ON SATURDAY, I visited the new Bao Zhong Tang TCM Centre at Singapore General Hospital for the second time. For pain in my lower back and hip, a senior physician administered about 15 acupuncture needles to my back, waist, hip and thighs.

As soon as the last needle was inserted, the physician left the room to attend to other patients. About 20 minutes later, another physician came to remove the needles.

As he was not the one who administered the needles, I asked whether he had removed all of them. He said jokingly that if there was any he missed removing, I could keep it as a souvenir.