MARINA MAHATHIR

Early life
1957: Marina Mahathir was born in Alor Setar, Kedah to Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister, Tun

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

1963 (age 6): Marina studied Kindergarten to Form 3 at Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent, a

missionary school in Alor Setar, Kedah.[1]

1972 (age 15): Marina studied at Maktab Rendah Sains MARA, a boarding school

in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

1973 (age 16): Marina studied her A-Levels in the United Kingdom. [1]

1980 (age 23):

Marina obtained her degree in International Relations from the University of Sussex
in the United Kingdom.[2]

Marina joined Her World magazine as a feature writer.[2]

Personal life

1986 (age 29): Marina moved overseas with her French husband. [2]

1998, June 7 (age 41): Marina married Tara Sosrowardoyo, a prominent Indonesian
photographer. (They have 2 daughters and a son.)

Career and Contribution to Society

1) 1988 (age 31): Marina returned to Malaysia and formed 'Mosaique', a French-language
publishing firm which, amongst others, published coffee table books, and books on handicrafts. [2]

2) Writing for The Star newspaper

In 1989, then aged 32, Marina began writing a long-running fortnightly column, Musings,
for The Star newspaper. Some of these articles have been compiled into 2 books:

-In Liberal Doses (1997), a collection of 50 articles; and

- Telling It Straight (2012), a collection of 90 articles written between 2003 and 2012.
3) Involvement in HIV/AIDS

Marina's involvement in HIV/AIDS began in 1993, about a year after the Malaysian AIDS
Council (MAC), an umbrella body of some 40 NGOs, was founded.

Marina, when she was asked to join the organization, mainly to help raise funds.

Marina became the Chairman of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (1993-2005), and dealt with
everything from lobbying the government for funds to giving talks at international forums.

As Chairman, she was instrumental in getting the Malaysian government to provide free antiviral treatment to Malaysian HIV patients.[2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-k2IdtFXws

4) Board member of Sisters in Islam (SIS)

Marina became a board member of Sisters of Islam (SIS), an advocacy group which

fights for justice and equality for Muslim women.

Its focus is to challenge, in the name of Islam, laws and policies that discriminate
women. SIS focus then extended to larger issues such as democracy, human rights
and the constitution.
SIS supports the spirit of the Islamic revolution and confess Islam uplifted the status of
women when it was revealed 1,400 years ago . They believe that Islam rejects the
oppression of women and the denial of their fundamental rights , such as equality
and human dignity .

The main objective of the SIS are:

Promote and develop a framework of women's rights in Islam, which takes into
account the experiences and realities of women
Eliminating inequality and discrimination against women by changing practices and
values that regard women as inferior to men
Build public awareness and renew the laws and policies on equality , justice, freedom ,
dignity and democracy in Islam .

SIS activities include four program areas :

Research and interpretation of the sources of Islamic texts
Advocacy for policy reform and legal
Increase public awareness and public education
Strategic planning and policy development

5) 3R Program

Together with business partner Lina Tan, Marina pioneered the television program "3R,"
which stands for 'Respect, Relax, Respond'. (The magazine-like program is an honest,
informative show dedicated to educating young women on subjects, such as careers,
families, romantic relationships, sexuality, violence, rape, drug use, and HIV.)

2002 (age 45): Marina's "3R" television program won an Asian Television Award for Best
Infotainment.[4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=H28WchRCd0&list=PL4bYeEyjWewgUYaWI7PJDLgl2AUlbwwcH

6) Achievements

2008 (age 51): Marina was appointed as a member of the International Advisory Board of
the Asian University for Women, as well as of AIDS2031.[5]

2010, October 5 (age 53): In celebration of the 65th anniversary of the United Nations,

Marina was named 'UN Person of the Year' for her work in advocating gender equality.
2011 (age 54):

March 3: In celebration of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, the New
York-based 'Women Deliver' advocacy group named Marina as one of the 100 most
inspiring people who had improved the lives of girls and women worldwide in their
"Women Deliver 100" list. (She and Zainah Anwar, a founding member of Sisters in
Islam (SIS), are the only 2 Malaysians in the list.)

Reference

http://www.thenutgraph.com/liberal-muslim-feminist-and-comfortable/
http://malaysiafactbook.com/Marina_Mahathir_-_Biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Mahathir
http://ptfoundation.blogspot.com/2010/05/international-aids-memorial-dayiamd_18.html