Marina Mahathir

Datin Paduka Marina binti Tun Dr. Mahathir (born 11 May 1957) (Jawi: مرينة بنت محاضر) is a Malaysian socio-political activist and writer. She is the eldest child of the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohamad and Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali. She graduated from the University of Sussex. Career Marina is a leader in many non-governmental organizations such as the Malaysian AIDS Foundation and is an active socio-political blogger. She also writes in her bi-weekly column called Musings in The Star newspaper since 1989. Some of her pieces in the column have been published in her books such as 50 Days: Rantings by MM, published in 1997 and Telling It Straight, published in 2012 by Editions Didier Millet. The latter is a selection of her articles published in her column between 2003 and 2012. It includes a foreword by Dr Farish A. Noor, a local political scientist and historian. It contains 90 articles which are written thematically including a special written introduction on the topics discussed in the book. It also includes two previously unpublished articles. She is an active campaigner for women's rights. In 2006 she has described the status of Muslim women in Malaysia as similar to that of the Black South Africans under apartheid. Marina has called for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientations in 1998 and 1999.