Remembering the legacy of Dr Hasmah, ‘Ibu Negara’ Malaysia

Dr Hasmah Mohamad Ali, affectionately known as "Ibu Negara" in Malaysia, passed away this morning at the age of 100. The pioneering physician and wife of Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was married to her husband for 64 years and together they had seven children. Born in Klang, Selangor on July 12, 1926, she was the sixth of ten children in a family of notable figures.

Her siblings included prominent figures such as her brothers Tun Ismail Mohamed Ali, Gen Tun Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali, and Datuk Ahmad Razali Mohd Ali, as well as her sister Tan Sri Dr Saleha Mohd Ali, all of whom were influential in their respective fields. Hasmah made history as one of the first Malay women to enroll at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore and became the first Malay woman medical officer in the Maternal and Child Health Department in 1965.

She served in various roles throughout her career, including being the first woman State Maternal and Child Health Officer in Kedah, a lecturer in the University of Malaya's Faculty of Dentistry, and a senior diplomat. After her husband became prime minister in 1976, she served as his spouse until 2003, and again from 2018 to 2020.

Known as "Ibu Negara" by Malaysians, she championed causes such as maternal healthcare, family planning, anti-narcotics advocacy, and rural adult literacy. Dr Hasmah also played a significant role in international diplomacy, leading Malaysia's delegation to the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and serving as the inaugural chancellor of Multimedia University from 1997 to 2012.

Throughout her later years, she continued to be an icon of culture and learning, resuming her violin playing and mastering French and the Chinese erhu. Her autobiography, My Name is Hasmah, described her husband as her "hero". She requested to be known as Hasmah rather than her socially added prefix 'Siti', and bravely spoke about her 2019 breast cancer treatment to promote women's health awareness.

Condolences have been flooding in from across the political and royal spectrum following her passing.