KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali has asked people to stop calling her "Siti Hasmah”, saying this was a name given to her when she and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad moved here from Kedah.

In the Coffee with Ryan podcast published recently, Dr Hasmah corrected host Datuk Dr Ryan Ponnudurai, who said he had been acquainted with the couple for decades, after he called her "Tun Siti, the mother of Malaysia”.

"One thing I want corrected, I am not a Siti. I was not born a Siti Hasmah; I was just plain Hasmah. It’s just that someone, some smart ‘people’, gave me the word Siti when we were transferred back from Alor Setar to Kuala Lumpur.

"Here, there is a Siti Nurhaliza, Siti this and Siti that, so they just put it in front of my name: I am not (Siti Hasmah), I am just plain Dr Hasmah,” she said.

She then emphasised that any talk about her should omit the name "Siti”.