Academics propose fellowship to honour Siti Hasmah’s public health legacy
THE passing of Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali on Sept 28 at age 100 invites Malaysia to reflect on service, dignity, and national memory. Widely cherished as a maternal figure, she deserves remembrance through an enduring commitment to the causes she championed.
The circulation of degrading content around her passing raises a troubling question: what happens to a society when grief becomes material for digital entertainment?
On Oct 2, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it was examining AI-generated content that manipulated footage of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mourning his wife.
This establishes a documented concern, although allegations that foreign “cybertroopers” organised abusive material require independent verification. Nationality and coordination cannot responsibly be inferred from provocative accounts alone.
A democratic government should respond firmly, proportionately and consistently. Freedom of expression sustains public accountability, including criticism of prominent personalities.
Yet democratic disagreement carries an ethical obligation to recognise human dignity. Mockery of physical appearance and the exploitation of bereavement impoverish public discourse, even when expressions do not meet the threshold for legal intervention.
Siti Hasmah’s own record offers a constructive foundation for responding. Universiti Malaya documents her pioneering work in maternal and child health, her leadership of the Rural Health Training School in Jitra, and her appointment as Kedah’s State Maternal and Child Health Officer in 1974. Her contributions demonstrate why she should be remembered as a public health practitioner and institution builder in her own right.
First, Malaysia should establish a Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Community Care Fellowship. Through competitive scholarships and supervised placements, the programme could support students in medicine, nursing, public health and social work who serve underserved communities. Selection should prioritise financial need, commitment and merit.
Annual reporting should disclose expenditure, completion rates and community benefits. Her name would thereby become associated with measurable opportunities for future caregivers.
Second, a Siti Hasmah Week of Care, held around her birthday, could mobilise universities, clinics, civil society and businesses.
Activities might include maternal health education, support for family caregivers, accessible health information and visits to isolated older people.
Participation should be voluntary and inclusive. Its success should be assessed through services delivered and sustained partnerships, with publicity supporting those purposes.
Third, an independently curated digital archive and travelling exhibition should preserve her professional journey.
Archival documents, interviews, photographs and accounts from healthcare workers could illuminate the development of rural healthcare and women’s participation in medicine. Materials in Bahasa Malaysia, English and accessible formats would help schools and communities engage with this history.
Independent historical review would strengthen credibility and protect commemoration from partisan appropriation.
Fourth, the government should develop a bereavement and digital dignity response protocol with platforms, researchers and civil society. Families need a clear reporting channel for manipulated mourning footage, impersonation and targeted harassment.
Platforms should provide timely review, preserve relevant evidence, and explain decisions. Enforcement must rest on identifiable unlawful conduct, with due process and avenues of appeal. Personal offensiveness alone should not become an unlimited justification for criminalisation.
Fifth, digital citizenship education should make empathy practical. Students could examine anonymised examples, distinguish satire from harassment, recognise manipulated media and practise responding without amplifying abuse.
Lessons should explore why age, gender and physical appearance become targets, and how attention rewards cruelty. Universities could evaluate whether these activities improve verification skills and reduce willingness to share humiliating content.
Finally, where credible evidence indicates coordinated cross-border activity, Malaysia should pursue platform cooperation and appropriate diplomatic engagement.
The response should target documented conduct and responsible actors. Collective blame against neighbouring populations would deepen hostility and undermine Malaysia’s commitment to peaceful relations.
These initiatives require clear ownership, realistic budgets and public evaluation.
A coordinating committee involving health institutions, educators, archivists, civil society and family representatives could publish an annual progress report. Existing programmes should be strengthened wherever possible to avoid ceremonial duplication.
No government can guarantee that online cruelty will disappear. It can, however, reduce opportunities for abuse while cultivating a stronger culture of care.
Malaysia’s most meaningful tribute to Siti Hasmah would be to make compassion visible in public institutions: a young woman supported through medical training, a rural family receiving care, and a grieving person protected from organised humiliation. Such outcomes would keep her legacy an active contribution to national life.
AFI ROSHEZRY ABU BAKAR
ADI WIRA MOHD ZIN
UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN (KAMPAR CAMPUS)