A 90/10 Rule

Corporate commander Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir had his rags-to-riches tale detailed in his memoir, but reveals to Kathlyn D’souza the people who brought him to where he is today

“They were mostly holders of doctorates, and who am I?”

At the behest of some very dear (and powerful) friends the normally publicity-shy founder of Sapura Holdings gave the green light to one of the most emotional, comprehensive and inspiring biographies this year. The deeply self-effacing man sat across me after the launch of A Driver’s Son, giving me a toothy grin when I asked ‘what brought the book about?’ “Well, writing the book had nothing to do with publicity. I’ve never dreamed of writing a book. That one person who kept urging me was Tun Mahathir, who said, ‘You’ve lived long enough to write something.’ So then I told him, ‘Tun, I have never written a book in my life. I’m not a writer.’ But Tun Mahathir said that there is always a beginning.” Tan Sri Shamsuddin thus decided to give it a shot, and had somebody sit with him while he regaled them with the story of his life. He is in fact, I found, quite the storyteller, as he continued his story on Tun Mahathir. “He also called me a long time ago and said, ‘Look, I want you to go to Universiti Utara and teach.’” He had gently turned our thendeputy prime minister down, but it backfired. “He had insisted, and if Tun M asks you to do something, you just do it. You don’t say no.” Did you like it? I followed up. His family and friends who had joined us in the room laughed at that, and so did he. “I was frightened! The first time I went there, on the stage, the whole university, comprising the professors, lecturers and students were all there watching me. They wanted to listen to me. They were mostly holders of doctorates and Phds, and who am I? Someone who just grew up in Sungai Besi under a cherry tree.” But his listeners had all wanted to know how he built the company, how he started and how he made it to what it is today. “And then I told them, there is no substitute for hard work. Just work hard at whatever you want to do. There is nothing else but 90 per cent sweat, and 10 per cent of some luck lah,” he explained with a laugh. We then spoke of two of his favourite moments, captured in the book. One excerpt he had read out loud during the launch was of his mother. “She was illiterate. I had skipped school, and once she found out that I lied to her about it, she hit me in front of the students and teachers non-stop. I thought then, why would she do that? She doesn’t know what school is. And yet, I think that’s why I am here today,” he admitted softly, his voice breaking at the recollection of his mother. The other memory was of his father—who inspired the book title—as his father told him to never forget that he is a driver’s son. Young Shamsuddin came home, after army training, to his father who was cleaning the wheels of the car he managed. Three registered letters had come for Shamsuddin—one was a scholarship to study medicine in Singapore, the second one from Telecoms to study engineering in Brighton, and the last was from the army, with the intention of sending him to Sandhurst. He immediately told his father about rejecting both study scholarships, considering that he was already attached to the army. “And the words that I really cannot forget until now,” he swallowed, biting back tears, “is when he said, ‘ Din, selagi aku boleh basuh tayar ini, hang gi belajar’ (For as long as I can wash these tyres, you should go study).” Now that this memoir is out for the public to read, I asked if he would write another book on business and entrepreneurial tricks. “I’m already 86. If I start, it will not finish!” He responded in jest, laughing out in pure, unadulterated mirth. “But I’ll consider it.”