First female malay professor Fatimah Hamid Don laid to rest

Fatimah, who was also the former Dean of the Faculty of Education at Universiti Malaya (UM) from 1978 to 1990, breathed her last at 2.35 am at the KPJ Hospital Tawakkal in Kuala Lumpur while in the recovery phase after battling a stroke the past year.

The former Dean of the UM Faculty of Education Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Isahak Haron said the passing of his mentor at the university was a bitter pill to swallow as he remembered all the guidance that Fatimah had given in nurturing academicians like him.

"She was a firm and highly knowledgeable person in the field of education, very good in terms of administration and her relationship with us (staff and lecturers) throughout her life. To me, her service had been excellent," he told reporters when met at the Tun Abdul Aziz Mosque here today.

Sharing the sentiment was former UM vice-chancellor Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Hashim Yaacob who was one of the proposers for Fatimah to be conferred the title of Professor Emeritus for her outstanding contribution in education.

"She contributed a lot of fresh ideas in improving the quality of education in the country and was a great and respected name in the field of education. That is why we at UM gave her the due recognition at that time," he said.

Fatimah started her career as an assistant lecturer in 1964 at the Faculty of Education, UM and was subsequently appointed as a Professor of Curriculum Development cum Curriculum Negotiator at the Ministry of Education, thus becoming the first Malay woman to be appointed as a professor.

She retired in 1990 after 26 years in the service.

She was also involved in drafting the National Women's Policy, the Women's Development Action Plan and the report of the UN Women's Conference as well as the report of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).