the bitchen' blog. literally.

Thursday October 20, 2005
PM's wife dies after bout with breast cancer
From The Star Newsdesk

PUTRAJAYA: The Prime Minister's wife Datin Seri Endon Mahmood died at 7.55 am today at the Prime Minister's official residence in Putrajaya after fighting a long battle with cancer.
Endon, 64, breathed her last about 18 days after returning from undergoing a treatment for breast cancer in Los Angeles, United States.
She is survived by two children.



First it was Datuk Azmi Khalid's wife - Datin Yasmin Abdullah, a dear family friend. Now, it was our Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's wife - Allahyarham Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood. Both succumbed to cancer.

Can't say we didn't see this coming though. Mi familia (being the skeptical medics that they are) predicted a while back that it didn't seem like long till she would be stopping the treatments. Once they heard she was leaving Los Angeles, it would only be a matter of time. I am pretty sure Pak Lah and family were well aware of this too. My heartfelt condolences goes out to them..

I first got news regarding the death of Malaysia’s First Lady – Arwah Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood, through an online friend. After hearing the news, I stared blankly at the screen for a good five minutes. My brain was articulating for words, but to no avail.

Almost mechanically I got up to my mother’s room and sure enough, the television set was showing solemn scenes from Seri Perdana. I sat down on the bed with my mother and we watched silently.

My dear friend Ifti prodded me to write an eulogy on Arwah to be sent to the Star newspaper seeing as to how I've had the privilege of preparing the PRIDE report (to which, I am sure she would not have seen seeing how she was in Los Angeles when it was completed) for her as well as having seen her in person while working for the PRIDE press conference in May 2005.
Ifti suggested I write on how Endon involved herself in so many activities - specifically PRIDE, how I remember her in PRIDE and my reflections, what her legacy will be- i.e. she'd be a role model for all VIP spouses to take up worthy causes, personal memories e.g. how she probably didnt end up seeing the report I wrote, focus on her breast cancer suffering etc.

I thought hey I could do that..I could say how inspiring and charismatic she was during my brief encounter with her. She cracked jokes and had such a calming persona to her. Had I not known she was ill, none would be the wiser. She carried herself so well, you wouldn't think she was a breast cancer victim.

The more I watched coverage on the day's processions, the many people interviewed on their thoughts and how she touched their lives..I realized, if I did write a tribute to Arwah..I would probably be unable to do justice to it. It would lack depth for one thing. I mean, who am I kidding..I barely knew her! well not more than the average Malaysian would know that's for sure.

So Ifti, I apologize. Your little scribe of a friend here will not be doing the piece :( I just feel that the article should mean something. As much as I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to have seen her in the flesh few months prior to her passing, it probably won't leave much of an impact on most anyway. It would probably be something I tell my grandkids, something personal for me, like finding a secret shop that sells vintage posters..okay i'm aware that I don't make sense right about now *sheepish grin* I guess what I'm trying to say is that somethings are just best left unpublished (and by unpublished I mean print!).

I will be looking forward to reading contributions in the papers over the next few days from people who were profoundly touched by Arwah as it would give me a greater sense of understanding to a lady who undoubtedly, lived everyday as if it were her last and accomplished many great things in her lifetime. Truly an inspiration to us all.

Rest in Peace

Allahyarham Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood

1940 - 2005