Khatijah Sidek (1918–1982) or Che Khadijah Mohd Sidik was a Malay nationalist and politician during colonial Malaya and the elected leader of the Kaum Ibu (literally meaning "mother's group"; the section name was later changed to Wanita UMNO) in 1954. She was a key figure in the early history of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) and a vocal campaigner of women's rights and the education of girls. Early life and political career Khatijah was born in Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia to a Minangkabau family, known for their matrilineal heritage system. She received her education at a Dutch school in Sumatra before moving to Singapore in 1946 and soon after marrying a Malayan citizen. Prior to coming to Malaya, Khatijah was active in Puteri Kesatria, an anti-colonial women's group based in Bukit Tinggi, Sumatra. In 1953, she joined UMNO's branch in Johor Bahru following an invitation to survey Malay women's condition under British rule. Khatijah's rise in politics was reflective of the social changes experienced by women in the post-war years under Japanese occupation. Most women who were active in politics of the period benefited from the promotion of women and girl's education, women's paid employment outside the home, and the rural-urban migration Women who held positions of party leadership at the national, state, and division level were for the most part urban or suburban dwellers, and were either wives or close relations of political activists or members of aristocracy. Women's rights campaigner When Khatijah arrived in Malaya in the 1940s, she was disturbed by what saw as the great oppression of women. In her second visit to Singapore in 1947, she wrote in her memoirs that she was determined to help under-educated women by teaching them housekeeping skills and raising their political consciousness. She joined the women's welfare group, the Indonesian and Malay Women's Assembly (HIMWIM), to agitate the liberation of Malay-Indonesian women who resided in Singapore. However, Khatijah's work with HIMWIM fell foul of the British colonial administration, and she was imprisoned under the Emergency Act between 1948 and 1950; during her imprisonment, she gave birth to a daughter. Upon her release from prison, Khatijah was exiled from Singapore, but was under a detention order to remain in Johor for ten years. With the support of Tunku Abdul Rahman, she was invited by the campaigner Ibu Zain to join UMNO; her position as a wife of a Malayan