Malaysia’s rich music culture part 7: Sudirman Arshad

Music as Identity

Sudirman Arshad was a singer who reflected Malaysian patriotism, when it was at its peak during the 1980s and 90s. Sudirman was able to capture the heart and soul of Malay culture and reflect this back to audiences in his songs.

Sudirman’s music career started off after he won the Bintang RTM Singing competition in 1976. He rose in popularity and won the Asian Popular Music Awards at the Royal; Albert Hall in London in 1989. He captivated audiences during his career with his concerts and television performances, especially during national days and Hari Raya breaks. He once pulled in a crowd of more than 100,000 fans in Jalan TAR, for a live open-air concert in 1986.

Some of his hits include Merisik Khabar, Milik Siapa Gadis Ini, and Pelangi Petang. His concert crowd favourites included Balik Kampong and Selamat Hari Raya.

Sudirman was well respected within the international music industry, working with British producer Stock, Aitken & Waterman, who also produced Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, and Rick Astley.

Sudirman was a lawyer by training, but soon dropped out after being admitted to the bar due to lack of interest, was a talented cartoonist who sometimes incorporated this into his shows, and a part time journalist. He was also an actor in the film Kami, released in 1982, about two destitute orphans who find each other in the street life of Kuala Lumpur. This was very much reflective upon the charity work he did, and upbringing of an Indian boy he adopted.

Sudirman was an entrepreneur who started a carbonated drink business branded Sudi, which gained around 5% national market-share during its peak. He also had a restaurant next to his studio. He also developed a range of canned and processed foods.

Sudirman was on the cover page of Malaysian Business and Asian Business Magazine. For someone of physically small stature, his dreams and ambitions were big, where he was able to bring excitement to both his music and businesses.

Sudirman was known to be a very humble person, and sang to his fans in all of Malaysia’s languages, including Sabha and Sarawak dialects. He was well known to never refuse to sign an autograph or take a photo with his fans.

He had the commitment to prepare and perform in a similar was to Michael Jackson prepared for his concert tours.

Contemporaries say that Sudirman was a kampong boy at heart, enjoying the simple things of kampong life. He went to great lengths to find sponsors for his concerts so his fans could attend free.  

Sudirman died in 1992 at the age of 37, after a long bought of pneumonia. His death led to much conjecture at the time, where the aspersions reflect what sometimes happening to young Malay men who lived a ‘social’ life at the time. This has not damaged his legendary status where his music is very much still in the hearts of many today.

Some Muslim fundamentalists were very critical of his concert performances and even tried to sabotage some of his concerts by warning something would happen. They also claimed that his Western influence of his music was also destroying Malay culture and harming Islam. Some Malay professional also made fun of Sudirman because his made Malay culture look too simplistic.

The spirit of Sudirman lives on encapsulating important aspects of Malay culture which many want to leave behind, in favour of other Malay personas.

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