KUALA LUMPUR: When Eid al-Adha celebrations come around, Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza will always be reminded of an incident that took place in Mecca 10 years ago, while she was performing the hajj.
Sharing a memory that she remembers so vividly, Siti spoke about the heart-thumping moment when she ‘lost’ her mother in the sea of pilgrims as they made their way to the mosque to perform prayers.
Siti, who also went with her brother Saiful Bahari (Ayie), assumed that her mother Siti Salmah Bachik was by her brother’s side when it happened.
“Little did I know that Ayie also lost sight of her. Just imagine losing your mother in such a crowd with millions of people. I became extremely worried and panicked thinking about her finding her way on her own.
“I cried and begged for my husband and brother to continuously look out for her. It took us half a day to find her.
“What made it worse was that she forgot to wear her name tag, but thankfully she was found with another group of pilgrims from Malaysia.
“Funny enough before it happened, she mentioned her fear of getting lost without a name tag.
“Moral of the story, don’t picture bad scenarios to happen because it will likely happen especially when you’re in the Holy land,” she said.