Siti Hasmah

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Yang
Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr.
Siti Hasmah Mohammad Ali

First Lady of
Malaysia

In office
July 16, 1981 – October
31, 2003

Preceded by

Toh
Puan Suhaila Tan Sri Noah

Succeeded by

Datin Paduka Seri
Endon

Spouse

Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohammad

Children

Marina Mahathir,
Mukhriz Mahathir,
Mokhzani
Mahathir

Alma mater

Malaya
University, Singapore

Occupation

Medical doctor

Religion

Islam

Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah binti
Mohamad Ali is the wife of the 4th Prime Minister of
Malaysia, Tun Mahathir
Mohammad. She served as First Lady of Malaysia for 23 years from
1981–2003.

She is currently the chancellor of the Multimedia
University of Malaysia.

Contents

1 Early life

2 First Lady

3 Social
contributions

3.1 Drug abuse

3.2 Rural women

3.3 Mental
health

4 Awards and
recognition

5 External links

[edit]
Early life

Often a pioneer in her profession, Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah was one of the first
Malay women to enroll for a medical course at the King Edward VII College of
Medicine in Singapore after World War II.

In 1955 she graduated as a medical doctor from the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya,
which was then located in Singapore. She subsequently
joined the government health service. She was one of the first Malay woman doctors in then
Malaya.

Ten years later, she became the first woman to be appointed Medical Officer
in the Maternal and Child Health Department, and in 1974, she was the first
woman to be appointed the State Maternal and Child Health Officer.

Siti Hasmah is the author of several articles on family medicine and the
socioeconomic factors associated with pregnancy and childbearing in
Malaysia.

[edit]
First Lady

Siti Hasmah became the First Lady of Malaysia following the appointment of
her husband as Prime Minister in 1981.

She used her position as the wife of the Prime Minister to campaign
tirelessly for women's health, family planning, drug abuse control and adult
literacy. She also served in various positions as follows:

President of the Malaysian Girl Guides Association

Chairman of the Kedah Family Planning Association

President of the Malaysian Medical Association Foundation

President of the Association for the Rehabilitation of Handicapped
Children

Vice President of the Federation of Family Planning Associations of
Malaysia

Patron of the Malaysian Association of Maternal Health and Neonate

Patron of the Malaysian Pediatric Association

As Patron of the Pan Pacific South Asia Women's Association, (PPSEAWA)
Malaysia, Siti Hasmah attended and presented keynote addresses at the Triennial
Conferences in Tokyo (1984), Bangkok (1991) and Tonga (1994).

[edit]
Social contributions

[edit]
Drug abuse

As President of BAKTI (Welfare Club of the Wives of Ministers and Deputy
Ministers), Siti Hasmah was active in efforts to educate young people about the
dangers of drug abuse. In 1985, at the invitation of United States First Lady
Nancy
Reagan, she attended the First Ladies' Conference on Drug Abuse in Washington D.C. She also
represented Malaysia at the International
Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Vienna in 1987.

[edit]
Rural women

Siti Hasmah was also active internationally in promoting the cause of rural
women. In 1992, at the invitation of Queen Fabiola of
Belgium, she attended the First Ladies Summit for the Economic Advancement
of Rural Women in Geneva. She was chosen as one of
the six Core-Group Initiators of First Ladies representing the Asia-Pacific
Region.

The summit was initiated by the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) under the patronage of Queen Fabiola. At the end of the
Summit, the First Ladies endorsed the Geneva Declaration on Rural Women, an
instrument to formulate policies and programmes to enhance the economic
advancement and welfare of rural women and their families.

At the summit, Siti Hasmah stressed the "with proper education and training,
rural women can help raise literate and productive children who, in turn, can be
positive contributors to a nation's growth and prosperity."

In February 1994, Siti Hasmah attended the ISC Council Meeting in Brussels at the
invitation of Queen Fabiola. Then, in September 1995, she was appointed as
Chairperson of Regional Steering Committee on the Economic Advancement of Rural
and Island Women for Asia Pacific Region.

Eventually, in November 1996, she took over the presidency of the
International Steering Committee for Economic Advancement of Rural and Island
Women for Asia Pacific Region.

[edit]
Mental health

Being a medical doctor by training, Siti Hasmah also has an interest in
mental health. Former United States First Lady
Rosalynn Carter invited
Siti Hasmah to serve on the National Committee of the World Federation of Mental
Health which Mrs Carter chaired.

[edit]
Awards and recognition

For her 23 years of public service, her voluntary work, and her leadership in
the fields of public health, literacy and drug abuse control, Siti Hasmah has
received many honours. The Yang di-Pertuan
Agong, as well as the Sultan of Selangor
and the Sultan of Kedah, have
bestowed titles upon her.

In 1988, she was awarded the Kazue McLaren Award by the Asia Pacific
Consortium for Public Health.

In 1991, Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia conferred on her the Honorary Doctorate in Medical
Science.

In 1992, the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland, conferred on her the
Honorary Doctorate in Public Health.

In May 1994, Indiana University, Bloomington conferred on Siti Hasmah the
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and in August the same year, she received
an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada.

On June
20, 1997 she was
appointed as the Chancellor, Multimedia
University (MMU) and patrons MESCORP.

In 2003, she was conferred the highest honorary title of Tun along
with her husband, Dr Mahathir, by the Yang di-Pertuan
Agong of Malaysia.

[edit]
External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siti_Hasmah"

Categories: Malaysian
doctors | Multimedia
University | Spouses
of the Prime Ministers of Malaysia | Year of birth
missing

Hidden categories: Articles
lacking sources from November 2007 | All
articles lacking sources

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This page was last modified on 14 May 2008, at 19:59.

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