Spirit of Saleha
The Star – 29 January 2006
To many Malaysians, Tan Sri Paduka Saleha Mohd Ali is better known as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s sister-in-law, but REENA GURBAKSH discovers that her own achievements and private battles offer a much more accurate picture of this indomitable octogenarian.  
TODAY is Tan Sri Paduka Saleha Mohd Ali’s 83rd birthday, and this should give her plenty of cause to celebrate.  
“Who would have thought that I’d still be here,’’ chuckles the octogenarian at the thought of having outlived most of her peers. But, as she says, her achievement lies not so much in living to a ripe old age, but that the long life blessed upon her has given her opportunity to be of service to the country.  The Mohd Ali family feels it is our duty to serve God and the people ... not to make a name for ourselves,’’ she says at a recent interview at her home in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.  
However, the two may not be mutually exclusive in the case of her famous family: Her sister is Tun Dr Siti Hasmah, the country’s former First Lady, so many Malaysians invariably refer to Saleha as former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s wheelchair-bound sister-in-law. (This is due mainly to her poor eyesight.)   
Saleha’s other siblings are the late Tun Ismail, former Bank Negara Governor; the late Datuk Ahmad Razali, former Selangor Mentri Besar; Gen (Rtd) Tan Sri Hashim, former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces; the late Datuk Jaafar who won numerous advertising accolades; architect Datuk Zainal Abidin; and a sister, Jameah.  
“If we wanted something, we worked for it,’’ she says. “Serving the country is serious work. Because I am educated, I couldn’t make a slip and make a name for myself the easy way. When my sister was First Lady and Mahathir was PM, I had to watch it. Ismail was at the bank ... I did not want to embarrass any of them.’’  
Born in Klang, she was educated in St Mary’s in Kuala Lumpur and then trained to be a teacher. Thanks to what she calls “a progressive father’’ (he was a public trustee and official assignee), Saleha was one of the first two Malay women to go to the London School of Economics (LSE) for further studies in the 1940s.  
“I wanted to do law but my brothers who were already there said that women didn’t become lawyers, so I did Economics. It was difficult to get a scholarship, but I got it.’’  
She tells of how, while studying, she had a job as an announcer for the BBC: “I was paid 11 guineas a week. I also taught Malay to the orang putih who were coming to Malaya. I got four shillings an hour. I was rich and many Malaysian students borrowed money but sampai sekarang belum bayar (not paid back till now). Imagine the interest if I collected now!’’  
Her father’s faith in her was definitely well placed – Saleha came back and became a welfare officer in Selangor.  
“Everyone knows that I have done a lot for the state. Early in my career, the Selangor Sultan and his family had no palace. (Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah had given up his residence after the Japanese Occupation to be used as the first Islamic College in the Federation of Malaya). A man called Mr Chan had 26 wives and a big house. I helped to persuade him to give up his house for the Sultan.’’  This house, now Istana Negara, was bought for the use of the Sultan of Selangor before it was acquired by the Federal Government in 1954.   Saleha was also involved with helping Datuk Onn Jaafar, founder of Umno, form the party in the 1940s.  
Over the next half a century, she carved out her own credentials as a tireless worker in social and welfare work. She has held numerous posts in various organisations and is still on the board of many, including the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (Asli), Universal Peace Federation (UPF), United Nations Association of Malaysia (Unam), HELP Institute, Malaysian Liver Foundation and Malaysian Federation for the Deaf.  
To honour her contributions, she was awarded the Tan Sri-ship in 2004.   
“To be a leader, you have to learn first. Be humble and work hard,’’ she says.  
And this means not being motivated by money: “Many people think it is fun to make money out of politics. I only have had my director’s fee and my seatbelts (she has a company that makes seatbelts which are sold overseas). Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah) gave me this licence when he became Trade Minister. I could be a multi-millionaire if I wanted, but my only sin has been my bad temper,’’ she jokes.  
