. "Mat Dollah would appear suddenly at our house while the island was sound asleep," he whispered almost inaudibly.

"Who was he?,"I asked.

"Oh, him? Mat Dollah? He was a bad man...a very bad man," Pak Mat Napoh cautioned as though Mat Dollah would hear him saying so. "During those times Mat Dollah was responsible for a series of unresolved burgalry and robbery cases in Langkawi. Yet each time the authorities were baffled as to had actually perpetrated those crime, " he stressed.

"I was a very young boy then. When he came to our house in the late hours of the night, I would curl up in my sarong and eavesdrop on his conversations with my uncles who knew him well, " he continued. "He would boast of his exploits and his current plans before suddenly disappearing into the pitch darkness of our village in Ulu Melaka.

"Folk say his perahu (boat) was powered by four bags filled with air which would be jettisoned for a very fast exit, leaving the police to figure out about the crime long after he had left the island. But, I really wouldn't believe such contraptions were enough to launch the perahu so fast. He must have gotten help from the Djinns!", exclaimed Pak Mat revealing his simple belief in fairies, spirits and things.

Such would be some of the colourful stories that Pak Mat Napoh would tell besides imparting the expert knowledge of the forests, islands and mountains of Langkawi. Pak Mat Napoh, or his real name, Ahmad bin Musa, is among the last of the Langkawi traditional Malay herbalists.

He is an expert at identifying and gathering the rare medicinal plants, roots and other treasures of the Langkawi islands. As an adjunct to this, Pak Mat makes a wide range of traditional medicines that he claims could treat ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, to cuts and burns. All these from a few selection of rare roots and herbs.

And, of course, Pak Mat Napoh is also among the few who know the secrets of making really potent oils, ointments and medicinal extracts from the famous Langkawi gamat (berch-de-mer), a species of sea cucumber, which has been scientifically proven to contain valuable curative properties.

Pak Mat Napoh still lives in the village of Ulu Melaka, located about 12 kilometres from Kuah town. Here, at his house he would dry and cure all the herbs and roots he has collected from the forests and mixes them using traditional family recipes passed down through the generations. The exact formula is his trade secret. Until recently his products were never sold in shops. However, competition from the flourishing traditional herbal industry in Langkawi had forced him to put up his medicines on the open market.

Most people come to see Pak Mat Napoh at his house for consultation. He would decide on the best approach to deal with their ailments. Most of his customers are men who desire better sexual prowess through therapeutic massage or even to seek alternatives to viagra or cialis for erectile dysfunction. Well, on this score I' ve yet to come across a disappointed patient. Pak Mat is true to his vocation. After a thorough examination of his patient he would decide whether the ailment is within or beyond the scope of his expertise.

Such honesty and humility is the trade mark that has made Pak Mat Napoh a well-known personality in Ulu Melaka. Pak Mat never charges exorbitantly, or for that matter, never even mentions the fees for his services. He leaves it to his patients to decide on the price.

But then one should deeply ponder the value of his 'cure'. Wither the price of forlornly dragging your lost pride as a man and to emerge a new and, certainly, a performing one at that? Well, at Pak Mat Napoh's, perhaps you can.

Feature by: Aziz Ahmad Shariff (copyright 2006)

home