BAYAN LEPAS: At 81, Bedah Yaacob is in good physical form. The haj pilgrim from Pantai Remis, Perak cited her penchant for gardening and eating ulam (raw vegetables and herbs) as secrets to good health.
At the Kompleks TH here, she declined offers from a TH official for the use of a wheelchair that got the other pilgrims looking at her in amazement.
“My strength comes from Allah. All I could say is my health is my rezeki (a gift from God) and it probably came from my years of looking after what I eat. I only eat healthy food. I follow what our elders did by doing gardening and farming to maintain good health,” she said.
Bedah, who performed the umrah in 2013, was accompanied by her daughter Rofidah Don, 61, on the trip. She said her daughter bought her a walking stick to support her during the rituals in case she needed it.
“We can only pray to God and ask that the haj goes smoothly,” she added.
Bedah and Rofidah were among the 150 from the third cluster of pilgrims from Penang who departed via Malaysia Airlines flight MH8445 on Wednesday to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Yesterday, the pilgrims boarded MH8126 from KLIA at 5.10am and arrived in Madinah at 8.40am (Saudi time).