"Superior" cures illness without examination

(Baonghean) -From an ordinary person, Mr. Le Dinh Dieu in Quynh Tam commune (Quynh Luu) suddenly became... a "superior", curing all diseases without examination. This has been going on for decades, the commune government knows but this "superior" still leisurely "practices his religion", causing disorder in the area...

In the role of a patient, we went to Quynh Tam (Quynh Luu) to ask for the house of Mr. Le Dinh Dieu, also known as Mr. "Dieu Tuyet". Right at the turn from Highway 48, go about 3km to ask for Mr. Dieu's house, everyone knew and we easily found the place. Opening the gate was Mrs. Luu, Mr. Dieu's wife, over 60 years old this year. She said cheerfully: "Today, he has something to do and won't be back until late afternoon, but since he's here, just go inside and go to Linh Son Tu first."

Linh Son Tu, founded by Mr. Dieu and his wife, is a shrine, built next to a small house - where Mr. Dieu lives, next to which is a dark and damp medicine room. In order to "create conditions" for disciples to come here to worship, the "superiors" also built a corrugated iron roof covering the Linh Son Tu area to protect from the rain and sun. Inviting us to sit down on a mat spread out in front of the shrine, Mrs. Luu began a story that was an advertisement for her husband: I used to be in the army. I cure all diseases. When you go up to the incense, you will know the disease, because at that time there is a superior speaking in your ear... the secretary must quickly write down the medicine, if you cannot write quickly, you must use your phone to record it. If God plants a disease, it can be cured, but as long as you have faith. I know the cancer germ 6 months in advance. Cancer can be cured, but you have to have surgery. If you have surgery, you will still be given medicine to ease the suffering, and the next generation will not have cancer...

To verify what Mrs. Luu said, after making an excuse to leave and not forgetting to come back tomorrow, we went to Hamlet 11, Dien Truong Commune (Dien Chau) to ask about Mr. Trung, who Mrs. Luu said had stage 3 liver cancer but was cured by "a superior". However, the people here all answered that there was no Mr. Trung here who had been cured of cancer. Mr. Chu Tu Lieu, Hamlet 11, Dien Truong, (Dien Chau) also said: In Hamlet 11, there is no Mr. Trung who has cancer, only me and Mr. Huong's wife have had cancer for a long time. And Mr. Lieu firmly said: "How can you cure cancer with some stupid leaves".

"Master" Dieu is performing the ceremony of prescribing medicine for the patient.

Although we knew it was just a hoax, to witness Mr. Dieu’s medical examination, as promised, the next day, we returned to Quynh Tam and met Mr. Dieu. While talking, Mr. Dieu boasted: “He has cured 10 people of cancer”. However, the addresses of the patients he said he had cured were all general addresses, such as Mr. Vuong in Dien Chau, Mr. Chau in Vinh…

In the role of a patient going to get medicine, through observation, we found that Mr. Dieu's treatment method had no scientific basis to be trusted. While Mr. Dieu lit 3 incense sticks in 3 incense bowls, the patient knelt on the mat that had been spread out in front of the altar and only had to read his name and address for the secretary (named Huong) to write down. Next, Mr. Dieu sat down next to Mrs. Huong, his eyes on the incense smoke and read out the names of the "superior" medicines one by one for Mrs. Huong to write down and then go to the warehouse to get them for the patient. Almost all the prescriptions had the following ingredients: chrysanthemum, corn silk, betel leaf, pennywort, piper lolot, mugwort, wild yam, tangerine peel... The only difference was that some prescriptions lacked this ingredient, some lacked that.

With this method, every day the "superior" treats 50 - 70 people. Therefore, the staff assisting Mr. Dieu is also up to 7 people to write prescriptions, dispense medicine... to keep up. A dose of medicine costs 140,000 VND, including 2 types, one type is used to decoct and drink, the other type has been made into a paste. According to Ms. Luu: how many doses to take to cure the disease depends on the superior. But she affirmed, "For the stomach system alone, if you don't take 3 pots of medicine, you can't be cured." Ms. Huong gave an example: "There is someone with a herniated disc, coming here and spending 6.8 million VND to take medicine and he is cured, if he goes to the hospital for surgery, it will cost hundreds of millions...". Meanwhile, according to Mr. N.D.H, a person who had been treated for stomach disease here, said: "I had stomach disease and went there for treatment, took 3 doses of medicine but my condition still did not improve. Then Mr. Dieu said that I had to treat it slowly for the disease to be cured, but I stopped treating it because it was actually just a scam, a waste of time and money, while the disease was not treated properly so it became more and more serious."

Not only examining patients and prescribing medicine without scientific basis, Mr. Dieu also practiced fortune telling. A person from Duc Lam, Ha Tinh, examined patients and looked into family affairs. Mr. Dieu said, "The deceased people (PV) enter the house of the second child, the eldest son, you should rarely enter... Be careful on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, the eldest son should be careful, do not ride a motorbike, go to the river, but stay at home to burn incense and pray to heaven, earth and ancestors...". After that, he also instructed them to buy 2 sets of white and red clothes made of real fabric to burn... According to Ms. Luu, on the 15th, 1st, 18th, and 21st of the lunar month, many people come to Linh Son Tu to chant sutras. Therefore, it will be difficult to get medicine on these days.

We learned that the people who come to Mr. Dieu's Linh Son Tu are mainly people from other places, not locals. "The visitors here, some ask for directions, some hire people to take them to Mr. Dieu's house, but they are all from other places, but my grandmother here has never come to Mr. Dieu to ask for treatment" - a local taxi driver said.

Talking to us, Mr. Ho Cong Khoan, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Tam commune, affirmed that Mr. Dieu's activities were superstitious. The commune had inspected, reminded, and made records many times, but Mr. Dieu did not listen and still deliberately violated.

The fact that Mr. Dieu claims to be a “superior” and practices superstitious healing has been going on for decades, but it still exists openly. People who come here to be treated with trust still lose money and suffer. If the local authorities do not stop it promptly and decisively, it will not only cause disorder and insecurity in the area, but also endanger the lives of the gullible people who come here for treatment. We request the authorities of Quynh Tam commune and the authorities of Quynh Luu district to inspect, handle, and prevent the situation of treating diseases with superstition, and restore order and security in the area.

Article and photos: Dang Nguyen