FOR Dr Mahathir Mohamed, there’s no one he would rather have by his side than his wife, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.

In an interview on Astro Gempak with 10-year-old “ceria popstar” Kashika to celebrate his 93rd birthday today, the prime minister and his wife shared a few touching insights about their life together.

“Wherever I am, I prefer to be with her. 

“I need Tun Siti by my side,” he said, however, also admitting that “whenever I deliver my speeches, she’ll be asleep”.

On his favourite thing about her, he said, “even if I’m always away, at work, not spending time with the kids, she never complains”.

Meanwhile, Siti Hasmah revealed what she believed to be her husband’s greatest weakness.

“He works too hard,” she said, and “often forgets about me at home”. 

“But it’s his duty to the nation, so I must accept it.”

Dr Mahathir and Siti Hasmah have been married since 1956. Their first child, Marina, was born in 1957. 

They were together throughout Dr Mahathir’s first term as prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and she remained steadfastly by his side when he returned to politics after being retired for 15 years.

Dr Mahathir also revealed that he had not initially wanted to be a doctor when he was younger.

“I wanted to become a lawyer,” he said, “but I got a scholarship to study medicine instead”.

The nonagenarian, who was Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister at 22 years, also had words of wisdom for Kashika.

“(To be prime minister) you must work hard, you must win support and you must not break promises.” 

Kashika also surprised Dr Mahathir with a collage of birthday wishes sent in from across the country.

Siti Hasmah also accompanied Kashika on the piano to play Rasasayang for her husband.

Later, Dr Mahathir told Radio Bernama in an interview that there was no no need for gifts and just “happy birthday” was enough.

“Message or wish me ‘happy birthday’. That’s what I really appreciate,” Bernama reported him as saying. 

Dr Mahathir, who became Malaysia’s seventh prime minister after Pakatan Harapan won the 14th general election, is the oldest currently serving state leader in the world.

The statesman also joked that he was quite forgetful and often found it hard to remember his own birthday.

But he could always count on his beloved wife to remember his special day.

“I’m forgetful, so I never remember my birthday. But my wife never forgets. Early this morning, she told me, ‘happy birthday’. So I’m safe and I celebrate it, too, lah.

“If I have to rely on myself, even my own birthday, I wouldn’t remember,” he said.    

He said a dish of glutinous rice and meat rendang also marked the special day.

In the brief interview, Dr Mahathir also said before he was a public figure, he would occasionally take his wife out for dinner but now they couid no longer do so. – July 10, 2018.