Sudirman’s private plea: ‘Don’t let me die like P Ramlee, Saloma’

Sudirman’s former manager Daniel Dharanee laments that the nation has not just forgotten the influential performer, ‘they don’t care who he was’.

PETALING JAYA: The peril of dying under tragic circumstances, in debt and poverty, greatly troubled pop star Sudirman Arshad.

He was also extremely worried about what he would do if he was no longer able to perform in his later years.

It was April 1987, and Sudirman, then 33, was financially unstable.

He was also agonising over a split with his illustrious manager, Mike Bernie Chin.

The people’s entertainer with his first manager Mike Bernie Chin (left) and Daniel Dharanee. (Daniel Dharanee pics)

Everything was going wrong for him and he desperately needed someone to manage his affairs.

The new manager was an unexpected one: 22-year-old Daniel Dharanee, the sound engineer at concerts by Sudirman and other big names under Mike Bernie Entertainment.

Dharanee would go on to be by his boss’s side over a period of devastating lows and incredible highs.

In an illuminating interview to mark the 32nd death anniversary of the superstar, Dharanee revealed some private stories about his five-year stint with Sudirman.

Temerloh-born Sudirman, the people’s entertainer, died on Feb 22 in 1992, aged 37, after being bedridden for almost seven months.

Sudirman was a theatrical artiste who put everything – good, bad, sad and tough – into his art. (Daniel Dharanee pics)

Crushing blows

In March 1987, Chin told the media he considered Sudirman unmanageable, and had quit as his manager.

“He does not honour my position as manager, and I have tolerated this crap from time to time for two years,” he stated.

Sudirman responded: “I do not bite the hand that feeds me. I had my own reasons for letting the situation take the course it did.”

Dharanee said the separation rocked the foundations of the Malaysian entertainment scene, likening it to the failed partnership of local band The Strollers and Jap Tan.

He said several industry luminaries vied to replace Chin including the Bakar brothers – Ali and Aziz – who ran Showmasters, and lyricist Habsah Hassan.

But it was Dharanee who got the job on April 15, with 15% nett of the artiste’s total income.

He said Sudirman told him: “You are young and ambitious, and I like your work ethic. Join me and as we go along, let’s plan for the next chapter of my career.”

Dharanee said Sudirman disclosed he was in debt, but promised and pleaded: “I’m prepared to work with all that I’ve got to reach a more stable position, so please help me to do that as your first priority.”

He said Sudirman undertook all the liabilities from his previous account with Mike Bernie Entertainment and that he was resolute in settling all the outstanding payments.

Sudirman was then the most sought after live show entertainer, having won hands down the “Most Popular Artiste of the Year” awards for seven consecutive years, both from the English and Malay media.

His schedule was demanding, with seven shows for the remaining two weeks in April, eight in May and bookings until December.

Dharanee accepted the job, and soon became the sounding board for Sudirman.

On a flight to Penang for his baptism of fire, Dharanee listened intently as Sudirman expressed the fears haunting him.

According to Dharanee, the influential singer said: “I’m in debt now. I don’t want to die in poverty or in debt. Please make sure of that.

“Please don’t let me die under dire circumstances like P Ramlee and Saloma, my biggest idols and inspiration.

“They are never remembered. Nobody bothers about what they have done.”

Dharanee said Ramlee may have lived poor but he left a rich legacy for the nation that cannot be quantified monetarily.

He noted Sudirman did not die a poor man. “His estate, including the factory in Melaka that manufactured Sudi drinks, Sudi Shoppe and other businesses, was valued at about RM300 million in 1990.”

Sudirman during soundcheck at Royal Albert Hall with Dharanee (left) and Michael Veerapen, who composed the Paul Ponnudurai-penned winning song, A Thousand Million Smiles. (Daniel Dharanee pic)

‘What if I can’t perform anymore?’

In 1989, the lawyer-turned-artiste went to London as an underdog, and became a national hero after winning the title of “Asia’s Best Performer” at the Royal Albert Hall.

Not since Ramlee, who in 1957 collected the Best Actor Award at the fourth Tokyo Asian Film Festival, had any Malaysian artiste won anything significant in Asian entertainment.

A day after the triumph in London, Sudirman took his nephew Atai and Dharanee for a seven-day stay at Lake District, Cumbria, North West London, where he had bought a house.

A remarkable idea developed out of another fear Sudirman had.

Dharanee said: “Sudirman was on top of the world, but he always had this fear that he was not going to live long.

“He felt he was not going to be the genius and master performer in his 50s or 60s, strutting his stuff on stage.

“He wondered what he would do if he couldn’t perform anymore.”

Dharanee suggested an academy of performing arts be created as Sudirman’s legacy. “He loved the idea but he had gone too soon.”

Today, Dharanee, 61, is close to setting up an academy of his own for music talents in Southeast Asia.

He is also working on his book based on Asia’s best entertainer the world never got a chance to know.

Even as a boy, Sudirman (right) was a committed performer, going on to become a lawyer, entertainer, television host, writer, cartoonist, actor and entrepreneur. (Daniel Dharanee pic)

Have we lost our love for Sudirman?

“In the years since Sudirman’s death his legacy has failed to grow,” lamented Dharanee.

Asked if he thought the nation has forgotten Sudirman, he said bluntly: “Not just forgotten, they don’t care who he was.”

He said: “We have neglected celebrating our heroes, like Sudirman who was central to Malaysian music.

“The younger generation has grown up not knowing about the man who transcended racial and religious barriers.

“If we cared, there will be museums, libraries, websites and loads of other information on the achievements of music and sporting greats who have contributed to nation-building and unity.

“This is called soft power and the influence of popular culture on the masses.

“How would you know how to go forward if you don’t know the past?”

Dharanee recalled Sudirman telling him to place whatever awards he received after his death on his grave.

Sudirman told him: “Appreciate people when they’re alive, not when they are gone.”