He instead told FMT to speak to Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin for more information.
“Sometimes WTM doesn’t inform me (of its decisions), just to the minister,” Saravanan said when contacted yesterday.
He added that the ministry was unaware of the association’s criteria for the qualifications of a patron.
“I don’t know what the association’s conditions are.”
News of the association’s decision surfaced yesterday, after Siti Hasmah’s daughter and civil rights activist Marina Mahathir posted about it on Twitter.
This came two days after the 92-year-old was questioned by the police over her involvement in a protest rally last year.
An aide of Siti Hasmah told FMT that the letter was dated Dec 28 last year, after the association’s committee passed a resolution at its annual general meeting.
However, it was only delivered by hand around Jan 22 and later shown to Siti Hasmah, the aide said.
FMT has attempted to contact the association but has been unable to reach it for comment.
Siti Hasmah, whose husband Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years, was quizzed by the police for speaking at the “Women Against Toxic Politics” rally on Sep 10 last year.
Some 1,000 people, including opposition politicians and rights activists had attended the rally.
Siti Hasmah dropped as patron of wheelchair tennis body, says Marina