KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Bernama) — It was April 23, 1949, when three simple words – “I love you” -marked the beginning of a love story between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.
Little did they know that the story would span more than seven decades.
At the time, both of them were medical students at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore.
They had just returned from watching a film and were walking back to their hostel at Holne Chase when he told her he had something to say.
He then spelled out the three words, one by one, to the woman who would become his wife.
The moment, recounted in the book Siti Hasmah: Citra Wanita Dua Zaman, marked the beginning of a relationship that culminated in their marriage on Aug 4, 1956.
Today, after 70 years of marriage, death has parted the couple, ending a partnership that began as a friendship between two medical students nearly eight decades ago.
Tun Dr Siti Hasmah died at the National Heart Institute (IJN) today at the age of 100, leaving Tun Dr Mahathir, now 101, without the companion who had been by his side since their days as medical students, through family life, medical careers, and decades in public service and politics.
They had first met while pursuing medical studies in Singapore in 1947, with Tun Dr Mahathir helping Tun Dr Siti Hasmah with her studies before their friendship blossomed into romance.
After they married, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah moved to Alor Setar with her husband and served as a medical officer at Alor Setar General Hospital, beginning a new chapter as a wife, doctor and mother.
As Tun Dr Mahathir ventured into politics, she remained by his side, accompanying him at official and informal engagements throughout his years in public life.
She chose, however, not to involve herself in her husband’s political affairs, viewing her role instead as his partner and source of support.
In 2021, Tun Dr Mahathir spoke of how fortunate he felt to have Tun Dr Siti Hasmah beside him through the ups and downs of life.
“I am lucky to have Hasmah with me throughout the 63 years, through thick and thin. She is a doctor and, of course, it is a bonus that at my age, I have a doctor by my side all the time,” he said at the My Voice My Nation event.
Their enduring affection often captured public attention, with the couple seen holding hands, exchanging jokes and spending time together even in their later years.
In 2019, Dr Mahathir shared a photograph of the two of them on an outing in Kuala Lumpur with the simple caption: Sekali sekala bawa Hasmah dating di KL (Once in a while, taking Hasmah on a date in KL).
The couple had four children – Datin Paduka Marina, Tan Sri Mokhzani, Mirzan and Datuk Seri Mukhriz – as well as three adopted children, Maizura, Mazhar and Melinda, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
For years, the phrase “where there is Mahathir, there is Siti Hasmah” reflected how closely the two were associated.
Now, after seven decades of marriage, Tun Dr Mahathir is left with the memories of a relationship that began with three simple words and endured for a lifetime – a bond commemorated even in the Dendrobium Mahathir Siti Hasmah, an orchid named after the couple by Singapore.
— BERNAMA