There are moments in life when even the most formidable of men are rendered helpless by grief.

For Dr Mahathir Mohamad, one such moment came as he watched the woman who had been his soulmate and companion for seven decades being laid to rest.

The nation was given a rare and deeply poignant glimpse of the man behind the steely public persona.

Seated in a wheelchair and wearing an oxygen tube, the 101-year-old former prime minister appeared utterly overcome by sorrow, tears streaming down his face as he bade farewell to Dr Hasmah Ali.

Friend or foe, it was a scene difficult to watch without a lump in the throat.

In a video uploaded on Mahathir’s official YouTube channel in 2021 to mark their 65th wedding anniversary, Hasmah (above) recalled that Mahathir first confessed his love for her in 1949.

The couple, who married on Aug 5, 1956, had met nine years earlier as students at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore.

Mahathir, meanwhile, said their love and affection were never expressed in words, but instead through the “way we behave towards each other”.

While detractors and rivals, of whom the former premier had no shortage, had rained almost every imaginable criticism on Mahathir, few, if any, had an ill word about Hasmah.

‘Warm, kind-hearted woman’

Across the political divide, she was widely regarded as a gracious, warm and kind-hearted woman, seemingly untouched by the bitterness that so often surrounded her husband’s political career.

Even one of Mahathir’s most long-standing political rivals, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, came to pay his last respects.

Their enmity had spanned almost three decades, save for a brief interlude when the two men found themselves on the same side, joining hands to bring down another of Mahathir’s successors, Najib Abdul Razak.

Yet in mourning Hasmah, the old political differences seemed to momentarily recede.

Anwar remembered her as a gentle and loving maternal figure, as well as a close friend and confidante to him and his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

He said it was difficult for him and Wan Azizah to accept her passing, especially as the fond memories they shared continued to return to their minds.

“Together with Azizah, I came to pay our last respects to Kak Hasmah, a maternal figure whose gentleness and affection we will always remember, as well as a friend and close companion over the years,” he said in a Facebook post accompanied by photographs of him and his wife paying their respects and meeting Mahathir.

“Thank you too, Kak Hasmah, for all your kindness to us, and certainly our prayers and memories will accompany you in your passing,” he added.

Wan Azizah (far right), meanwhile, recalled how Hasmah taught her to carry herself with dignity and a high degree of professionalism.

"Her wisdom, coupled with her warm and pleasant nature, made her a person who was deeply loved,” she said.

'Millions of memories'

Mahathir and Hasmah’s third child, Mokhzani, told reporters that he and his six siblings have “millions of memories” of their mother.

“I am very happy that we had so much time to spend with her. We spent a lot of time together as a family in the past few months,” he said.

Hasmah, who passed away at the age of 100 at the National Heart Institute yesterday, was laid to rest at Pusara Negara (National Cemetery) in Putrajaya.

And as the nation watched Mahathir bid farewell to the woman who had stood beside him through seven decades of triumph, turmoil and political battles, there was no politician, no former prime minister, no adversary or statesman.

There was only a husband saying goodbye to his wife.

Condolences pour in for Dr Hasmah, to be accorded state funeral

Condolences pour in for Dr Hasmah, to be accorded state funeral

Dr Hasmah passes away at age 100

Dr Hasmah passes away at age 100