SOMEONE
always asks for "Kopi Tongkat Ali Power" every time he is at my
favourite warung. The reason is obvious. He's one of those who believes in the
power of a plant known by its botanical name Eurycoma longifolia jack in
reviving his libido.
Just ask and he will give you a crash course
in all things aphrodisiac, from pasak bumi to jamu, from garlic to cinnamon,
from sea cucumbers to dried ginseng and deer's tail. And pineapple stem, too.
Whoa! People my age spend more time thinking
about the ultimate turn-on than anything else. Pardon the expression, but that
is the mildest phrase I can think of to explain the condition bedevilling many
middle-aged men (not all, OK?).
Listening to people like him makes you think
nothing else matters other than the quest for perfect sex at that age. Under
such circumstances, men have raised self-denial to an art form. It is always
"other people's problem". The "I am perfectly all right"
attitude is as gung-ho as any young man's venturing into something risky. There
is a saying, the noisier you sound about sexual prowess at that age, the more
problematic you actually are.
The other day, a doctor friend was trying to
prove that tongkat ali is the proudest thing that has happened to this country.
It is like we have discovered penicillin. Little wonder his patriotism is
palpable. To prove a point, he told us about an experiment conducted by one of
the universities in the country in which impotent rats were given the root
extract for 12 weeks, and presto! something incredible happened! The next day,
true enough, the warung ran out of tongkat ali, power or otherwise. They opted
for kopi jantan and kacip Fatimah instead.
When I was in Gambang, Pahang doing farming
some years ago, I met this gentleman from Desa Wates, Kebupaten Kediri in Java.
He was a legend among the farm hands. Pak Modo knew more about aphrodisiacs
than anyone else. There were times when I complained about the carcasses of
anteaters. I found out that Pak Modo was selling the bile to local people.
Whenever the animal was found, a kaki would send a message to those who had
been waiting. Anteater's bile, I was told, is a perfect aphrodisiac. He was a
masseur, too, specialising in, understandably, all things men. He could do
wonders with his special lotion and massaging methods, I was told. And he
certainly had lots of stories to tell. His wife sold jamu both for men and
women. Jamu is part of the Javanese psyche apparently. Nothing moves without
it.
You can't blame Pak Modo for taking advantage
of gullible men. Forget about scientific evidence. More often than not, beliefs
and age-old traditions elevate innocuous materials into sought-after
aphrodisiacs.
A friend brought me to Petaling Street many
years ago to watch people slurping the brains of monkeys with drinking straws,
whose heads were clamped before part of the skull was sliced off. We were
introduced to all kinds of soups. Other than antelope's horn and virgin duck,
there was "Mak Dong" soup. I never knew what it was. At one time,
bear paws were sold openly, so, too, were gecko and rhino tusks. Anything,
anything at all that makes Asian men excited, will sell. Even fake Viagra.
Come to think of it, Viagra is the greatest
discovery by mankind in the medical realm. Why not? The wonder pills have saved
marriages, reaffirmed manhood and redefined the word "macho".
What was initially a failed cholesterol drug
became the saver of humanity. Since its approval by the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in 1998, it has become a phenomenon in itself never seen
in pharmaceutical history. By 2004, Viagra was in 124 countries; 27 million men
were prescribed the pills. According to the company that manufactures it, nine
Viagra pills are dispensed every second -- in the first six years, one billion
pills were sold.
Would Viagra (and other such pills) change the
perception about aphrodisiacs in Asia or anywhere else in the world? Not
necessarily, argues Jerry Hopkins in his insightful book Asian Aphrodisiacs.
Hopkins, who previously wrote Strange Foods,
No One Here Gets Out Alive and Extreme
Cuisines lives in Thailand. For this book, he travelled from Bangkok to Beijing
to understand what makes Asian men tick (literally). He met people, visited
open markets and secret places to differentiate myth from fact. The journey was
an eye-opening one, not to mention hilarious at times, but he takes his mission
seriously because "men things" in Asia are no laughing matter. It is,
after all a billion dollar industry -- much of it "cottage" in
nature, and without proper regulation, it can border on dangerous usage or
utter uselessness. But perception is everything in this business; you take what
you believe will work. The key phrases are "to create desire" and
"to improve performance and ability".
Would Viagra save endangered species from
being hunted by poachers? Not necessarily, argues Hopkins. Products from
endangered species are still very popular. Cures for impotence or to increase
sexual vitality are still believed to be hidden in the jungles in the form of
tigers or bears or herbal plants.
Superstition and folk beliefs die hard. If you
tell Asian men that what they buy over the counter is worthless, they will not
listen to you. They believe sexual dysfunction ought to be treated
traditionally, not by taking those RM50-a-pop remedies. In short, more
endangered animals will be hunted in the name of manhood.
"Aphrodisiac" derives from the
Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexuality. I don't need to explain more. For
Asian men especially, physical strength and good looks matter little. In a
misogynistic society, manhood is everything. Men spend lots of time thinking
about being "better men". And, pardon me for the expression, size
does matter. So the entire adult narrative is about positioning themselves as,
well, real men.
Perhaps, it is all in the mind. It is a morale
booster if nothing else. But why should I spoil the fun?
Johan Jaaffar
Business & Investment Opportunities
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