Hot weather: Haj pilgrims advised to care for their health

SEPANG: Hot weather forecasted in Saudi Arabia with temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius high is among the challenges faced by 30,200 Malaysian haj pilgrims this year.
Senior general manager (Haj) of Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), Datuk Seri Syed Saleh Syed Abdul Rahman said that pilgrims should always listen to the advice from the TH's medical staff.
"Compared to Malaysia's highest temperature of 36 or 34 degrees Celsius, this will pose a huge challenge to the pilgrims.
"TH have already provided guidance and advice to the pilgrims during the pilgrimage course so they are better prepared to face the hot weather by taking care of their health and avoid exposure to the sun," he said after sending off the second group of TH staff to the holy land at the TH Complex, here today.
Syed Saleh, who is also the Malaysian haj delegation head, said there will be 141 TH staff on duty consisting of 62 welfare personnel, 63 medical personnel and 16 media personnel who departed for the holy land with Malaysia Airlines Berhad flight at 2.45pm.
He said the group was part of a total of 600 TH staff, with the first batch of 13 information technology personnel who departed on July 2, while the rest will depart on July 11.
He also said all the plans and preparation for the haj pilgrimage this year went smoothly with the cooperation from agencies including the Immigration Department, the Royal Malaysia Police and the Saudi Arabia embassy in Malaysia.
Earlier in his address to the TH staff, Syed Saleh hoped they would be able to perform their duties well and with integrity to ensure the smooth running of the haj pilgrims.
"Last year our customer satisfaction index was 85%, so I hope the index is more than 85% this year," he said.
The first flight of Malaysian haj pilgrims will depart on July 14 while the last flight will be on Aug 15, and the return flight is scheduled from Aug 29 to Sept 25.
A total of 81 special charter flights will be used for this year's haj pilgrimage, involving 40 MAB flights and 41 Flynas flights. — Bernama