Snakes: A healing bite for believers<\/p>\n
Danny Raharto, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
You may find snakes horrible and disgusting. But these feelings
\ndo not affect Ali Rohali, the owner of a street stall in Jl.
\nMangga Besar Raya, West Jakarta, that specializes in snake
\nproducts for gastronomy and medication.<\/p>\n
Snake meat, blood, gall and marrow are available at his stall.
\nIn an advertising brochure, the 41 year old claims that snake
\nproducts can cure almost any ailment, including allergies, heart
\ndisease, stroke, diabetes, as well as improving sexual
\nperformance and vitality.<\/p>\n
He started the business back in 1978 in a market formerly
\nknown as Princen Park (now Lokasari) in West Jakarta. He was
\nfirst approached by a Chinese-Indonesian man who was looking for
\nsnake meat to cure an ailment.<\/p>\n
Not long afterwards, he met a tourist from Taiwan who was
\nlooking for the same snake meat. The Taiwanese man taught him a
\ngreat about the healing qualities of snake meat and blood and
\ntheir ability to keep the body fit and healthy. He also learned
\nhow to prepare the blood for inclusion in a remedy, by reducing
\nits overpowering smell.<\/p>\n
Using this newly acquired knowledge and some of his savings,
\nAli decided to open up a snake stall in Princen Park. He managed
\nto stay in the market until 1985, when he was forced to relocate
\nby the Jakarta authority, which wanted to rebuild the old market
\ncomplex to bring in higher rents.<\/p>\n
Ali decided to haul his small cart around on foot through an
\nethnic Chinese neighborhood in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Tired of pushing his cart on the street, he decided to set up
\na stall in front of a bank building not far from the intersection
\nof Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Mangga Besar Raya in Jakarta's
\nChinatown district. That was in 1995.<\/p>\n
Today, the stall does a brisk trade from the moment it opens
\nat 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
A customer, Hilda, visited the stall after a friend
\nrecommended snake products as an alternative cure for a skin rash
\nshe had picked up after swimming at Ancol in North Jakarta. Ali
\ndecided that snake blood would be the best medicine.<\/p>\n
So he took out a cobra, placing its head in a bamboo implement
\nto keep it steady. With a swift chop, he cut off its head and
\nallowed its blood to flow. Ali promptly poured the blood into a
\ntea cup already containing arak (rice wine) and honey. Then he
\npeeled the snake skin, removed the gall and placed it in a small
\nteaspoon.<\/p>\n
Then a second snake went under the knife and Hilda, along with
\nher husband Bambang, ate a gall each, daintily served on a
\nteaspoon. Only Bambang drank the blood.<\/p>\n
Hilda ordered 10 satay sticks, grilled just like any other
\nmeat at a sidewalk stall.<\/p>\n
"It tastes like chicken satay but the meat is tougher,"
\nBambang said. "For me the meal makes me fit and healthy, whereas
\nfor my wife it is to cure her allergy."<\/p>\n
Hilda found the gall, which must not be chewed, to be as tough
\nas rubber. Before putting the gall in her mouth, she asked her
\nhusband whether she could eat it at home but Bambang flatly
\nrejected the idea.<\/p>\n
Reluctantly she composed herself and said, "With good
\nintentions, God will help me to cure my illness".<\/p>\n
She then swallowed the gall, drank the lemon juice chaser Ali
\nhad prepared and cursed her husband for the weird taste of the
\ngall. Bambang merely laughed.<\/p>\n
Ali reminded them not to drink coffee or tea or to smoke for
\nthe next week because it would eradicate the curing effects of
\nthe snake gall.<\/p>\n
"We will be back here again next week in order to fully cure
\nmy allergy, then after that we will eat the snake meat regularly
\nto keep ourselves fit and healthy," Hilda said.<\/p>\n
Ali earns a steady income from his stall. He lives in the
\nsuburb of Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta with his wife and six
\nchildren, ranging in age from 13 years to two months.<\/p>\n
He also sometimes feeds his children snake meat to maintain
\ntheir health.<\/p>\n
Most of his customers are people who have become tired of
\nvisiting doctors without being cured. Many come from abroad, such
\nas Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China and Thailand. The rest of
\nhis customers are locals.<\/p>\n
Ali said, however, that it was one's faith, not merely the
\nsnake, that cured the illness. Asked whether he suffered a lot of
\nsnake bites, he said, "At the beginning I did, but after a while
\nI got better at handling the snakes. If I am bitten, I know how
\nto handle it myself".<\/p>\n
Snakes, which are regarded by most people as unappealing
\nreptiles to be avoided, have done nothing but good for Ali and
\nhis family. There is a saying that if we make friends with an
\noutsider, the outsider will reward our good deed. Perhaps Ali is
\nthe living proof.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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