We celebrate the achievements of Puan Sri Dr Rebecca George, one of the earliest female doctors in Malaysia to qualify as a paediatrician. Dr Rebecca was instrumental in identifying and managing many public health problems that children faced in the 70s and 80s. She was involved in implementing the National Immunisation Programme, child growth monitoring, tackling the dengue epidemic among children, and pushing for more research of childhood diseases. In the lead-up to Malaysia Day, she shares her life's work with us, along with her witty observations of having been a female medical student in India, and a globe-trotting specialist in the later years.