From violin to rural medicine, 10 things Malaysians may have forgotten about Dr Hasmah
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — It is easy to remember Tun Dr Hasmah Mohamad Ali through the people and institutions aroun...
Dr Hasmah Mohamad Ali, Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister's wife, held a rich and diverse life beyond her political roles. Born in 1921, she was the only Malay female student in her medical batch at King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore, graduating in 1955. Her medical career took her from Kuala Lumpur hospital wards to rural Kedah communities.
As a young teenager, she had to stop her education due to the Japanese invasion, a period that led her to pursue medicine instead of journalism. Her medical work included partnering with Unicef to train traditional midwives in cleaner practices and establishing government clinics to support midwives in rural areas. Dr Hasmah once famously declined a RM10 payment from a patient's family, instead advising them to use the money for food.
She was particularly proud of being accepted by rural Kedah communities, seeing her acceptance as a sign of the villagers' trust in her. During her tenure as Kedah's State Maternal and Child Health Officer, she helped reduce the infant mortality rate from 75 deaths per 1,000 births to seven per 1,000.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
