I must say that I am not a believer in non-scientifically proven medication or herbs in this case as some of those “Cure All” Chinese Herbal Remedies seems to do more harm than good. I think the Chinese Culture tends to exaggerate on unproven claims.
However, my mum who has a friend who is currently in chemotherapy treatment for cancer and was told by someone else that Sabah has a cure for cancer in the form of the Sabah Snake Grass (Clinacanthus Nutans) or Duan Belalai Gajah. Apparently, there was a guy in Malaysia who suffered from cancer and he took the leaves of this plant and was cured of cancer. That appeared in a Malaysian Chinese Daily and that plant become a sort after item. The miracle cure for cancer. Well, I am sure that if this actually works, the scientific community would be studying it further as a possible cure for cancer and they would be pushing it as a drug as an alternative to chemotherapy.
They do sell the leaves in Singapore but the prices goes up faster than the prices of petrol. I supposed there are people who are selling this to make a quick buck and exploiting those desperate for a cure for their ailment. Of course, if this is the magical cure, I would believe that people would pay anything for it for a second chance at life.
I read somewhere on the web that there are many who took this and did not experience any improvement to their ailment and the respond to that by one of the seller online is that the Sabah Snake Grass would cure certainly types of cancer and if you do not experience any improvement, you would be plagued with some other types of cancer which the grass is not effective.
Walking down Gaya Street, I saw a number of stores selling the plant or the leaves. Some pricing the bunch of leaves from RM5 for a few stems to about 20 stems. Some sell the leaves too at about RM5 for about 30 leaves. Of course the price varies from vendor to vendor. In Singapore, there was a lady wanting to sell several stocks of the plant for S$35. The prices went up from S$10 to S$35 in a span of several months.
There seems to be two variety of the Sabah Snake Grass, one with the thin but longer leaves and one which is much wider and shorter. Since it has not been scientifically proven, I am not sure which variety is the real one. Guess perhaps both ?
The First Bundle of the Sabah Snake Grass I bought for RM5
On the subsequent trip to Gaya Street, I saw another vendor selling each bundle for RM3. They say that they are selling cheap because they do not want to exploit the market and since they happened to have it in their backyard and want to help people in need. So I bought all the 5 sets for them.
In Singapore, you can get dried sabah snake grass from the lady which sells herbs at the Smith Street Market somewhere in the middle of the market. You cannot miss it as she is the only there selling. She does sell fresh ones but you need to make reservation.
If you get the fresh sabah snake grass, get the ones with the stem as you could easily plant them by sticking them in the soil. This way, you will get continuous supply at your own home. You need to water them regularly and provide them with sufficient sunlight at least a few times a week.
As for preparation, you could have the leaves raw and blend it with water and drink with lime juice to make it palatable. Alternatively, you can treat it like tea leaves and boil the leaves, the water will turn yellow which is normal. You could even mixed the cooked and soften leaves and eat them with soup.
