Traditional Chinese medicine's journey to recognition in independent Singapore

Abstract

TCM was the mainstream healthcare provider for the majority of Singapore’s population during the colonial period even though the colonial administrators perceived TCM to be unscientific. However, the government did not recognize TCM as a legitimate mainstream healthcare provider (1965-1993) after its independence, before recognizing it as a legitimate healthcare provider (1994 onwards). According to official and medical narratives, the government did not recognize TCM as a healthcare provider because of its unscientific nature. Although the adoption of western metrics by TCM does determine the government’s stance towards TCM, it is insufficient to account for the change in the government’s attitudes and policies towards TCM. Despite its non-recognition for TCM as a healthcare provider, the government still attended events and raised funds for TCM institutions. Subsequently, the government recognized TCM when it is still not entirely scientific. Therefore, I argue that although the adoption of western scientific metrics by TCM would determine its development as a legitimate mainstream healthcare provider, the changing developmental needs of Singapore's economy, healthcare and racial harmony also accounted for its lagged development and recent embrace compared to western medicine.