Aishah binti Haji Ghani was born on December 15, 1923 in Kampung Sungai Serai, a village in the Malaysian state, Selangor. She attended Bukita Raya Malay School before moving to West Sumatra in Indonesia to continue her studies. After completing secondary school, she studied at the College of Islamic Universities in Padang, West Sumatra before moving to London, where she earned a degree in journalism from Regent Street Polytechnic in 1989. During her schooling years, Aishah was involved in politics and activism, joining the Malay Nationalist Party, or Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malay, and the women’s wing of the party, Angkatan Wanita Sedar. In 1959, after completing her degree in London, she returned to Malaysia where she began work as a journalist for Berita Harian before joining the political world as a member of the UMNO (United Malays National Organization. Aishah became the first female Senator in Malaysia when she was elected to government in 1962 and the first female representative to the United Nations, a position she held from 1967 until 1972. In 1972, she was appointed UMNO’s Chief of Women’s Affairs, which she led until she retired from politics in 1984. From 1973 until her retirement in 1984, she also serviced as the Minister of Social Welfare, where she formed the Yayasan Kebajikan Negara, the National Welfare Foundation, which still functions to this day. Aishah passed away in 2013 at the age of 90 years old.