1. SHAMAN: 1 LINE, 28 COUNTS

1. SHAMAN: 1 LINE, 28 COUNTS

Shamans retain edge despite modern medicines

Many Indonesians turn to shamans for cure

Many still turn to shaman for healing

The shaman took hold of my little finger, mumbled in Arabic, then
pronounced his diagnosis for the mysterious malaise that had
plagued me for months.

"You have walked over a grave in a jungle," he said as an
afternoon rain storm rattled the tin roof of his gloomy sitting
room. "You must have picked something up."

No diagnosis is too strange for Indonesia's shamans - known
here as dukun and who attract millions of patients despite
increased awareness of modern medical treatment.

Their work sits uneasily with religious authorities in
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. Since the
1960s, Muslim clerics have been struggling to popularize a form
of Islam that is free of the mysticism and magic that laces much
of Indonesian culture.

Conventional doctors also criticize the shamans, saying many
are charlatans who take advantage of the poor and uneducated
among Indonesia's 210 million people.

"Dukun are very dangerous," said Professor Farid Moeloek,
former minister of health and now president-elect of the
Indonesian Doctors Association. "Their misdiagnoses lead to
complications, and even death."

Despite the religious and medical objections, my Indonesian
friends persuaded me to try a dukun after more than a year of
flu-like chills and persistent tiredness.

The shaman in Bogor, a town an hour's drive from the capital,
Jakarta, prescribed a course of painful massage. He also told me
to wear a green amulet on my arm at all times and dip a piece of
paper with Islamic prayers into a cup of water and drink it.

He was the first of several shamans I visited over a four-
month period.

Another suggested the source of my troubles was the jealousy
of a curly haired colleague, and gave me a green charm to put in
my wallet and an armband to wear at all times. A third said my
illness was caused by a gang of evil sprits living in my well and
advised me to burn special incense around the clock in my house.

None of the prescribed cures did any good. But neither did
Western medicine.

Most shamans are uncomfortable talking about their skills and
have trouble explaining exactly what it is they do. They usually
attribute their powers to God.

"Everything comes from the one above. We just harness his
power," said a 28-year-old computer engineer who calls himself
"Reno" and treats friends and their acquaintances from his home.

Diagnostic methods and treatments vary, but most shamans draw
on Hindu and Muslim beliefs and a large dollop of theatrics.

They rarely advertise their services, relying mostly on word
of mouth. Payment is often a carton of cigarettes, or a sack of
rice, depending on the wealth of the client.

Most Indonesians - including wealthy, educated ones - believe
their magic works.

"Dukun are very effective," said Permadi, an Indonesian
legislator and well-known paranormal. "Western nations don't have
a monopoly on medical knowledge."

Businessmen and politicians also visit shamans to ensure their
success or predict their futures. Prostitutes and singers seek
them out for a susuk, a small piece of gold or other precious
metal that is inserted beneath the skin and is believed to make
the wearer more attractive.

Since dukun often attribute patients' illness to a curse or a
spell, some are also willing to help a client retaliate with
black magic. An enemy's lock of hair or piece of clothing is
often all that is asked for to call down illness on the foe.

The Islamic establishment, which forbids flirtation with
superstition or practices from older religions, is alarmed at the
continuing popularity of shamans.

"Dukun have already deviated from the truth as set down in the
Quran. Most of them practice witchcraft," said Risman Muchtar,
head of religious propagation for Muhammadiyah, a group that
claims 20 million followers and runs mosques and schools across
the Indonesian archipelago.

Muchtar's task of encouraging people to stay away from shamans
has become even more difficult in an economic slump that has made
conventionnal medicine too expensive for many Indonesians.

For millions, particularly those living far from towns and
cities on the country's main island of Java, Islam has not made
much of an impression. Many people are still influenced by
animism as well as Hindu and Buddhist rituals and practices.

"Not all the villagers fully understand Islam," Muchtar said.
"For some, it's just a thin layer on top of what their

2. BALD: 1 LINE, 35 COUNTS

Hair holidays offer hope to the bald

Enter the great wooden panelled doors, glide over the gleaming
marble floors, past the plush lemon leather sofas and you could
be in one of the many luxurious hotels on the paradise island of
Mauritius.

The only clues that things are not quite what they seem are
the white, clinical uniforms of the staff and the fact that all
visitors have one physical attribute in common -- they are all
bald.

The Medical Centre for Follicular Micrografting, set among the
palm trees and white beaches of Pointe aux Cannoniers in the
north of the island, offers the ultimate gift to the follically
challenged: a full head of hair in a dream setting.

According to Dr Gerard Guidi, director of the centre, bald
people in their hundreds are flocking to the exotic Indian Ocean
island to take advantage of that offer.

"We have many celebrities, actors, television journalists and
other artists from Europe as well as Bollywood actors from India,
visiting us," Guidi said.

"Not only do they come for the hair holiday, but also for the
discretion and privacy that we offer. Confidentiality is a must,"
he added.

The hair holiday begins like any other vacation.

Clients arrive, bald, in Mauritius for a 10-day trip, usually
in the form of an all-inclusive package with return flight, hotel
costs and hair transplants all rolled into one. The cost is
around US$6,000.

The visitors are immediately whisked away to a four or five-
star hotel where they can enjoy their last hairless moments,
soaking up the sun on pristine white beaches and swimming in the
turquoise lagoons.

Meanwhile, a "follicular micro-grafting" session at the centre
has already been booked and preparations are underway for the
surgery.

"We have over 700 customers every year. They come from all
over the world including France, Britain and India," Guidi said.

"Mauritius is the perfect location for the transplantation of
hair as it combines a dream destination with the dream of having
hair."

After the session, clients can enjoy the rest of their holiday
-- and their restored hirsute look.

Most of visitors are men. Women comprise only 10 percent of
the centre's clientele.

"The men are generally very timid and want to keep the surgery
a secret and so we must respect that. We keep our customers apart
and they don't even meet one another," Guidi said.

Requests to interview clients were turned down by the centre.

The follicular micro-grafting technique used at the centre is
considered the most advanced in the world. Only three other
centres specialise in it.

During the procedure, which lasts between two and six hours,
more than 2,000 follicular units or about 5,000 hairs are
harvested from the nape of the patient's neck and grafted into
the scalp.

If all goes well, the patient will have normal-looking hair
growth within three months.

"I feel far more self-confident and I'm ready to start a new
life," the centre's brochure quotes Daniel Weber, a satisfied
customer, as saying.

Two surgeons and 14 local technicians operate the Mauritian
centre. The other branches are in Paris, Barcelona and Montreal,
but Mauritius is unique in offering the hair holiday package and
is by far the most popular.

"Although the prices may seem expensive, it is actually much
cheaper to come to the clinic here rather than go to our centres
in Europe or in Canada," said Guidi, who himself has had a dose
of micro-grafting to the top of his scalp.

The Mauritius centre has been running for three years and
Guidi says that, through its website, the number of clients
visiting it has increased dramatically.

"Hair holidays in Mauritius are becoming very popular now," he
said. "I mean where else can you get a sun tan and a full head of
hair all in one?"