Mahathir's wife Siti Hasmah dies at 100 - Mothership

She leaves behind her husband, aged 101, and their seven children.

The wife of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, passed away on Sep. 28 at the age of 100.

She died at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur at about 9:25am, according to Free Malaysia Today.

The news was confirmed by her son Mokhzani Mahathir, The New Straits Times reported.

Mahathir also posted about his wife's passing on his Instagram at about 10:50am.

On Facebook, the Malaysian Agong (king) Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar expressed condolences to Hasmah's family for their loss.

Born in 1926 in Klang, Selangor, Hasmah was one of the first Malay women doctors in Malaysia after studying medicine at Singapore's King Edward VII College of Medicine in the 1950s.

That was also where she first met Mahathir, who is now 101.

Under Malaysia's Ministry of Health, Hasmah became the first woman to be appointed the State Maternal and Child Health Officer in Kedah in 1974.

Later as the prime minister's wife, she continued to advocate for family planning, mental health, drug abuse prevention, and more.

Following the announcement of her passing at Malaysia's Parliament, a brief Islamic prayer was held in her honour, the Malay Mail reported.

She leaves behind her husband and seven children.