By Dawn Tay

TRENDY and on top of the latest digital trends, project manager Jael Chng, 31, does not fit the bill of a typical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) user.

Two months ago, in a bid to improve her general health, she started on a bitter concoction of Chinese herbs.

Miss Chng said: "It's like taking vitamin C. It's more holistic as it addresses the root causes of health problems. It also boosts the immune system and increases blood circulation."

Another young believer in TCM is Miss Jenny Line, 26, who works in a publishing firm.

She turned to a Chinese physician to speed up recovery from a biopsy for a lung infection last month, and to stave off other infections.

Younger consumers in their 20s and 30s, like Miss Chng and Miss Line, are buoying the local TCM market, which has seen a boom in recent years.

Four Singapore TCM manufacturers told my paper that they have seen up to a 20 per cent increase in their sales over the past year, with a corresponding increase in the number of young consumers.

While imports from TCM powerhouse China are still increasing, more are turning to made-in-Singapore products.

The sales of Singapore products have increased by about 7 per cent each year since 2007.

Singapore products currently number around 3,000 types - a third of all TCM products approved for sale here.

Increased consumer confidence in local products is the main reason behind the increase, manufacturers and retailers here said.

Consumer confidence in home-grown products has been boosted as local TCM products have been certified under internationally recognised standards of good quality control - Good Manufacturing Practice standards - since 2007, they said.

At the same time, confidence levels in China-made products have dropped due to various food scares, they added. With the shift in the TCM consumer base, the types and forms of products that are popular have changed too.

Mr Ong Lye Hwee, sales and marketing manager of TCM manufacturer Science Arts, 52, said: "In the past, popular products were those in demand among the elderly group, used to relieve the symptoms of arthritis."

Now, younger consumers are turning to TCM to control their cholesterol levels, for health supplements, to lose weight and improve their looks, industry players said.

And gone are the days of slaving over a stove brewing herbs - TCM products now come in capsules and are bottled, so that it is easy for working adults to carry them around and consume them.

All these changes are the result of the push by TCM companies to get their products into the mainstream market.

No longer confined to housing estates and Chinatown, TCM shops have moved into shopping malls, and TCM brands have been sponsoring sports teams and events.

Said Miss Nicole Hu, 26, a third-generation family owner of home-grown firm Poly Natural Health Process, which produces its own brands of bird's nest: "There's more information out there about TCM than (there) was five years ago. People see TCM in stores, supermarkets and pharmacies. It's not something you just chuck on the bottom of the shelf any more."

The buzz is not limited to consumables. Young professionals are buying other TCM products, like medicated oil, and turning to traditional treatments like acupuncture, which was adopted by the Singapore Sports Council in late 2007 to treat national athletes.

Marketing executive Andrew Kwa, 26, a faithful consumer of ginseng, summed up the sentiments of his peers: "I believe in TCM as much as in vitamin C."

dawnt@sph.com.sg

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