TUN Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali told her son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir that she was ready to leave the family, just a day before she died at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur.
Mukhriz said he had spent time with his mother on Sunday night and recalled that she remained cheerful despite being hospitalised for another health problem.
“At the time, she was already at IJN because of another illness, but she was in a very cheerful mood. Even so, she told me that she was ready to leave us all.
“So, it seemed that she had placed her trust in God,” he said after Siti Hasmah's funeral at the Muslim Cemetery in Presint 20 in Putrajaya yesterday.
Mukhriz said he was informed by the hospital on Monday morning that his mother had suffered a heart problem and immediately rushed to IJN.
“The specialists at IJN were performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Siti Hasmah at the time before she was transferred to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU).
“At 9 am, we were informed that the CPR would only be continued for another 15 minutes and that if her heart did not resume functioning, the CPR would be stopped,” he said.
He said the family understood the doctors' explanation before Siti Hasmah breathed her last.
Mukhriz also said his mother continued thinking about the future of the people and the country until her final moments.
“Until her final moments, she was still thinking about our future,” he said.
Mukhriz, 62, said he considered himself fortunate to have had both his mother and father into his sixties.
“I consider that a very, very meaningful blessing not only for our family, God willing, but also for the country because Siti Hasmah was someone who always put service to the people and the country first,” he said. - September 29, 2026
