Sudirman

His father Arshad was a manager of a local bus company in Sudirman's family hometown, whereas his mother Romlah who used to work as a seamstress and was also the first woman to become a Malaysian state assemblywoman in Pahang during the 1950s.

Both of his parent had also been involved in the business of fabrics and clothing.

Sources revealed that he was given the name of 'Sudirman' by his father who had hoped that he would grow up to become a brave warrior like Indonesian army general Soedirman, the man he was named after.

His passion for singing and entertainment started at a very young age, as during his childhood he would entertain his family and neighbour as they in turn would happily let him do so and encourage him.

He completed his secondary education in Sultan Abu Bakar School (SABS), Temerloh.

Dato' Sudirman bin Haji Arshad, DSAP, JMN, AMN, AMP (25 May 1954 – 22 February 1992), known mononymously as Sudirman, was a Malaysian singer and songwriter.

Sudirman, born on 25 May 1954 in Temerloh, Pahang, was the youngest of seven siblings and born to Arshad Hassan and Romlah Dahalan.

His singing career kicked off after winning the Bintang RTM singing competition on 11 August 1976.

After turning down a scholarship to further his studies in medicine, he studied law instead at the University of Malaya in 1976.

He then received his degree with third class honours four years later together with Malaysia's current and former Attorney General Idrus Harun and Abdul Gani Patail.

His big break came when he entered Johan Bintang RTM, a singing competition organised by public broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia held in Malacca in August 1976, where he swooned the audience with his spontaneous sense of humour and melodious singing.

Possessing of a clear piercing tenor with a breadth of range and dynamic control especially at the extreme high end, Sudirman's voice was instantly recognisable every time one of his songs are played in local radio or television.

His ability to act through his voice is evident from songs such as "Bercanda di Pasiran Pantai", a Latin-flavoured duet with Anita Sarawak which displayed the quality of his voice.

His unique talents had helped him to win many local competitions from Bintang RTM Best Singer (1976) to Muzik-Muzik TV3 Best Performer and Berita Harian Popularity contest Most Popular Artist voted by fans.

He topped Malaysian, Brunei and Indonesia charts with songs such as "Merisik Khabar" (Seeking Greetings), "Milik Siapakah Gadis Ini" (Whose Girl Were Owned By) and "Salam Terakhir" (Final Greetings).

Songwriters who have supported him in the past include S. Atan, Manan Ngah, Michael Veerapan and Syed Harun.

Even today, his songs are popularly played especially during National Day and Eid-ul-Fitr.

He commenced his pupillage in 1982 under Mr Ong Joo Theam of Messrs Abdul Aziz, Ong & Co. He was called to the Bar in 1984 in and commenced practice thereafter, though he left due to lack of interest.

It was during his period of studying law that he managed to juggle time between singing and tutorial classes.

Sudirman was also the first Malaysian singer to perform at The Paddock at the Hilton of Kuala Lumpur in 1983 and was the singing ambassador for companies such as Proton, Malaysia Airlines, Honda and honoured pioneer card member with Hong Leong Bank.

He was known for his versatility and sang Malay, Indian, Chinese and English songs with prominent choreography.

He was even known for sketching portraits of his fans while singing.

Local musicians who have played for him include Alex Boon, Jay Jay (singer guitarist), Hillary Ang, Ricky Omar, Fauzi Marzuki, Michael Veerapan, Mac Chiew and Jenny Chin.

Local women who have performed with him as his dancers (whom he refers to as "The Girls") include Joanne (Zainal Abidin's wife), supermodel the late Samantha Schubert and Linda Jasmine Hashim (now one of the leading dancing choreographer cum teacher in Malaysia's reality TV program show Akademi Fantasia).

Back up singers include Liza Aziz (daughter of Normahdiah and Aziz Jaafar) and Sheena (Datin Orkid Abdullah' daughter).

Some Muslim fundamentalists and leftists were not in favour of his concert performances.

Some even threatened and distributed warning pamphlets of "something would happen" during his Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Bangi concert to deter people from attending, possibly concerning about his songs were claimed to being mixed with Western influences, which would derail the Muslim faiths.

The concert was postponed following protests from the UKM students union body, its academic staff association and the dean of the Islamic Studies faculty and six other student bodies, whose were concerning about Sudirman's "attempt to destroying the Eastern culture and Islamic holiness by performing the derailed Western style".

This incident was captured by Zainuddin Maidin (then journalist, now former Minister of Information) in his book "The Other Side of Mahathir".

He narrated that the then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had called a few ministers to his residence to review the situation as the issue reflected Malaysia's position in terms of modernisation.

The meeting led to the conclusion that the show had to be allowed to go on.

Sudirman's fans turned up in force.

He went about pleasing the crowd, crooning his hits.

One campus resident said, "At last something alive has come here."

The negativity surrounding the UKM incident was not long-lasting.

His career defining moment came after he was awarded winner of the "1989 Asia's No. 1 Performer" title during the ‘'Asian Popular Music Awards'’ competition held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 19 March 1989.

Throughout his career, he was known as the "Singing Lawyer", the "People's Singer", the "Patriotic Singer" and the "Elvis Presley and Claude François of Malaysia" in his native country.

Apart from being a renowned singer from Malaysia he was also a trained lawyer, a composer, writer (specifically focusing in producing memoir and children books), cartoonist, canned drinks entrepreneur and an actor.

A couple of years after Sudirman's death in 1992, UKM held a Sudirman karaoke competition.

Sudirman produced an album for his favourite nephew, Razman Azrai, under Sudirman Productions.