By DayakDaily Team
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28: Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, wife of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, died at the National Heart Institute (IJN) at the age of 100 this morning.
According to Bernama, her death was confirmed by her son, Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir, when contacted by Bernama today.
Tun Dr Siti Hasmah is survived by her husband and seven children.
Meanwhile, according to Free Malaysia Today, Dr Hasmah used her platform as the prime minister’s wife to advocate maternal health, family planning, literacy, drug abuse prevention and mental health.
Dr Mahathir and Dr Hasmah met in 1947 as students at King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore.
They married in August 1956 and had four children together: Marina, Mirzan, Mokhzani, and Mukhriz, while also adopting another three children: Melinda, Mazhar, and Maizura.
Born sixth in a family of 10, Dr Hasmah prefigured the aspirations of young Malaysian women from her early schooling in Klang through to her medical studies in Singapore.
When she graduated in 1955, she became one of the first Malay women doctors—a trailblazer at a time when opportunities for women were limited.
In civil society, she served as president of Bakti (the welfare association of wives of ministers and deputy ministers) and the Malaysian Girl Guides Association, chairwoman of the Kedah Family Planning Association, and patron of numerous healthcare organisations.
In 2019, after undergoing surgery to remove a breast lump detected early, she urged women to embrace regular health checks. — DayakDaily
