In her autobiography 'My Name is Hasmah', wife of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, tells of her experience participating in the Bersih 4 rally.

On the first day of the rally, held on Aug 29 last year, Siti Hasmah and Mahathir had just touched down at Subang Airport after an event in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

Checking his phone while on the way back to their home, Mahathir saw photographs of the big crowds that had gathered in the city for the rally.

Siti Hasmah said her husband had decided then and there to go.

“I decided that if Mahathir were to go, I would not allow him to go alone. I wanted to be by his side to protect him,” writes Siti Hasmah in her book.

Admitting that it was a little frightening with the pushing and jostling when the couple arrived at Dataran Merdeka, Siti Hasmah said while the situation turned slightly chaotic, she understood that people merely wanted to shake hands with them.

“We wanted to march with everyone else. The media kept stopping us to ask questions,” she said.

Mahathir, she said, had explained that they were not members of electoral reform group Bersih but were there to simply lend their support to the people.

The couple was also there on the second day of the rally, taking the Komuter train to Kuala Lumpur.

“The rally was tremendous. The people really showed their solidarity,” added Siti Hasmah.

The 34-hour rally organised by Bersih last year saw tens of thousands of people gathered in the heart of Kuala Lumpur urging for clean and fair elections, among others.

Siti Hasmah’s autobiography, launched in conjunction with her 90th birthday, is a collection of stories of her upbringing, her career in medicine and adventures with her husband.

The book was written with the help of a team of editors from Salt Media Group and published by Kumpulan Karangkraf under its Alaf21 imprint.

The 248-page book will be sold for RM80 at bookstores. Its Bahasa Malaysia version, ‘Nama Saya Hasmah’, will also be published soon.