Women of Substance

The Star, Star Weekend - Spotlight, August 23, 2003
An angel of mercy

MERCY Malaysia president and volunteer Datuk Dr Jemilah Mahmood, 43, is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist with Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital in Kuala Lumpur. Her husband is a doctor too, and they have two children.

She formed Mercy in 1999 when she could not find a local voluntary organisation that could help out with the Kosovo conflict in Serbia . Her project was initially meant to be a personal venture. However, with help and donations from other doctors, volunteers and patients, she eventually set up Mercy.

The former student of Assunta Girls School in Petaling Jaya credits the Irish nuns for instilling in her the importance of helping others; Sister Enda Ryan in particular comes to her mind.

On a recent mission to Iraq in April, the war was discomfortingly close. Her vehicle was hit by bullets following a case of mistaken identity. The driver and an Iraqi hospital staff were killed, while her colleague Dr Baba Deni was shot in the hip. The bullet went through him and got embedded in Dr Jemilah's hip. They were both injured but recovered.

A few days later, with the bullet still in her, she continued to work and help out at an operating theatre there.

She takes a break from her full-time job every three months. Mercy's most well-known volunteer became a doctor not to make money but because she enjoys treating patients. She says the lesson she has learnt from her missions is to celebrate life.

“Life is too short so we should make the most out of it. It also makes you question what you have done for humankind.”

Dr Jemilah is Malaysia 's first woman to receive the East Asia Women Peace Award, which was conferred to her in Manila, the Philippines, on Aug 12. The inaugural award, Asia 's equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, is presented to women for leadership in advocacy and lifelong work in intercultural fellowship, regional peace and international understanding.'

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The Star, Thursday December 27, 2007
Giving aid with gratitude
Last month, Mercy Malaysia became the third humanitarian group in the world to be awarded the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership certificate. Its president Datuk Dr Jemilah Mahmood says this is part of Mercy’s efforts to remain independent, impartial and transparent.