ID :
32759
Fri, 11/28/2008 - 10:27
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/32759
The shortlink copeid
MALAYSIA'S PILGRIMS FUND ENSURES HYGIENICALLY PREPARED, NUTRITIOUS FOOD
From Zulkefly Salleh
MECCA, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Catering food for over 26,000 Malaysian Haj
pilgrims in the Holy Land is no mean task, especially when the food has to suit
their taste buds and prepared under stringent standards and controls.
Tasty, hygienically-prepared and nutritious food contributes to the
pilgrims' well-being in performing their religious rites, with more than 70 per
cent of them having already arrived here.
To ensure things run smoothly, TH Travel & Services Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary
of
Lembaga Tabung Haji (Pilgrims Fund Board), started the food catering
preparations for this Haj season as early as in March this year.
"We have brought in 100 selected chefs and cooks from hotels and food
catering companies in Malaysia, and a food technologist and dietician," TH
Travel & Services chief executive officer, Major (Rtd) Mohd Ramli Othman, told
Malaysian journalists, here, Thursday.
"Alhamdulillah, most of the Malaysian Haj pilgrims are reported to be in
good health so that they can fully focus on their pilgrimage," he said, adding
that so far, no cases of food poisoning among the pilgrims had been
reported.
He said among the food catering criteria, was that the food must be served
within two hours after being cooked and the temperatures controlled using food
warmers.
The pilgrims have also been told to consume the food immediately and not
keep it to be eaten later.
Notices have been put up at hotels where the pilgrims are staying, telling
them not to eat food sold by roadside stalls to avoid food poisoning.
Checks show that the Malaysian pilgrims have been joining the two to three
million other pilgrims at the Masjidil Haram (Grand Mosque) for the five daily
prayers and complementary prayers with their hotels located about 500m to 800m
away.
Groups of them are also seen daily in their 'ihram' clothing and performing
the 'umrah', another ritual during the Haj period (from the month of Syawal to
Zulhijjah).
This ritual requires pilgrims to be physically fit as they need to go round
the Ka'abah seven times. Besides that, they also have to walk to and fro seven
times between Mount Sofa and Mount Marwah, which are 42O metres apart, or a
total distance of three kilometres.
To protect the Malaysian pilgrims' health, the pharmacy counters set up by
Tabung Haji (Pilgrims Fund) at the hotels also provide free masks to avoid
breathing in dust and for those with respiratory problems.
Tabung Haji's health operations chief, Dr Mohd Faid Abdul Rashid, said the
pilgrims were advised to take enough rest to take part in the culmination of the
Haj, the 'wukuf' in Arafah on Dec 7 (9th Zulhijjah), and then the "stoning of
the devil" in Mina.
He said the 258-member Tabung Haji health team, including 40 doctors, 51
assistant medical officers and more than 60 nurses, would be accompanying the
unwell pilgrims to Arafah as well as serving the other pilgrims there.
-- BERNAMA
MECCA, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Catering food for over 26,000 Malaysian Haj
pilgrims in the Holy Land is no mean task, especially when the food has to suit
their taste buds and prepared under stringent standards and controls.
Tasty, hygienically-prepared and nutritious food contributes to the
pilgrims' well-being in performing their religious rites, with more than 70 per
cent of them having already arrived here.
To ensure things run smoothly, TH Travel & Services Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary
of
Lembaga Tabung Haji (Pilgrims Fund Board), started the food catering
preparations for this Haj season as early as in March this year.
"We have brought in 100 selected chefs and cooks from hotels and food
catering companies in Malaysia, and a food technologist and dietician," TH
Travel & Services chief executive officer, Major (Rtd) Mohd Ramli Othman, told
Malaysian journalists, here, Thursday.
"Alhamdulillah, most of the Malaysian Haj pilgrims are reported to be in
good health so that they can fully focus on their pilgrimage," he said, adding
that so far, no cases of food poisoning among the pilgrims had been
reported.
He said among the food catering criteria, was that the food must be served
within two hours after being cooked and the temperatures controlled using food
warmers.
The pilgrims have also been told to consume the food immediately and not
keep it to be eaten later.
Notices have been put up at hotels where the pilgrims are staying, telling
them not to eat food sold by roadside stalls to avoid food poisoning.
Checks show that the Malaysian pilgrims have been joining the two to three
million other pilgrims at the Masjidil Haram (Grand Mosque) for the five daily
prayers and complementary prayers with their hotels located about 500m to 800m
away.
Groups of them are also seen daily in their 'ihram' clothing and performing
the 'umrah', another ritual during the Haj period (from the month of Syawal to
Zulhijjah).
This ritual requires pilgrims to be physically fit as they need to go round
the Ka'abah seven times. Besides that, they also have to walk to and fro seven
times between Mount Sofa and Mount Marwah, which are 42O metres apart, or a
total distance of three kilometres.
To protect the Malaysian pilgrims' health, the pharmacy counters set up by
Tabung Haji (Pilgrims Fund) at the hotels also provide free masks to avoid
breathing in dust and for those with respiratory problems.
Tabung Haji's health operations chief, Dr Mohd Faid Abdul Rashid, said the
pilgrims were advised to take enough rest to take part in the culmination of the
Haj, the 'wukuf' in Arafah on Dec 7 (9th Zulhijjah), and then the "stoning of
the devil" in Mina.
He said the 258-member Tabung Haji health team, including 40 doctors, 51
assistant medical officers and more than 60 nurses, would be accompanying the
unwell pilgrims to Arafah as well as serving the other pilgrims there.
-- BERNAMA
