Siti, a rich man's daughter, fell in love with Mahathir, a poor boy from a humble family, and their romance met with strong opposition

During Mahathir's university years, there were 70 classmates in his class, most of them ethnic Chinese students, with only seven Malay students, and just one young woman among them: Siti Hasmah, who would later become Mahathir's wife.

Mahathir treasured this opportunity to study. Combined with his intelligence and love of learning, his grades were among the very best in the class, and he even often helped those who had a weak academic foundation.

Siti was Mahathir's classmate and the only woman among the seven Malay students. As a result, she was showered with attention at the time. Unlike Mahathir, who was born into an ordinary family, Siti came from Kuala Lumpur, a major city, and was from a distinguished and prominent family; however, this did not stop her from falling in love with the poor Mahathir, because what she admired was his knowledge and his political ideas.

Before attending university, Siti had never studied physics, and she was very worried that she would be held back a year because of it. In this situation, Mahathir naturally played the hero and came to her rescue, becoming Siti's good teacher and helpful friend. Their relationship quickly rose from ordinary friends to lovers.

For Mahathir, this was an enormous event, because in the past he had never socialized with any women other than the women in his own family. Siti was his first love and also the love of his life. However, even when the two had come to understand each other's feelings, Mahathir was still too shy to speak up. Recalling the scene when Mahathir proposed back then, the First Lady said sweetly: "Mahathir was very shy. He said nothing to me, and only wrote me a note in English with the word LOVE!"

Good things come with hardships. When Mahathir went to Siti's family to propose marriage, he met with strong opposition, because the two families were not well matched in social status. Still, the good thing finally came to pass -- in August 1956, the two were happily married.