Despite hobnobbing with the world’s top-notch leaders – she is friends with the likes of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, as well as Formula One racer Michael Schumacher! – Saleha still enjoys interacting with ordinary folk.   She is affectionately known as “kakak Paduka’’ among the staff at many of her organisations, and the children in the school for the deaf in Kelana Jaya, Selangor, refer to her as “nenek’’ (grandmother). One welfare volunteer says: “She is kind and very concerned, but stern with people who don’t know what they are doing.’’  Her dislike for inefficiency could stem from the fact that Saleha has always been on top of all her work: “I used to have as many as 22 (committees) all at one time. How did I do it? I had one meeting everyday. During the times I was ill in hospital, I held meetings there,’’ she says.  
She has indeed had numerous episodes of life-threatening conditions: an ectopic pregnancy in 1954, a perforated appendicitis in 1978, a brain tumour in 1992, breast cancer in 1993, gastro intestinal tumour in 2001 and cancer of the uterus last year.  
Despite the adversities, this spirited woman never lost the will to carry on with life.  
“She is a highly motivated individual whose drive comes from the fact that she has so much to do. She is willing to go through whatever is necessary to get well so that she can get things done,’’ says consultant gynaecological oncologist Dr Alex Matthews, who was Saleha’s doctor during her most recent bout with cancer.  
Nevertheless, her health scares have caused her family many an anxious moment over the years.  
“I drove to Penang (from Perlis) to be operated on for my ectopic pregnancy. Mahathir was a doctor there and he looked after me ... and this was before he and my sister were married,’’ Saleha says.  Saleha married Mohd Zain Ahmad in 1953 and he went on to become the Auditor-General. They have three sons, two of whom live in Malaysia and one in Australia. Sadly, Saleha’s husband passed away after a severe stroke in 1980.  
“My husband never called me anything but darling,’’ she says. “ I never liked anyone before I met him. He was the commissioner of scouts for Perlis. In 1949, he came here for a meeting and brought his four-year-old son from a previous marriage. He left the boy in the car and I found him crying, so I scolded the father for forgetting his son. That made him fall in love with me,’’ she remembers.  Now, as a widow, it is obvious that she relies on her sister and brother-in-law for comfort and support.   
“During my operation last year, Mahathir didn’t allow my sister to travel with him. He came back from his trip and came straight to the hospital to see if I was OK,’’ says Saleha.  
The affection that the sisters share is plain to see: Siti Hasmah says “I am the family doctor and she always comes to me first’’, while Saleha says “ My little sister is wonderful, humble and full of humility.’’  Dr Siti Hasmah is also in awe of Saleha’s courage in facing her health battles: “Kakak was lucky to always have early signs. She has been in and out of hospitals so much that she jokes that she is a PR (permanent resident).  
“I have to humour her but also be firm. In 1999, she got Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) during her flight from New York and she can no longer fly. She often says that she wants to go for umrah, but I told her she’ll have to go by ship.’’  The former First Lady also tells how, luckily, her sister seems to bounce back very quickly after every surgery: “After the last operation, she was weak and couldn’t talk, so we gave her a book to write instructions. When she got angry that the nurses didn’t understand her, she pinched them. We took it as a sign that she was recovering!’’  Saleha says what keeps her going is also her “unfinished symphony’’ – a special hospital for women and children which she hopes to see set up.  
“A few days ago I heard that they are going to have one near HKL, and I am so happy. I hope it is a specialist hospital like the one I saw in Fukuoka (Japan) when I visited with Datuk Chua Jui Meng (former Health Minister) years ago. It had 28 beds and the women came and stayed for eight days to have their babies.’’  
It sure looks like this grand dame still has no plans of ‘retiring’. In fact, she says: “My future years are no longer mine. It is for other people. I have been blessed with ‘extra life’, so I will not waste it.’’  Here’s wishing her many more birthdays. 
Source: The Star | http://thestar.com.my