THERE is a new book in town published in English by MPH entitled The Power of Deeds – The Untold Story of Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin, written by Khadijah Md Khalid, Shakila Yacob and Sharifah Mariam Alhabshi. It tells the illustrious story of Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin who was the fourth Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia between 1970 and 1976.
Abdul Kadir was a self-made man who rose to prominence in the service of his country. Born in 1920 and schooled at the Kajang High in 1934, and later in 1940 proceeded to Raffles College in Singapore.
During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, he joined the Japanese Koa-Kunrenjo training institute and was recruited as a Japanese interpreter. It is interesting to read that personalities such as Tun Razak, Maurice Baker, Ghazali Shafie, Hamzah Abu Samah, Idris Babjee, Ghazali Mahmud, Raja Mansur and Hooi Kam Sooi were also recruited as interpreters.
Abdul Kadir was an alumnus of Bristol University in the U.K, who joined the MCS Scheme in 1953. Beginning in 1960, Abdul Kadir was appointed Deputy Secretary for Defence for two years and later was promoted to Secretary for Defence for the next five years.
He then went on to become the Director General of Public Service Department of Malaysia before taking on the number one position in the Civil Service as Chief Secretary of the Government of Malaysia in 1970, a position which he held until his retirement in 1976. Subsequently, he was the Chairman and CEO of Petronas until God’s Calling two years later in 1978.
Tun Mahathir Mohamad regarded Abdul Kadir as “an astute senior public administrator with impeccable credentials. He was directly involved in the formation of the Federation of Malaya and Malaysia, and was responsible for reshaping the administration of the country after independence”.
Tun Ahmad Sarji Bin Abdul Hamid, who was the Chief Secretary to the Government between 1990 and 1996, had said that he had the great honour to serve under Abdul Kadir in the Civil Service.
Attributes from Tun Ahmad Sarji to him are : Tan Sri Abdul Kadir was involved in the Merdeka talks; helped shape national defence strategies; facilitated the formation of Malaysia; assisted in normalising relations between Indonesia and Malaysia, thus ending Confrontation; contributed to the work of the National Operations Council (NOC) to restore parliamentary democracy; helped formulate the New Economic Policy (NEP); and was involved in the development of the institutional framework of government, among others.
By setting his life, his work in the context of his times, the biographers have given the book extra richness and dimension.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Leo Moggie Irok wrote: Abdul Kadir’s many achievement and personal role in the country’s history deserved to be shared and recorded. He had a distinguished career in the Civil Service in various capacity. At Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Abdul Kadir occupies a special place in its history.
This book contains the opinions of distinguished personalities on Abdul Kadir Shamsuddin which are eye-openers to his life and time.
Among them are Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar, Tun Abdullah Ayub, Tan Sri Leo Moggie Irok, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, Tan Sri Ishak Tadin, General Tan Sri Mohd Ghazali Seth, Tan Sri Rashdan Baba and Tan Sri Yahya Ibrahim.
A considerable part of this book was purposely written vaguely for readers to interpret. There are understandably, facts that cannot be told and expressed in this book by virtue of the secrecy associated with Abdul Kadir as a government officer.
This book is about a man with credible leadership spiced with integrity, humanity, courage, discipline and intelligence. It is a must-read for those who aspire to be one.
The promotional cost per soft cover book is RM56.00, hard cover RM70.00. Add postal charges for RM4.00 per book. Contact Mr Shamsul (email: shabaks77@gmail.com)
* DATO’ PROF EMERITUS DR HASHIM YAACOB Former Vice Chancellor of University Malaya.
Author / Editor
