Tun Dr Hasmah Mohd Ali turns 100 today.
The wife of Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was born on July 12 1926 in Kampung Jawa, Klang, Selangor, according to the Perdana Leadership Foundation.
Source: Perdana Leadership Foundation · July 27, 2026 at 11:00 PM · AI-assisted report
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PUTRAJAYA, 28 JULY 2026 —
The wife of Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was born on July 12 1926 in Kampung Jawa, Klang, Selangor, according to the Perdana Leadership Foundation.
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She was one of Malaya’s earliest Malay female doctors, graduating from King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore. She met her future husband while both were medical students; they married on August 4 1956.
Tun Dr Hasmah spent 30 years in public health. In 1965 she became Kedah’s first woman Medical Officer in the Maternal and Child Health Department. By 1974 she had been appointed the state’s first female State Maternal and Child Health Officer, serving until 1992.
During her tenure infant mortality in Kedah fell from 75 per 1,000 live births to 7 per 1,000, the foundation said.
She later became the first spouse of a prime minister to receive the Seri Setia Mahkota Malaysia award, conferring the title “Tun.”
Tun Dr Hasmah also chaired the National Population and Family Development Board and served on boards of charitable organisations focused on women’s welfare, youth development and family well-being, the foundation said.
Her cultural passions include violin and piano; P. Ramlee classics feature among her favourites. In later life she learnt French and took up the erhu, continuing a pattern of lifelong learning.
She has travelled to every continent including Antarctica, accompanying Dr Mahathir on official visits for decades.
The Perdana Leadership Foundation said her life “reminds us that leadership is grounded in compassion, integrity, and service to others.”
An exhibition titled Tun Dr Hasmah Hj Mohd Ali: A Life of Service, Leadership, and Grace runs at the foundation’s Putrajaya premises from July 13 to July 30. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission.
Related: Putrajaya