KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — A prime minister’s wife is there to support her husband in his duties and must resist competing with him for attention, according to Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.
In words that epitomised her position as arguably the most recognisable wife to a Malaysian prime minister despite her low profile, the spouse to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said such virtues were among those needed to perform the unofficial role, in an interview published by Malaysiakini today.
“As the prime minister’s wife, do not compare (yourself with anyone). Generally, you have to support your husband, you have to be knowledgeable, you have to know what is happening around you and you have to make sure that you are together with your husband to meet with the people,” she said in the interview.
“People like to know that this is the PM’s wife and that they are together, they are family-oriented. So you have to support your husband, definitely. But don’t compete with him,” she advised.
The soft-spoken medical doctor by training explained that the wife of the prime minister was often an unofficial intermediary between the public and the head of the government.
But despite the seeming power this conveyed, Dr Siti Hasmah said it was imperative that a prime minister’s wife avoid taking an active role in matters that are within her husband’s powers to decide.
“They (the people) cannot see the PM. So, they want to see the wife, and then for no reason, they will ask for anything. Never promise anything. Just say that you will convey the message to your husband to consider.
“You have no part in telling people that ‘yes, I will make sure you get this, you get that, you get the contract’,” she said further in the interview with the news portal.
As part of her general tips, which she insisted was not directed at any person in particular, Dr Siti Hasmah pressed on the need to be humble, regardless of one’s station in life.
She said she learned this lesson during her days as the first female Malay doctor in Kedah, where she treated the poor.
“You may be a doctor or you may be a minister’s wife but if you are arrogant, they (the people) won’t accept you,” she said.
Source: www.themalaymailonline.com
