A tribute to a courageous woman by Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali
August 1, 2011 in Articles
“This is a story of my sister Saleha, beloved and missed by everyone who knew her.”
Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali
On 21st March 2011, at Ward 28, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, the nation suffered a great loss when Tan Sri Datuk Paduka Dr Hajjah Siti Saleha Mohd Ali passed away. She was fondly known by those dear to her as ‘kakak’ (elder sister in Bahasa Malaysia). Her passing was grieved by many, especially by her family members. Malaysia’s beloved former first-lady, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, who is also Tan Sri’s younger sister, penned a beautifully written tribute for her beloved ‘kakak’. The tribute was intended to highlight her personal life as a widow, a single mother whose passion for caring for her family and her fight against major health catastrophe and tragedies.
We dedicate this entry for the late Tan Sri with an excerpt from the tribute.
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Chapter 4
The Post-War Period: From Education To Welfare
During the early post-war period, Saleha taught for a while at the Pasar Road Primary English School. She was then picked as one of the young Malay women and men to study in England as Teachers at Kirby and Brinsford Colleges. Saleha deviated to London School of Economics instead as advised by elder brother Ismail who was there during the war period. She stayed with Sir Richard Winstedt and Lady Winstedt throughout her stay in London. Sir Richard was an Education Superintendent when they were here in Malaya and knew our family. The young Malayans flew in a seaplane from Geylang Basin, Singapore and took 6 days to reach England stopping at 6 sea ports.
In England, she was together with young Abdul Razak Hussein, Taib Andak, Raja Muda Selangor, Lily Majeed, to name a few. We received letters from her regularly about her activities but what disturbed our parents was that she was known to be mostly at the Airport welcoming Malayans arriving from home!. Saleha was a very kind and caring person and had the welfare of anyone she knew or didn’t at heart. She ensured that strangers to the “OrangPutih” land will be met and made comfortable and settled in England. Thus began her passion for welfare work on her own.
On her return from England, Saleha was posted in Kuala Lumpur as Social Welfare Officer (S.W.O), Selangor, to help in the care of the needy and the underprivileged children. During that time, bundles of clothes arrived at our house to be sorted out and distributed to the poor and needy. She prided herself for being one of the S.W.O’s allowed to visit the emergency areas with food, etc during the May 13th riots and helped those stranded find back their home and families. She did not discriminate against anybody. During my University vacation, she used to take me along to the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station to wait for the pilgrims to arrive from Penang. The older ones were sitting on the platform, their bodies tired and legs aching with the rituals they had performed successfully in Mecca. Saleha would go around amongst them with foods and drinks and urged me to massage their legs and arms while waiting for transport to take them to their next destination.
* Tan Sri Datuk Paduka Dr Hajjah Siti Saleha Mohd Ali was born on 29th January 1923, the third child and eldest daughter to Hj Mohd Ali bin taib and Siti Khadijah bt Ahmad.
** The Perdana Leadership Foundation interviewed the late Tan Sri on 3rd March 2010 for our Oral History Series. The transcript will be published in due course.
Salam sejahtera saya ucapkan kepada Tun Dr. Siti Hamsah Mohamad Ali. (^^>) saya berharap puan disana sihat selalu disamping keluarga puan yang tersayang.
Saya sangat terharu apabila membaca cerita tentang arwah “kakak” puan yang tersayang dan juga cerita tentang kisah lama puan ketika muda bersama arwah ” kakak” puan…saya berdoa kepada tuhan agar puan sentiasa sihat selalu dan semoga tuhan memberkati usaha dan amalan mulia puan dan Dr. Mahathir sehingga kini…
Puan, saya berharap puan memahami perasaan saya…sebenarnya saya amat merindui puan serta suami puan yang tersayang, sudah sekian lama tidak melihat puan dan suami puan, jikalau boleh saya ingin berjumpa dengan puan dan suami puan buat kali terakhir…saya masih ingat lagi ketika saya berumur 9 tahun,saya sedang mendodoikan adik perempuan saya yang baru berumur 18 hari, pada ketika itu saya sedang menonton saluran TV1. Pada hari itu ialah Hari Kemerdekaan iaitu 31 Ogos 2002, saya sangat kagum serta bangga melihat perarakan kemerdekaan pada waktu itu..saya teringin sekali melambaikan tangan saya kepada puan dan suami puan..saya begitu sayang terhadap puan kerana puan dan suami puan banyak membantu kami lebih-lebih lagi kami orang sarawak dan sabah..walaupun saya waktu itu hanya berumur 9 tahun namun saya bangga dan sedar betapa majunya malaysia pada ketika itu…saya sangat bangga menjadi anak malaysia pada ketika itu…
saya mengakhiri coretan saya disini dan semoga suatu hari nanti saya dapat berjumpa dengan puan dan suami puan…Puan dan suami puan adalah idola saya yang saya sanjungi sehingga kini…sampaikanlah salam saya buat suami puan yang tersayang..dan berdoalah kepada saya agar saya mendapat keputusan SPM yang cemerlang buat tahun ini kerana dalam masa 150 hari lagi..saya akan menduduki SPM yang bakal menentukan masa hadapan saya…terima kasih untuk segala-galanya Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Mhd Ali (^^>)