By Sia Ling Xin

THE Year of the Tiger seems to have driven up demand for tiger parts - even though trading in them is illegal here.

People think that they make an apt gift this year, and the dwindling tiger population has led to a rise in their value, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) shops said.

The parts most in demand: the penis, believed to be an aphrodisiac; and the bones, believed to cure rheumatism.

Posing as a potential buyer, my paper spoke to eight TCM shops in Chinatown, five of which had received more enquiries for tiger parts this year. The rest did not get any queries.

Of the five, two shops said that they usually get an enquiry every two or three months, but, since January, they have received two queries each month.

The other three reported a doubling in the number of enquiries, from a couple each month to four or five.

The enquiries are made by both Singaporean and foreign men and women, who are usually middle-aged.

Only one shop admitted to dabbling in tiger parts. The rest denied doing so.

That store's shopkeeper said that although he gets a few enquiries every month, only two or three deals a year are closed because he does not keep any stock.

He susses the market out when customers request certain parts, he said. year, so he advises those who want to get their hands on the parts urgently to look elsewhere first, he said.

The client has to pay a deposit.

The shop will give an estimated price, but the client may have to pay more, depending on the season and middlemen, he said.

A tiger's penis is priced at about $25 per liang, a traditional unit of measurement equivalent to 37.5g. Typically, the organ costs about $450, he said.

The shop also gets requests for eyeballs, believed to cure convulsions; and paws and pelts for decorative purposes, he said.

Paws are rare, as they are usually damaged by poachers' snares, so a perfect pair can cost "more than a thousand", he said.

TCM physician Kwek Mei Lin, who has never used tiger parts in her treatments, said that while it is believed that tiger parts can cure ailments, many herbs are much better alternatives, as they are effective, easily available and cheaper.

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