Dr Hasmah Ali was a class act

Dr Hasmah Ali’s death at the age of 100 raises speculation about what role she played in the longevity of her husband, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is a year older and still subsisting.

Long-serving leaders of countries are known to have depended on their long-lived wives to endure by their side because of symbiotic value.

One recalls the closeness of Siti Hartinah, popularly known as Ibu Tien, to her husband, Indonesian president Suharto.

Ibu Tien died at the age of 72 in 1996. Because of the closeness of the Indonesian first couple, her death was seen as a bad omen, especially after Suharto was pressured to leave office in 1998 as a result of civil disturbances.

Unlike Ibu Tien, no controversy swirled around Hasmah during Mahathir’s long prime ministerial tenure of 22 years.

That must count as an achievement, especially in retrospect given the controversies that have come to light surrounding the tenures of other first ladies.

When Mahathir was prime minister, Hasmah knew how to be visible without being conspicuous and supportive without seeming like an appendage.

Her education — she was one of the first Malay women doctors — no doubt helped forge her equipoise.

Kwa Geok Choo, wife of another long-serving leader, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, was also like Hasmah in being visibly supportive without wanting or enjoying equal billing.

But it was easier for Kwa because she did not have to constantly accompany her husband in his public role as Hasmah had to in respect of Mahathir.

She was busy running a law firm that supported her family — “I am a kept man”, as Lee wryly remarked — and so she had a reason not to be constantly at her husband’s side.

Hasmah was a great help to her husband on public occasions that required an expression of grief and sympathy.

Her evident but understated sorrow, expressed in sympathy visits following tragedies such as the collapse of Highlands Towers in 1993 and the fire at Bright Sparklers that killed several people, as well as visits to the widows of Cabinet ministers such as Chan Siang Sun, was unfeigned and moving.

One thing that was intriguing about Hasmah was the frequency with which she appeared in public without a headscarf. Yet, there was hardly a qualm about her rectitude as a Muslim woman.

Now, that was superlative.

Terence Netto is a senior journalist and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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