Ep 148.1: "I Wrote the Cockiest Letter!" | Dato' Sri Idris Jala (Chairman, PEMANDU)

When Dato Sri Idris Jala became the Managing Director of Shell
Sri Lanka, he wasn’t expecting to hold the country on ransom.


The Sri Lanka unit had already experienced 27 years of continuous
losses when he took over. And on Day 1, what Idris had to handle
was: bombs strapped to his depot, the kidnapping of his transport
manager, a major labour strike and…


Threatening letters sent by a professional sniper who knew where
he lived, where he worked, when he left each place and the exact
route he took each other. 


Tough doesn’t even begin to cover it.


But Idris turned it around. 


And in the latest STIMY episode, he shares how, why he took on
such a tough gig and what continues to drive him.


There were so many gems in his 2-hour interview that it’s only
right to have split it into two parts.


This is Part 1.


Which opens up with his childhood in the Borneo Highlands - where
his dad would throw him into the pigsty when he misbehaved.


And also insisted that they sleep on the floor of the stinky fish
market - because they were travelling with neighbouring tribes
who couldn’t afford a tribe and “they shouldn’t act different
from others”. 


Education, for him back then, was a matter of life and
death. 


His North Star then was to be the top of his class. 


So he asked his dad, a teacher, for advice.


He was told, “Very simple, son. Find out who’s currently No. 1,
be his or her best friend, and do exactly what he does but put it
to the power of 10.”


And so Idris just did.





Others highlights:


Surviving ghostly encounters & treacherous rapids in the
Borneo Highlands


His spiritual awakening as part of the Bario Revival


The concept of “ketuit” (which is kelabit for ‘kiasu’ or being
very competitive)


Why his cocky job application letters were successful - he began
his letters with the words, “Dear Sir, I’m the man you’re looking
for”!


Why ‘the graveyard is full of indispensable people’


The impossible game





Highlights:


3:15 Storytelling culture

4:33 Thrown into the pigsty!

7:06 Ketuit

7:40 What does winning mean?

8:26 My true north then & the trick to achieving it

10:05 Becoming a lawyer

15:48 Walking through the cemetery 

17:19 The Bario spiritual revival

21:50 Not quite from God? The Gestapo inquiry

25:03 Post-Revival

29:08 Not able to go to New Zealand

31:55 The ‘magic’ in his cocky letters

34:01 Wanting a free flight home

42:28 Sense of curiosity

47:02 Becoming Managing Director of Shell Sri Lanka & the
game of the impossible

51:49 He makes every big decision with his wife

54:03 Never make the position become you

55:22 Fear & holding the country at ransom?






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️Show notes/transcript: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/148 


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