WIM HONOURS A GREAT LADY
-
Dato
Dr. Nellie Tan-Wong,
CEO, Women’s Institute of Management
She graduated as a medical doctor at a time when it was not common for a
young Malay woman to choose the medical
profession as her career. She was fated
to marry Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s dynamic fourth Prime Minister,
who brought about a lot of development
to Malaysia and introduced the “Look East” policy. She joined the government service and became
the second woman medical officer in the state of Kedah, when she frequently
rode on motorbikes to get into the interior to take care of pregnant women in
the rural areas. This is Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah bte Mohd Ali, an extraordinary
woman who lived through an extraordinary experience. In 1979 she decided to stop
working to concentrate fully on her role as mother to her children and as wife
of the Minister of Education who was later elevated to Deputy Prime Minister
and Prime Minister of Malaysia respectively.
Today, four of her seven children have made a mark in their lives. Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir is a highly respected social activist. Mirzan Mahathir and Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir
are wellknown and very successful
corporate leaders and Dato’ Mukhriz Mahathir is none less than the Menteri
Besar of the state of Kedah. She was responsible for putting Malaysia and
Malaysian women into the international spotlight. She met and held discussions with Nancy Reagan, wife
of US President, Ronald Reagan, Rosalyn Carter, wife of another US President,
Jimmy Carter, Queen Fabiola of Belgium, Queen Noor Hussain of Jordan, UK’s Queen Elizabeth II and Cherie
Blair wife of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah is gifted in music and she plays the piano and the
violin. It is a wonder she found time to
research and write several articles on family medicine and the socio-economic
factors associated with pregnancy and childbearing in Malaysia. Some of her research and writings have been
turned into a 2-volume book entitled “Women, Customs and Health” published by
the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka in 1985.
She was president of BAKTI, the Welfare Association of Wives of
Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries from 1981-2003. With this platform, she was very active in
promoting initiatives to educate young people about the dangers of drug
abuse. Her efforts attracted international recognition and she was invited
to speak at high profile international
conferences.
She was Patron and President of numerous
associations and as Patron of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, put
in great efforts to promote badminton in the country. In BAKTI, she created a programme called
Tunas Bakti which regularly takes in between 30-50 badminton players from primary
schools to train them early and discover
talent. Also, through BAKTI, there are BAKTI women’s
badminton groups in all states of Malaysia.
She became so involved with badminton that she would get hot, wholesome
meals sent to the national badminton players and officials when they were undergoing
intensive training.
She was Chancellor of the Malaysia Multimedia University for 15 years and
during this time used to arrange for meet-the-students’ session with her
husband, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed under
the sponsorship of the Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana. These sessions created a very healthy and
beneficial relationship with the university students.
For her 21 years of public service, voluntary work and leadership, Tun
Dr. Siti Hasmah has been honoured with numerous honours, awards and doctorates
– more than any other woman in Malaysia.
On 19 December 2014, the Women’s Institute of Management (WIM), of which
she is Honorary Life Member, honoured this great lady by naming the “Tun Dr.
Siti Hasmah VIP Lounge” in their 6-storey building, Wisma WIM, at Taman Tun Dr.
Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. It was an event of
celebration, attended by 150 persons from more than 10 NGOs.
Even the weather was kind and it did not rain, when it did the day before and the day after. Ms. Tan
Tok Kee from Wanita MCA said, “It was
amazing; the atmosphere throughout the
function was so joyful”.
Before Tun Dr. Siti officiated the opening ceremony, a Doa Selamat was
read by Uztaz Muhammed Zakariyya bin Zainul Abidin, the Assistant Principal of
the ITQAN Integrated School. After Tun
Dr. Siti pulled the curtains covering the signboard, the VIP Lounge was opened
for her and for all the guests to enter. Features of the VIP Lounge worth
mentioning are the wall placing of a
giant portrait of Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah painted by Imuda, 2 rows of family
photographs, a lighted ceiling with hand painted bunga raya, a VIP pantry and
restroom.
When Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah entered the Auditorium she was welcomed by a
thunderous applause from the 150 or so guests and officials of WIM. The programme started with the presentation
of the WIM Corporate Video, an Opening Speech by WIM Chairperson, Tan Sri Dato
Napsiah Omar, followed by a Citation on Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah by me, as the
Organising Committee Chairperson and CEO of WIM.
In her speech, Tan Sri Napsiah took the opportunity to update the
audience with some of the most recent
developments in WIM. She
informed that up till 30.11.2014, WIM
had delivered 657 free courses / events benefitting 28,499 participants
throughout the country, mostly disadvantaged women’s groups. Secondly WIM’s contract with the UNFPA has
been extended till 2017. WIM’s Website
attracts “hits” from 142 countries, the latest of which is a small African nation, Bukina Faso, a
small African nation which has attracted
world news lately because of the political challenges which it is facing.
Finally, with a twinkle in her eye, Tan Sri Napsiah announced that WIM is now
“in the blue” which means that the 6-storey Wisma WIM is free of encumbrances
and wholly owned by WIM.
The speech from the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development,
Y.B. Datuk Hajjah Rohani Karim, was a “shot in the arm” wonderful surprise to
WIM. She commended WIM for our
achievements in delivering so many free courses for disadvantaged women’s group
throughout Malaysia, our success in delivering the UK MBA Degree Programme and
our achievement in producing a Business
Journal, INSPIRE and several other publications. She said, “To achieve such a professional
standard in WIM is great and marvellous.
What more do we want? WIM has shown a very high performing standard
in its teaching techniques, and I should
say is of world class standard”. On WIM’s delivery of many skills training
programmes for disadvantaged women’s groups, she added. “These are good lessons
which other women NGOs, which do not receive government aid, should also follow. This is what I call “Malaysia Boleh” and Syabas and Congratulations to WIM for
delivering the right quality and qualifications for Malaysian women”. She
closed her speech with a very surprise and welcomed statement that her Ministry will be entering into a
strategic partnership with WIM.
Following the speeches and citation, came the turn for WIM office-bearers
and staff to honour the Guest-of-Honour, by presenting a Mini WIM Concert-all
home-grown or all WIM-grown, while Hi-Tea was being served.
The first performance, The “Tarian Poco-Poco” was led by Mrs. Eliza
Cherry Chong, Deputy Chairperson of WIM’s Advisory Panel. At least ten
ladies spontaneously took to the floor,
to accompany her, including Y.B. the Minister herself and YAM Tan Sri Tunku Dara Naquiah. This was followed by a classical Chinese
“Lotus” dance by Evanna Phoon, member of the WIM Board of Governors (Education).
Then Sharvena Kaur, the Admin and Accounts Assistant of WIM College, performed
the “Bhangra” dance. Again, another spontaneous
response when WIM trustee, Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam and WIM Life
Member, Dato Anusha Santhirastipam joined Sharvena later in the dance. The final performance was by Miss Josephine
Wong Joy Lin performed “Drama Queen” an Egyptian belly dance. Josephine is a WIM Life Member, who designed the WIM
Blog and volunteers for the WIM Education Dept. The Master of Ceremonies, Mr.
N. J. Singam, is a WIM Toastmasters Club member.
The highlight of the evening was a Response Violin Performance by the
Guest-of-Honour, who is a WIM Honorary Life Member, accompanied by Ms. Winnie
Cheah Siew Chin and her pupils. The first 2 performances, “La Paloma” and “The
Moon Represents My Heart” received thunderous applause with a call for an
encore. Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah and the
other performers obliged with a wellknown P. Ramlee song. What an evening! The whole Auditorium was ablazed with the
celebrative mood and wonderment!
In the closing of the Citation which I presented, I said: “ YABhg. Tun
Dr. Siti Hasmah bte Mohd Ali, the Women’s Institute of Management salutes you
today and always. We wish you, YABhg.
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and your family, Happiness, Good Health and Success
for the New Year 2015 and many more years to come”.
PHOTOGRAPHS
