Exclusive Story by WeirdKaya - Proper accreditation to WeirdKaya and consent from the interviewee are required.
If you’ve ever wandered through Petaling Street, you might have walked right past Kien Fatt Medical Store without noticing. It’s a quiet little shop surrounded by noise, but inside lies something far more enduring than souvenirs or snacks.
This isn’t just any medicine store. It’s the oldest Chinese medicine shop in Kuala Lumpur, and the man behind it, Mr. Chee Yat, has been keeping it alive for more than 40 years.
To him, it was never about making a fortune.
“I don’t earn much,” he says. “But I sleep well.”
From a small town to Petaling Street
To understand how this all began, you’d have to go back nearly a century. Mr. Chee’s grandfather was a Chinese physician in Rasa, a small village near Batang Kali. His father later moved to Kuala Lumpur during the Japanese occupation, selling herbs at morning markets to support the family.
With patience and persistence, he saved enough to rent a small shop on Petaling Street. Eventually, he bought the lot in the 1950s — a decision that would later save the business.
“People think we have a lot of money,” Mr. Chee says.
But it’s not that we have a lot of money. It’s that we save money.“
Choosing family over a high-paying career
Mr. Chee didn’t always plan to take over the shop. After completing his pharmacy studies in the UK, he worked with multinational pharmaceutical firms for a few years. But when his father grew older, he knew it was time to return home.
“I could’ve stayed in corporate. But my father needed help,” he recalls. “So I came back to take care of him. I’ve been here ever since.”
Holding on while others fade away
Back in the day, Petaling Street was filled with Chinese medicine shops — more than a dozen of them. But as time passed and costs rose, one by one, they closed down.
Today, only Kien Fatt remains.
There’s no magic formula. We’re still here because we refused to give up.”
Why he doesn’t push for profit
Step inside Kien Fatt and you’ll notice something different. There are no flashy promotions, no over-the-top sales. Consultations cost just RM20, and Mr. Chee won’t recommend anything you don’t actually need.
“If you don’t need it, I’ll tell you. Why waste money?” he says.
We’re not here to squeeze people. We just want to help.”
Because he owns the shop and keeps his costs low, he doesn’t have to rely on high-profit supplements or aggressive marketing to survive.
Letting go of the idea of legacy
Many would expect someone like Mr. Chee to want to pass the business down to his children. But he takes a different view.
“If my daughter wants to continue, that’s her choice. If not, I won’t stop her,” he says. “The world is different now. Let them grow in their own way.”
His daughter Vanessa has recently stepped in to help modernize parts of the shop, especially online. Still, Mr. Chee sees it more as support than succession.
Building more than a shop
Outside of the store, Mr. Chee has also made an impact through education. He founded the KL Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has trained more than 1,000 students over the last 28 years.
Many of his students are working adults who attend evening classes out of passion. The school is also partnered with a leading university in Harbin, China, allowing graduates to earn an internationally recognized degree.
Why he keeps going
Even after all these years, Mr. Chee still opens the shop each day. Not for profit. Not for prestige.
I’m not trying to leave behind some big legacy, I just want to help while I still can.”
And that, perhaps, is what makes this humble little store on Petaling Street so special. It’s not just a business. It’s a reminder that kindness, honesty, and quiet persistence still matter.
Exclusive Story by WeirdKaya – If you wish to reproduce this story, please ensure that you obtain consent from the interviewee to maintain factual accuracy and avoid the potential spread of misleading information.
If referencing or using any information from our story, we kindly ask that proper credit is given, along with a backlink to WeirdKaya, as acknowledgment of the efforts made by our editors in sourcing and conducting interviews.
READ ALSO:
