Some kind of “force” progressed him through the ranks with little turbulence and saw him handpicked for bigger things, he told FMT in an interview in conjunction with Air Force Day yesterday.
Stationed in Singapore with the Malayan Volunteers Air Force in 1955, Sulaiman was selected – seemingly out of the blue – for pilot training at RAF Cranwell in the United Kingdom.
“I was summoned to meet the head of the then commanding officer of Air Headquarters Malaya, Air Vice-Marshal Frederick Scherger, who was based in Kuala Lumpur. The interview was over in 30 seconds!
“He just told me to pack and leave for Cranwell and wished me luck. I was stunned but accepted it without second thoughts,” said Sulaiman.
After three years of training, the RAF posted him to Cyprus. In the meantime, the RMAF had been formed but was still headed by British and Australian officers.
Sulaiman was fortunate to escape tragedy when his squadron was ordered back to its home base in Scotland.
“One of the aircraft developed a technical hitch and I had to stay back with my buddy John Clever to test it after servicing before flying back, but just before that, I was suddenly transferred to attend a flying instructor’s course.
“Clever had to do the test and his plane disappeared after a mayday call during the flight,” said Sulaiman. Sadly, he was never found.
Tunku Abdul Rahman calls
Sulaiman was still in Cyprus in 1965 when he came to then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman’s attention, with the statesman reportedly having earmarked him for greater things.
“They sent an aircraft for me to go to Kuala Lumpur for an interview with the air force chief, Alasdair Steedman. He said they want me to take over the (Royal Malaysian) air force. I was only a flight lieutenant.”
Sulaiman asked for a year to attend staff college in the UK before he started his transition, but his request was denied and his transfer to the RMAF was expedited.
“The first thing they did was to post me to Alor Setar as the base commander of the flying training school.
“I stayed only for about a year at Alor Setar. Then I was promoted and sent to Labuan as officer-in-charge for both Sabah and Sarawak.”
In 1967, after three months shadowing Steedman, Sulaiman was told to return to Kuala Lumpur and prepare to take over as RMAF chief. Just 33 years old then, he approached the new role with trepidation.
As group captain, Sulaiman said his immediate thought was to accelerate the training of local pilots and technicians to fill a void which British and Australian airmen would leave as they start returning to their home countries in stages.
“That was a heavy responsibility because at that time, most of the air support services were provided by Commonwealth air forces. The RMAF (had) just started in 1958, we were still very small,” he said.
He admitted to some sleepless nights but with the help of seniors and other Malaysian officers, his plan was approved by the government.
“I insisted that we must maintain quality. This was paramount, before we (gave) them the responsibility.
“To do that, I made sure that the training was carried out properly and up to the standard both for the aircrew and also ground forces, especially the engineering crew.
“I had excellent support from the government, (the) armed forces chief and within the RMAF. All hands were on deck, and we just cruised along, overcoming problems as they surfaced,” he said, adding that the RMAF would not be what it is today if not for their sacrifices.
Memorable achievement as RMAF chief
Sulaiman says his greatest achievement was getting approval for the purchase of 30 Sikorsky S-61A-4 Nuri helicopters “overnight”.
The green light was given in 1976 by then prime minister Hussein Onn, at a time when the communist terrorist insurgency was at its height.
RMAF only had 10 Nuris then, which were used as workhorses to transport troops and food into the jungle. The ground forces were asking for more support.
The government had budgeted for five more, which prompted Sulaiman’s push for more resources.
“Tun Hussein Onn asked me what the RMAF needed badly, and I told him we urgently wanted more Nuris.
“He asked me how many I wanted. Having done my homework, I told him 30. Without any question, he told me I would get them.
“I was shocked because I expected him to cut the request down. It cost more than RM200 million, a huge sum indeed 46 years ago.
“With that, I retired in the same year with a sense of accomplishment at the age of just 42,” he said.
Sulaiman, who had clocked almost 4,000 flying hours, said he was told upon appointment by then prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein that he would hold the post at most for 10 years to allow others to move up.
He declined a diplomatic posting saying it was not something that excited him.
“I did go on to serve as Malaysia Airlines deputy chairman, Bank Negara assistant governor, HSBC Bank executive director and Guthrie Berhad commercial director, among others, until I turned 70,” he said.
Sulaiman, who authored his book “Memoir Seorang Juruterbang” (“A Pilot’s Memoirs”) in 2010, has four children, 19 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. His wife died seven years ago.