Wife of Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad dies at 100

KUALA LUMPUR - Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, the wife of Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, died on Monday, the veteran leader's office said.

Siti Hasmah, 100, died at the National Heart Institute, state news agency Bernama said, citing the couple's son Mokhzani Mahathir. No further details were immediately available.

Often credited with modernising Malaysia, Mahathir, 101, 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 returned to the top job in 2018, becoming the country's oldest prime minister after coming out of retirement to topple the then-leader Najib Razak, who was involved in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal.

Mahathir's 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. As a political spouse, she championed public health, family planning and 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.

- Rozanna Latiff; Editing by David Stanway/Reuters