(Nov 26) SOME senior citizens in Whampoa are hit with 9,000 volts day after day - and they like it.

It's great for health, they claim.

It's a treatment that uses static electricity from electro-static therapy machines.

Max-One Marketing, a company that brings in the machines from Japan, operates a shop at Block 82, Whampoa Drive.

About the size of a living room in an HDB flat, it has 16 seats hooked up to four electro-static therapy machines.

Before 10am every weekday, Whampoa residents - mostly retirees and housewives - queue up for a 20-minute free treatment session.

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The response is so good that residents can collect their queue numbers before going off to the market or for their morning coffee and returning later for the treatment.

Mr Kent Tey, managing director of Max-One, claimed regular use of the machines can help those suffering from insomnia, constipation, headaches and joint aches.

Mr Tey said Max-One started using the machines in 2002. Its first shop was in Teck Whye.

Now, there are three shops.

The one in Whampoa Drive was opened about three months ago. The other two outlets are in Toa Payoh and Joo Chiat.

Those who go to these shops get the treatment for free.

Mr Tey said: 'The company has not charged anyone for these treatments since the first shop was opened.

'The idea is to let people try it for free. If they like the results, they can buy the machines and use them at home.'

Each machine costs between $8,000 and $13,000.

Mr Tey said about 1,000 such machines have been sold since 2002.

Ms Mori Yeo, a regular patron of the shop at Whampoa Drive, is enthusiastic about the sessions.

The 52-year-old Whampoa resident volunteers to help out at the shop in the morning by doing some 'crowd control'.

When The New Paper was there, she was telling senior citizens gathered outside the shop on a weekday morning that the first session will start at 10am.

Ms Yeo said: 'I couldn't squat or stand for long periods since I reached my 40s.'

But she claims her condition improved after several days of treatment.

'I can squat and walk with ease, unlike before,' she said.

The sessions have also become social occasions.

Mr Tey said: 'The old folks come here and meet each other. It's like a gathering session for them.

'They sit down together in a room and share their experiences.

'They talk about how their health has improved and what they aim to achieve - be it better sleep at night or no more joint pains.

'After the sessions, some even go to the coffee shops nearby to chit chat.

'It helps them to mingle and lessen the loneliness, which is common among old people.'

This reporter tried out the machine for 20 minutes.

There was not supposed to be any feeling at all, which was the case.

But if the user touches someone not hooked up to the machine, a short and sharp pain can be felt at the point of contact.

In an earlier report, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) advised users of such machines to make sure that electrical cables, leads and sockets are used safely to prevent accidental shocks and electrocution.

Consumers should also be mindful of claims that sound too good to be true, the HSA said.