He was named 'Malaysia's Singing Ambassador' by Malaysia Tourism Development Board (TDB). He was the voice behind the TDB tune,
To know Malaysia is to love Malaysia which was composed by
American Emmy, Grammy and Oscar nominated singer and songwriter
Carol Connors. He was referred to as the 'Singing Dynamite' by
Singaporean journalists. His singing brought him standing ovations in
Australia (in Sydney and Melbourne),
Japan, Kuwait, Hawaii, U.S.. At the Melbourne Hilton, 500 guests packed the ballroom screaming, 'More! More! More!'. Being patriotic, Sudirman replied, "Come to my country and we'll show you that we are a kind and hospitable people".
He won many local competitions from
Bintang RTM Best Singer (1976) to
Muzik-Muzik TV3 Best Performer and
Berita Harian Popularity contest Most Popular Artist. Topping
Malaysian, Brunei and
Indonesia charts with songs such as "Merisik Khabar", "Milik Siapakah Gadis Ini" and "Sampaikan Salam". Songwriters that have supported him in the past included S.Atan, Manan Ngah, Michael Veerapan and Syed Harun
He was also the first Malaysian singer to perform at The Paddock at the Hilton of Kuala Lumpur and was the singing ambassador for companies such as
Proton, Malaysia Airlines, Honda Cup and honored pioneer card member with
Hong Leong Bank. He was known for his versatility and sang Malay, Indian and Chinese songs with outstanding choreography. He was known to have sketched the a portrait of a fan while singing.
Local musicians who have played for him included Boon, Jay Jay (singer guitarist), Mac Chiew and Jenny Chin. Local famous women who have performed as his back-up singers include Joanne (
Zainal Abidin's wife), Samantha Schubert and Linda Jasmine Hashim (now one of the leading dancing choreographer cum teacher in Malaysia's famous real TV program Akademi Fantasia).
However, Sudirman was not loved by all. Many Muslim leftists detested 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. 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 body. This incident was captured by
Zainuddin Maidin (now Minister of Information) in his book "The Other side of Mahathir". He narrated that the Prime Minister (then) had called upon some ministers to his residence to review the situation as the issue reflected Malaysia's position in terms of modernization. Sudirman's fans turned up in force crowding the concert hall. Sudirman 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. A couple of years after Sudirman's death in 1992, UKM held a Sudirman karaoke competition.
He was also a writer (he writes book of his life "Dari Dalam Sudir", cartoons and weekly article column for magazines and some local newspapers). One of his book writing for children was recognized the Best by Mobil-Mabopa. (A
Mobil Oil book writing competition). He also successfully hosted Malaysia's high TV program gameshow "Keluarga Bahagia Singer" a program sponsored by a known home appliance company then called SINGER.
Sudirman produced an album for his nephew, Razman Azrai or also known as 'Atai' under Sudirman Productions. Atai had a couple of hit songs that topped the charts in 1985. Sudirman also became Malaysia's first successful singer cum entrepreneur providing Malaysia's most famous carbonated drink SUDI (which broke 5% of carbonated drink market within 6 months operation - with business magazines and TV programs from
Australia to
Hong Kong featuring the drinks) and opened a franchise of Sudi Shoppe apparel and Sudi restaurant. He was Malaysia's first singer to be on the cover of
Malaysian Business and
Asian Business magazine. He had a business office atop the UBN Shangrila Tower and Sri Hartamas. He was also a champion for Malaysian music industry, playing the role of Vice President for Singers, Musicians & Composers Association of Malaysia - PAPITA.
Sudirman also acted in a film named
Kami (Malay meaning "Us"), which was released in 1982. He played the lead in a heart-rending tale where two destitute orphans found each other amidst the cold, harsh realities of
Kuala Lumpur street life. This memorable film also spawned an enduring track, "Pelangi Petang" (Malay meaning "Evening Rainbow") which has been heralded as an iconic song in Malaysia's music industry.
In 1986, he held an open air concert on
Chow Kit Road, which was the first time ever that a stret concert drew a 100,000 person crowd on a Monday night. It jammed the stretch of
Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Raja Muda to Jalan Raja Alang. Several fans fainted, many left with fond memories, a few suffocated and were rushed to the hospital due to pack of crowd pushing and shoving. To quote a local newspaper
The Star, "KL came to a standstill and it had nothing to do with the recession but with a one man, Malaysia's top entertainer, an electrifying performance and most memorable night".
Simon Napier-Bell, the manager for
Wham! (
George Michael's band) referred to Sudirman as the 'institution of Malaysian music industry'.
Sudirman's songs topped the charts with every new album that was released. There was a time when his song "Merisik Khabar" went up as #1 song for 2 months while his second song "Milik Siapa Gadis Ini" from the same album came in second and stayed at the top for a few weeks after "Merisik Khabar"
In
1989, Sudirman won the title "Best Performer" in Asia Music Award 1989 contest at
Royal Albert Hall, London where
Leslie Cheung (Hong Kong Megastar),
Anita Sarawak (Singapore Diva),
Epo (Japan),
Kuh Ledesma s (Philippines) and many other chosen singers (based on their merit) who represented their own respective countries. An information officer at the Malaysia High Commission, Revi Pilla,i said he still remembers going to the Royal Albert Hall in 1989 when the late Sudirman Haji Arshad performed at the Salem Music Awards.“I went to see Sudir with other Malaysian friends. It was such a great atmosphere.We were so proud." The crowd that filled the room was mostly made up of Asian fans skewed mainly towards Hongkies and Singaporeans. But Sudirman won ther hearts to a point where they cheered for Sudirman as if he were theirs.
He was known by many in the 80s as "Malaysia's No 1 Entertainer". Naturally he was chosen to be the performer that closes Malaysia's SEA Games, opening ceremony of sepak takraw competition and many other national functions and competition. In most cases, he would fork out his own money to make his concert successful. He is also well known for his charity work where he helped invite veteran artists to have spots in shows. Money charity for mosque and people in need is something he would do willingly. During his life he had also adopted and brought up an Indian boy from a poor family and he actively seeks charity work through PAPITA (Malaysian Singer Association)
In
Singapore he had a strong following as was evidently seen when he made a concert in Singapore's
Kallang National Stadium in August 1987. Girls and even moms were biting their knuckles and people came from all walks of life a race. Excerpt Kelvin Tan Look Siew Director of Singapore Armed Forces Music & Drama company "We wanted to bring down a prominent artist from the region and Sudirman's name automatically cropped up".
Tunku Abdul Rahman: ayahanda harap anakanda berjaya selalu.
EMI London took him on to work together with
Stock, Aitken & Waterman (British producer trio who took on
Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and
Rick Astley) for world market and he recorded an album but time was not on his side.
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