Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali

Born in Klang, Selangor on 12 July 1926, Siti Hasmah is an ethnic Malay (retired) physician of Minangkabau descent from Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. She schooled in SMK St. Mary. She obtained her MBBS from the University of Malaya in Singapore.[1] Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah was one of the first Malay women to enroll for a medical course at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore (now the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine) after World War II.

In 1955 she graduated as a medical doctor from the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, which was then located in Singapore. She subsequently joined the government health service. She was one of the first Malay woman doctors in then Malaya. She married Mahathir the following year in August.[2] They have seven children, Marina, Mirzan, Melinda, Mokhzani, Mukhriz, Maizura and Mazhar.

In 1966, she attended a public health certificate program at the School of Public Health, the University of Michigan.[3]

Ten years later, she became the first woman to be appointed Medical Officer in the Maternal and Child Health Department, and in 1974, she was the first woman to be appointed the State Maternal and Child Health Officer.

Siti Hasmah is the author of several articles on family medicine and the socioeconomic factors associated with pregnancy and childbearing in Malaysia.

Siti Hasmah (center) seen alongside her husband, Mahathir Mohamad during a visitation trip at Bukit Merah, Perak.

Siti Hasmah became the wife of Malaysia prime minister following the appointment of her husband as Prime Minister in 1981.

She used her position as the wife of the Prime Minister to campaign tirelessly for women's health, family planning, drug abuse control and adult literacy. She also served in various positions as follows:

• President of the Malaysian Girl Guides Association
• Chairman of the Kedah Family Planning Association
• President of the Malaysian Medical Association Foundation
• President of the Association for the Rehabilitation of Handicapped Children
• Vice-President of the Federation of Family Planning Associations of Malaysia
• Patron of the Malaysian Association of Maternal Health and Neonate
• Patron of the Malaysian Pediatric Association
• Patron of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM)[4]

As Patron of the Pan Pacific South Asia Women's Association, (PPSEAWA) Malaysia, Siti Hasmah attended and presented keynote addresses at the Triennial Conferences in Tokyo (1984), Bangkok (1991) and Tonga (1994).

She again served as the wife of the prime minister after her husband was reappointed on May 10, 2018.

For her 23 years of public service, her voluntary work, and her leadership in the fields of public health, literacy and drug abuse control, Siti Hasmah has received many honours. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as well as the Sultan of Selangor and the Sultan of Kedah, have bestowed titles upon her.

In 1988, she was awarded the Kazue McLaren Award by the Asia Pacific Consortium for Public Health.

In 1991, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia conferred on her the Honorary Doctorate in Medical Science.

In 1992, the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland, conferred on her the Honorary Doctorate in Public Health.

In May 1994, Indiana University, Bloomington conferred on Siti Hasmah the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and in August the same year, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

On 20 June 1997 she was appointed as the Chancellor, Multimedia University (MMU) and patrons MESCORP.

In 2003, she was conferred the highest honorary title of Tun along with her husband, Dr Mahathir, by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia.

• My Name is Hasmah. Karangkraf Group, 2016.[7]

• Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia