Tun Dr Siti Hasmah: 4 little-known facts about Malaysia’s former first lady
[This article was originally published on 5 Feb 2018. The article was translated from BM on Soscili.] Who would have thought ... The post 4 amazing things you might not have known about our former First Lady: Tun Dr…
Source: Cilisos · September 29, 2026 at 7:32 PM · AI-assisted report
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SINGAPORE, 29 SEPTEMBER 2026 —
[ This article was originally published on 5 Feb 2018. The article was translated from BM on Soscili . ] Who would have thought Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali , the wife of Tun Mahathir, would one day become the First Lady of Malaysia again!
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Some time in February 2018, social media caught wind Siti Hasmah being taken in by the police for “interrogation” over a speech she had given during the Women against Toxic Politics rally last year. Knowing how taking a nonagenarian into custody must have looked to some, especially after her husband was elected as the leader against the government , PDRM made it clear that they only brought her in to record her statement .
“PDRM regards these seditious remarks seriously .” – Chief of Criminal Investigations Department, Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd, quoted from Astro Awani Indeed, some comments from significant figures have been publicised by the media. Former lead editor of the New Straits Times (NST), Mustapha Kamil Mohd Janor joked that he thought the police were recording the statement of Jho Low (of 1MDB fame), but it turned out to be only Siti Hasmah instead.
Tengku Razaleigh , UMNO veteran and former political rival of Tun M said that police’s action only made the government look bad . Most of you must at least heard about Tun Dr Siti Hasmah, but beyond the fact that she is the wife of Malaysia’s new PM and her s uper adorbs photos with her hubby , what else do we actually know about the 7th and returning FLOM?
SOSCILI shares 4 lesser known facts about her. Back in the day, doctors were rare and few, and female doctors even more so. Tun Siti Hasmah found herself to be the only Malay female student when she enrolled in King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore. It was there she met Tun Mahathir and started to beroman. Tun M graduated in 1953 , then Siti Hasmah followed suit 2 years later.
Tun Dr Siti Hasmah is the second Malay woman ever to become a doctor , after Tan Sri Dr Salma Ismail who graduated in 1947 . Even so, Tun Siti Hasmah is a pioneer in many aspects by her own right. She was the first woman Medical Officer in North Kedah , and also the first woman to be appointed Maternal and Child Health Officer of Kedah.
She advocated for family planning on behalf of rural Malay mothers that often had their health overlooked due to repeated child bearing , and was later appointed the State Maternal and Child Health Officer. Aside from that, she also campaigned for many public health causes, including awareness for mental health and drug abuse , often attending international conferences on behalf of Malaysia.
Plus, she’s held so many public positions it’d put that one overachieving classmate we all had in Form 5 to shame. Siti Hasmah was also elected as the Patron of Badminton Association of Malaysia when Tun Mahathir was PM. Coincidentally in that time, our badminton players brought back the Thomas Cup in 1992 , a feat not achieved since 1970 !
Tun Siti Hasmah was born the 6th child in a family with 10 children , but she was far from the only one that had achieved great heights in Malaysia. Her older brother was actually the first Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the late Tun Ismail Mohd Ali , also the longest serving governor in Malaysian history .
He was also involved the Dawn Raid project , which was a sneaky market-y attack during Tun Mahathir’s time to wrestle control of a British company. He was also the first President of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) , a government linked investment fund especially for bumiputeras. Her prominent younger brother is Tan Sri Hashim Mohd Ali , a former Chief of the Defence Forces in the Armed Forces, who served from 1987 to 1992.
He was among those who were involved in the 1989 peace negotiations between Malaysia and the Malaya Communist Party in Haadyai (No, Chin Peng wasn’t there because he surrendered later). Tan Sri Hashim Mohd Ali later became the Chairman of Ajinomoto (Malaysia) and National Aerospace & Defence Industries Sdn.Bhd . Several other siblings are prominent in politics instead. Tan Sri Ahmad Razali Mohd.
Ali was the 10th Chief Minister of Selangor, while her sister Datuk Paduka Dr Hajah Saleha , was one of the central figures in the founding of UMNO . She was a vocal opponent towards Malayan Union, and the only female speaker in the 3rd National Congress, which is the one that lead to the birth of UMNO .
Interestingly, she was also the one that united Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah , and she even went with Anwar to Dr Wan Azizah’s house to ask for her parent’s blessings. Ever since the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq , the country and its people have been caught in violent unrest , with news about bombings or terrorist attacks every other day.
In 2000 (before Saddam’s fall), Tun Siti Hasmah, some doctors and several NGOs made a trip to the country to deliver humanitarian aid. The Iraq that she saw was no longer one of the most modern cities in West Asia. Compared to the Iraq she knew, this was a land of poverty and suffering .
Her visit to the Amiriyah shelter bombing site , where at least 408 civilians were killed by 2 US “smart bombs” was particularly unsettling. “Tun Siti Hasmah’s visit was absolutely heartbreaking.
She saw for herself the human shadows and skin that were imprinted on the walls by the heat radiation of the bombs.” – quoted from Utusan Online Even in that condition, a trade and economic sanction was imposed on the country (which Malaysia didn’t agree with), making food and even medicine inaccessible. She was even taken to see Saddam alone .
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