Tan Sri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, few provinces in the Philippines and several provinces in Indonesia ...

Salma binti Ismail (19 December 1918 – 20 July 2014) was a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

and the first

Malaysian Malay Malaysian Malay () or Malaysian ()endonymically known as Standard Malay () or simply Malay (, abbreviated to BM)is a standardized form of the Malay language used in Malaysia and also used in Singapore and Brunei (as opposed to the variety (l ...

woman to qualify as a doctor. She became one of the first Malay

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

s to open a private practice in 1967.

Biography

Salma Ismail was born on 19 December 1918 in

Alor Setar Alor Setar ( Kedah Malay: ) is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is home to the third-tallest ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

. She attended Kampung Baru Girls' School,

Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid (; abbreviated SAHC; also known as Maktab Sultan Abdul Hamid) located in Alor Setar, Kedah, is one of Malaysia's oldest and most prestigious schools. Founded in 1908 as Government English School (G.E.S.), it is also one ...

, and Sultanah Asma Secondary School, where one of the houses now bears her name. She completed the Junior Cambridge examinations in 1933 and

Senior Cambridge The Senior Cambridge examinations were General Certificate of Education examinations held in India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore. They were preceded by the Junior Cambridge and Preliminary Cambridge examinations. History India The ...

in 1935, she was the first girl from Kedah to pass the Senior Cambridge with a distinction. She began her medical studies at the

King Edward VII College of Medicine King Edward VII Medical College (KEMC) was a medical school from 1905 to 1949 in Singapore, the first one in what was then British Malaya, Malaya. It was officially named King Edward VII Medical College in 1921 and subsequently became the Faculty ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 1936. Classes at the college were suspended during World War II, and so Salma returned to Malaysia in 1941 to work as a trainee doctor at Alor Setar General Hospital. She resumed her studies in 1946 and graduated with a

Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery (also known as Licentiate in Medical Practice in some instances) is a medical degree of historical importance in India. During the British rule of India some universities conferred this qualification. The qualific ...

in 1947. After eleven years of training, she became the first accredited

female doctor. After her graduation, Salma became a medical officer at Alor Setar General Hospital, where she remained the only woman in that position until 1960. In 1956, she travelled to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, to attend a course on

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

for postgraduates. It was there that she met her husband, Abu Bakar Ibrahim, also a doctor from Alor Setar. Salma returned from Dublin to Alor Setar, where she was appointed Royal Midwife to

Sultanah Bahiyah Sultanah Hajah Bahiyah binti Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman (; 24 August 1930 – 26 August 2003) was the Sultanah of Malaysian State of Kedah from 1958 until her death in 2003 and served as the fifth Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia from 21 ...

. She left Alor Setar for

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

in 1960 and served as the medical officer in charge of Tanglin Hospital until 1967, when she opened a private practice. Her practice, Klinik Salma, was one of the first private practices set up by a Malay

. Klinik Salma later expanded to three branches located around Kuala Lumpur, and Salma retired in 2005. Salma received the Bintang Cemerlang Kedah and Dato Paduka Mahkota Kedah awards in 1957 and 1996 respectively. She was awarded the Panglima Setia Mahkota in 1997, granting her the ''

'' title. She died in Kuala Lumpur on 20 July 2014 at the age of 95.

Honour

Honour of Malaysia

* : Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on 15 April 1966 and gazetted on 30 June 1966 ...

(P.S.M.) (1997)

References

{{Authority control 1918 births 2014 deaths Malaysian general practitioners Malaysian people of Malay descent People from Alor Setar Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia