Siti Hasmah and Wan Azizah meet for first time in 18 years

PETALING JAYA: PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail received Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali for lunch at her home in Segambut on Friday.

Dr Siti Hasmah, who is the wife of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was accompanied by former Batu Kawan Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan during the meeting, which lasted about 45 minutes.

The meeting marked the first time Dr Wan Azizah and Dr Siti Hasmah had seen each other face-to-face in 18 years.

According to a statement by Khairuddin, Dr Wan Azizah, who is the wife of jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was very cordial towards her guest and greeted Dr Siti Hasmah with a tight hug and a few tears.

"Many sweet memories and old stories were narrated by Datuk Seri Wan Azizah and Tun Siti during the brief time I spent with them both," he said.

Twitter Pic by @BebasAnwarMY

Khairuddin said Dr Wan Azizah had shared a funny story of the time she was "forced" to team up with Dr Siti Hasmah while playing doubles badminton.

"Meanwhile, Tun Siti laughed heartily while recounting how she had accidentally run into Datuk Seri Wan Azizah at an airport and immediately proceeded to take Datuk Seri Wan Azizah's ring off her finger and wear it herself. Tun Siti said she was fond of Datuk Seri Wan Azizah's ring," said Khairuddin.

At the end of the meeting, Kharuddin said that the two exchanged gifts.

"Tun Siti presented her personal memoir to Datuk Seri Wan Azizah while Datuk Seri Wan Azizah presented goat's milk products for Tun Siti Hasmah's health," he said.

Anwar served as Dr Mahathir’s deputy prime minister before being sacked in 1998. He was later charged with sodomy.

In September, Dr Mahathir turned up at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Jalan Duta to attend the hearing of an application filed by Anwar to challenge the National Security Council (NSC) Act 2016.

It was the first time that the two leaders had met face-to-face since Anwar's sacking.