KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir has been appointed Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) patron.

The appointment by the board of trustees will see her return to the national stage of fighting HIV/AIDS since she left Malaysian AIDS Council as its president in 2005.

She was also MAF chairman.

“When I left in 2005, they offered me that. But to me, patrons are kind of older women who had some clout and whatever,” she told Malay Mail in an interview.

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“I didn’t think I was suitable for it. I suppose I am older now but still no clout.

“But I said as long as my main role is not to raise funds as I have to raise funds for other organisations that I belong to.”

She added that she was told that there was already a good team at MAF carrying out fund-raising.

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“I was adviser for a while which I felt was a more active role. But I found they didn’t really need my advice so off I went.”

The immediate past patron of MAF was Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

“I don’t plan to take an active role as before because they do have an exco and executive director. I don’t want to interfere in all that.”