By Allison Lai

MALACCA, MALAYSIA - Desperate for a cure for cancer, a mother sought traditional help but her condition ended up far worse and she was RM4,000 ($1,700) poorer after being duped by a bogus medicine man.

Ng Peck, 36, from Kampung Lapan was diagnosed with stage-four liver cancer in April last year. She was forced to stop her chemotherapy treatment in September 2009 as her blood platelet count was low.

Looking for a cure to remove the tumours from her liver, she was convinced she could be healed by an Indonesian man who ran an alternative medicine centre in Shah Alam.

She travelled to the centre on May 5 with her husband for treatment.

"I had some kind of surgery where the 'doctor' used a masking tape to mark out an area of my stomach. Later, he kept pressing my abdomen.

"I was shocked when blood squirted out from my stomach later, with the 'doctor' claiming he had removed my tumors," said Ng at a press conference here yesterday.

The "doctor" later showed her two dark-looking substances covered in blood, which he claimed were the tumors removed from her body.

However, several days later, Ng, a former sales executive, realised something was wrong when she continued to feel pain in her stomach.

"I decided to go for a CT scan at a private hospital here on May 13, and was shocked when doctors informed me that my tumors were still present and had spread further," she said.

Realising she had been duped, she sought help from Malacca MCA's Public Services and Complaints Bureau chief Lim Eng Teck.

"I am very sad to find my hopes dashed as the surgery turned out to be a scam," she said, adding that she had to borrow money from friends and relatives to foot the surgery bill.

Meanwhile, Lim said the MCA here would help Ng to lodge a police report and also bring the matter up with the Health Ministry to probe the scam.