The music in Hasmah never quite left

On April 16 this year, Dr Hasmah Ali went to see an old friend in Alor Setar who was recovering from spinal and neck surgery.

She brought her violin.

Writer Rahim Said recalled the scene: Hasmah arriving at the home of an old friend with an instrument she had first played as a girl.

It was a quiet moment, but it carried a remarkable history.

Hasmah had stopped playing at 16 to concentrate on her studies. The violin then disappeared from her life for about seven decades.

At 86, she picked it up again.

This was not simply nostalgia. Hasmah found a teacher, began practising and worked at the instrument despite poor eyesight. She learnt some pieces by ear.

Then she started performing again.

The public first saw that return in December 2018, at the “Duo Lagenda” concert at Istana Budaya. Hasmah joined Jamal Abdillah and M Nasir on stage, playing a solo version of “Fatwa Pujangga” before accompanying the two singers on other numbers.

It was more than a musical appearance.

Hasmah dedicated the performance to firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, whose wedding was supposed to have taken place that day. She asked the audience to recite Al-Fatihah for him.

Her 20-minute performance ended with a standing ovation.

A year later, at 93, she performed at a charity hi-tea organised by Yayasan Universiti Multimedia. She played three songs, including “Gubahanku” and “Terkenang-kenang”.

That same year, she appeared at the SMK St Mary Alumni Club gala dinner, playing for more than 1,000 guests.

The performances revealed a side of Hasmah that official photographs rarely captured.

She was not simply the wife of a former prime minister appearing at a ceremonial event. She had returned to an instrument she had abandoned as a teenager, taken lessons and practised until she was ready to stand before an audience again.

And she seemed to enjoy what music gave her: company.

In 2025, as she approached her 99th birthday, Hasmah performed at the “Nota Percaya” charity concert in Kuala Lumpur, sharing the stage with Bella Astillah, Fauziah Latiff, Yusni Hamid and Lah Ahmad.

Bella later recalled rehearsing privately with Hasmah. The singer played guitar while Hasmah played the violin.

There was something lovely about the image.

At 99, Hasmah was still preparing for a performance. She was still learning, practising and making music with someone from another generation.

After her death, Singapore senior minister Lee Hsien Loong remembered that side of her too. He recalled conversations about her love of music and the violin, and noted that she continued performing into her 90s, including for charity.

Hasmah once said that returning to the violin had shown her that age should not stop anyone from pursuing a dream.

She lived it.

And on that April visit to Alor Setar, she carried the violin into the home of an old friend recovering from surgery.

After the concert halls, the charity events and the standing ovations, the instrument had found its way back to an old friend, somewhere quieter.

And perhaps, fittingly, to the kind of company that had always made the music worth playing.

The story had begun with a schoolgirl and a violin. It ended with an old woman still carrying it with her.

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