Tun Siti Hasmah accorded state funeral, to be buried at Pusara Negara this evening

KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali will be buried at Pusara Negara in Precinct 20, Putrajaya, this evening with a state funeral.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he had instructed the Chief Secretary to the Government and the Chief of Defence Forces to assist with the funeral arrangements, FMT reported.

"May Allah SWT forgive all her sins, accept all her good deeds and place her among the faithful," Anwar said in his statement.

The wife of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad died at the National Heart Institute (IJN) this morning at the age of 100. According to Bernama, her death was confirmed by her son, Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir. She is survived by her husband and their seven children.

Her body left IJN at 10.48am for the family home at The Mines in Seri Kembangan. Her children Datin Paduka Marina, Tan Sri Mokhzani and Datuk Seri Mukhriz were among those seen at the hospital.

Funeral programme

According to the State Funeral programme shared with the media, the body will be taken from the family home to Masjid As-Syarif in Taman Sungai Besi Indah, Seri Kembangan, at 1.30pm.

1.45pm to 2.45pm: Preparation of the body at Masjid As-Syarif

3pm to 4pm: Final respects

4.15pm: Asar prayers, followed by funeral prayers

4.30pm: The body leaves the mosque for Pusara Negara, Precinct 20, Putrajaya

The cause of death has not been announced.

A legacy in medicine

Born on July 12, 1926, in Kampung Jawa, Klang, Siti Hasmah belonged to a generation whose lives stretched from colonial Malaya into modern Malaysia.

According to the Perdana Leadership Foundation's biography, she entered King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore on a scholarship and was the only Malay woman in her cohort.

She graduated in 1955 and undertook her housemanship at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital. After marrying Mahathir in 1956, she moved to Alor Setar, where she worked as a medical officer and took part in health programmes serving rural communities.

Maternal and child health became a defining focus of her career. The foundation records that she became the first woman medical officer in Kedah's Maternal and Child Health Department in 1965 and its first woman State Maternal and Child Health Officer in 1974.

That work preceded her years as a prime minister's wife, giving her a professional record of public service rooted in medicine.

Her later welfare work included educating young people about drug abuse through BAKTI. Bernama's account of her life noted her participation in conferences on the issue in Washington in 1985 and Vienna in 1987.

She also maintained close ties with Malaysian sport. A former patron of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, she became a maternal figure to national badminton players.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim and Raja Permaisuri Agong Raja Zarith Sofiah offered condolences to her family. According to Bernama, Their Majesties prayed for her soul and for her family to find strength in their loss.

Anwar also described her death as a great loss to society and the country, Sinar Daily reported. Speaking at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, he invited participants to recite al-Fatihah for her.

Away from official engagements, music remained an enduring interest. In a tribute marking her centenary in July, the Perdana Leadership Foundation described her as a violinist and pianist who continued exploring new interests later in life, learning French and taking up the erhu.