Malaysia's oldest woman continues to serve

BUTTERWORTH, March 31 -- March 31, this year marks Annamah Abukutty’s 110th birthday, yet her age has not stopped her from contributing to society.

Born and raised in Thachambadi, India, Annamah brought along her knowledge and wealth of experience in Indian traditional herbs when she migrated to then Malaya before World War II began.

Annamah currently resides in Batu Gajah, Perak with some of her offspring who comprise four children, 17 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Her son M. Subramanian, 73, said that despite her age and disability, villagers around her residence and patients have been visiting her to seek health advice and her wisdom in longevity.

Apart from herbal medicine, he said people used to seek her services in midwifery, reflexology and tattooing.

“She is famously known by people as ‘Patti Annamah’,” he told reporters, here.

Annamah is currently wheelchair-bound and she is blind in her left eye, yet she can still converse well in Tamil and Malay and her memory still serves her remarkably well.

Subramanian said her secret to longevity included fasting, meditation and her homegrown herbs.

He said that she had been very consistent with her routine in order to clear any toxins in her body and to maintain her health.

“She also used to fast every Monday to remove toxins from her body, but she stopped that practice around 15 years ago,” he added.

Meanwhile, Annamah’s grandson S. Ezhilan, 41, said that traditional herbs and medications used by his grandmother have been repackaged into health products and are available in the market.

Ezhilan, who has just launched a new It’s Super Solution Sdn Bhd outlet in Jalan Raja Uda here today, began selling health products for men and women, as well as massage ointments.

“The ingredients of all these products are made from traditional herbs by my grandmother and the family has been manually collecting the herbs” he said.

Earlier today, Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) chief operating officer, Christopher Wong was at the outlet to award the official MBR certificate to Annamah, recognising her as the oldest woman in Malaysia.

Wong said this was in conjunction with Annamah's 110th birthday this year, and she was awarded the same title by MBR last year at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

“I have been informed that she is also currently the oldest Malaysian alive,” he added.

-- BERNAMA