Wife of Malaysia's longest-serving PM Mahathir dies aged 100

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Siti ‌Hasmah Mohamad Ali, ​the ​wife of Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and a public health advocate, died on Monday at the age of 100, the veteran leader's ‌office said.

• A funeral would be held on Monday evening, with Siti ⁠Hasmah to be buried at a Muslim cemetery in Malaysia's administrative capital Putrajaya, Mahathir's office said, without ‌providing further details.

• Prime Minister ‌Anwar Ibrahim expressed his condolences on Siti Hasmah's passing, and said she would be accorded a funeral with full state honours.

• "The nation will continue to remember her motherly ​figure and appreciate her contributions and services," Anwar said in a statement.

• Her surviving husband Mahathir, 101, is often credited with modernising Malaysia. He served two stints ⁠as premier, totalling more than two decades.

• During his first tenure between 1981 and 2003, he oversaw a period of ​rapid industrial growth, turning Malaysia into one of Southeast Asia's economic tigers.

• He became the country's oldest prime minister in 2018 after coming ​out of retirement to topple the then-leader Najib ‌Razak, who was involved in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal. But his second stint in office ended in less than two years after ⁠his coalition collapsed in 2020 amid political infighting.

• Mahathir met Siti Hasmah while they were both attending medical school in Singapore in the late 1940s. The couple, who celebrated 70 years of marriage ⁠in August, raised seven children, including businessman Mokhzani, social activist Marina Mahathir, and politician Mukhriz Mahathir.

• ​A popular figure in her own right, Siti Hasmah was known for her unassuming personality and good humour, which contrasted with her husband's blunt and acerbic style.

• She was the first woman to be ‌appointed a medical officer in Mahathir's home state of Kedah and as a political spouse, championed maternal health and family planning among other ‌social causes.

• Mahathir once described her as the backbone to his success, and said he ⁠admired her determination to obtain a ‌university degree, a rarity among ​ethnic Malay women at the time.

• "That, I think, reflects her strength of character," he told CNN in 2018.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by ‌David Stanway)

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