Siti Zaharah: A respected female leader

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) -- The late Tan Sri Dr Siti Zaharah Sulaiman, former National Unity and Community Development Minister, was one of the respected female leaders in national administration and politics.

Born in Mentakab, Pahang on April 24, 1949, the mother of four won the Mentakab parliamentary seat during the seventh general election (GE) in 1986 and successfully defended it in the next GE (1990).

She later served as the Paya Besar Member of Parliament for three consecutive terms after winning in GE9 (1995), GE10 (1999) and GE11 (2004).

Siti Zaharah, who held a PhD in Educational Administration and Organisation Studies from Cornell University, New York, USA became the first woman leader from Pahang UMNO to be elected to the party’s Supreme Council in the 1987 party elections.

She also led the women’s wing for three years, starting in 1996, after unexpectedly defeating the incumbent ‘iron lady’ Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz by just 27 votes in the party elections.

However, Siti Zaharah failed to retain the post after losing against Rafidah at the UMNO General Assembly in 2000 and was among nine state Wanita chiefs dropped from their positions the same year.

In a surprising move during the 2018 UMNO elections, Siti Zaharah offered to contest the Wanita chief post at the age of 69 to help strengthen the party following Barisan Nasional’s failure to form the government after GE14 but lost to Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad.

Apart from serving as National Unity and Community Development Minister from 1999 to 2004, Siti Zaharah also held the positions of Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Deputy Health Minister and Deputy Public Enterprises Minister.

She also served as Deputy of Planning at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and a coordinator for the MARA Junior Science College Programme.

Additionally, she was a patron of the Bumiputera Women Entrepreneurs Association (USAHANITA), the first president of the Organisation of Women Parliamentarians from Islamic Countries, the president of the Malaysian Women’s Hockey Association, and vice-president of the Amateur Athletic Union of Malaysia.

Siti Zaharah, 75, who breathed her last at Serdang Hospital at 11.23 pm yesterday, was laid to rest at the Muslim cemetery in Section 21, Shah Alam at 11.30 am today.

-- BERNAMA