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, First Lady and a prominent doctor, holds a unique position in Malaysian history. However, her contributions extend beyond her political life and she has several lesser-known achievements. Born in 1921, Dr Hasmah was the only Malay female student in her batch at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore, graduating in 1955.
She began her career as a doctor, moving from hospital wards in Kuala Lumpur to rural communities in Kedah. After the Japanese invasion of Malaya in 1941, Dr Hasmah sat her final school exam as the invasion began, eventually dropping out of school until the war ended. She then worked with Unicef to train traditional midwives in cleaner practices, helping establish rural clinics to retrain midwives.
In 1955, Dr Hasmah rejected a RM10 payment from a patient's family, instead advising them to use the money for food. She was also proud to be accepted by the people of rural Kedah, which helped in reducing the infant mortality rate significantly during her time there.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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