Before becoming one of Malaysia’s most respected corporate turnaround specialists, Idris Jala was a young Kelabit boy growing up in the remote highlands of Bario, Sarawak, surrounded by mountains and dense jungle.
There were no televisions in his village, cars were rare and life was simple. Yet he never considered himself poor because the community shared almost everything it had.
From those humble beginnings, Idris went on to transform struggling companies, lead Malaysia Airlines, enter the federal Cabinet and become the first Orang Ulu appointed as a federal minister.
In 2014, Bloomberg named him one of the world’s 10 most influential policymakers.
His Kelabit roots remained an important part of his life. Through The Game of Impossible, the podcast he co-hosted with his son, Leon Jala, Idris continued the storytelling tradition passed down through generations of his community, while sharing lessons about leadership, transformation and life.
But the remarkable journey that took him from a remote village to some of Malaysia’s most powerful boardrooms almost followed a completely different path.
Growing Up In A Community That Shared Everything
Idris grew up among the Kelabit community, surrounded by mountains and dense jungle.
He explained that three things defined the Kelabit people: community, Christianity and culture.
Life in a longhouse meant sharing food, belongings and responsibilities. According to Idris, the traditional Kelabit language did not even have a word for “thank you” because giving to another person was seen as a duty rather than a favour.
His community also had a rich storytelling tradition. His father could recite stories with rhyme and rhythm, turning every line into something close to poetry.
That environment helped shape his understanding of leadership. Community mattered, faith provided direction and stories carried important lessons from one generation to another.
The Moment Idris Jala Discovered A World Beyond Bario
As a child, Idris Jala had little idea what life outside Bario looked like.
That changed during the Malaysia-Indonesia confrontation when British soldiers were stationed in the area. They occasionally screened movies in an open field for the local community.
Idris remembered watching Elvis Presley perform on screen. For the first time, he realised there was a much bigger world beyond the mountains surrounding his village.
He came to a powerful conclusion: “The passport to see the world is to pass your exams.”
Education became his way forward.
Idris applied for a scholarship to study law in New Zealand. However, because Bario was so remote, he used his aunt’s home in Miri as his postal address.
The acceptance letter arrived while his aunt was overseas. By the time Idris received it, he had missed the deadline.
What appeared to be a major disappointment eventually changed the direction of his life.
Instead of going to New Zealand, he enrolled at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, where he studied development studies and management.
He later described the setback as divine intervention. If he had gone to New Zealand, he believed he might never have met the woman who became his wife. The couple went on to have two sons and two grandchildren.
Building A Reputation At Shell
After university, Idris Jala began a 23-year career with Shell, where he held several senior leadership positions and worked on some of the company’s most challenging operations.
One of his most notable assignments involved Shell Middle Distillates Synthesis.
He helped transform the business, which became the first company in the world to produce diesel and kerosene from natural gas instead of crude oil.
Its green diesel was later selected for use during the 2004 Athens Olympics.
His ability to enter a struggling organisation, identify its biggest problems and establish measurable targets became central to his leadership style.
However, his biggest corporate test would come when he was asked to take charge of Malaysia’s national airline.
How Idris Jala Helped Turn Malaysia Airlines Around
In 2005, Idris Jala was appointed chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines when the national carrier was facing prolonged losses.
Joining the airline meant leaving a successful career at Shell. He reportedly took a pay cut and gave up valuable corporate benefits to accept one of the most difficult jobs in Malaysian business.
His approach was built around urgency, accountability and measurable results.
He introduced a business turnaround plan that forced the airline to confront its true financial position, review unprofitable operations and make difficult decisions about how the company was being managed.
The results established him as one of the country’s leading turnaround specialists. Malaysia Airlines moved from major losses in 2005 to a record profit in 2007, exceeding the original target set under the plan.
The transformation demonstrated one of his most important leadership beliefs: an organisation can achieve what appears impossible if it fundamentally changes the way it operates.
From The Corporate World To The Federal Government
In 2009, Idris Jala entered public service as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and head of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, better known as PEMANDU.
The appointment made him the first Orang Ulu to become a federal minister.
He brought many of the methods used in his corporate turnarounds into government. These included setting measurable targets, identifying clear priorities and holding leaders accountable for results.
His work eventually received international recognition. In 2014, Bloomberg named him among the 10 most influential policymakers in the world.
After leaving government, he continued helping organisations navigate transformation through PEMANDU Associates. He also held prominent leadership and boardroom positions at major Malaysian companies.
Why Good Boards Should Be “Boring”
After decades of serving as both a chief executive and chairman, Idris developed a direct view of how corporate boards should operate.
He believes boards often become too involved in daily operations. Instead of guiding the company and evaluating its performance, directors begin doing work that properly belongs to management.
In his view, a board has four main responsibilities: appoint the right CEO and hold that person accountable, focus on results, independently validate management’s performance and protect the company’s reputation.
His advice is clear: “If management isn’t delivering, replace them. Don’t become them.”
This is why he argues that good board meetings should often be “boring”. They do not need to spend hours discussing small operational matters. Their attention should remain on outcomes, major risks and whether management is delivering what was promised.
He once recalled seeing a board discuss something as detailed as the nasi lemak served on an aircraft.
To him, that was a clear sign that the board had crossed the line into management’s territory.
Setting An “Olympic” Target
One of his most recognisable leadership ideas is that every organisation should have two targets.
The first should be realistic and achievable. The second should be an “Olympic” target, something that appears impossible under the organisation’s existing way of working but becomes possible if it changes its entire approach.
This does not mean setting ambitious numbers without a strategy. It means forcing people to question the assumptions keeping an organisation trapped at its current level of performance.
He believes this responsibility begins with the chairman.
“If the chairman isn’t interested in setting impossible ambitions, the company walks the path of mediocrity,” he said.
Under this philosophy, boards should not simply protect companies from risk. They should also challenge management to imagine a different future and hold them accountable for building it.
His remarkable experiences were later documented in The Game of the Impossible, where Idris reveals the thinking behind his biggest transformations, his “Big Fast Results” approach and the leadership principles that helped him confront seemingly impossible challenges across business and government.
Idris Jala Faces A New And Personal Battle
In July 2026, Idris Jala revealed that he had been diagnosed with Stage IIIC lung cancer after doctors discovered a tennis ball-sized mass in his left lung.
He had experienced intermittent coughing and fatigue but initially dismissed the symptoms. At his wife’s insistence, he consulted a pulmonary specialist at Sunway Medical Centre.
An X-ray led to an immediate CT scan, while a biopsy later confirmed the diagnosis.
The news came as a shock, particularly because he had stopped smoking around 30 years earlier.
Doctors ruled out surgery because of the cancer’s advanced stage. Further examinations and genetic testing were required to determine the most suitable treatment, with possible options including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy.
Yet he approached the diagnosis with the same honesty and determination that had defined his leadership career.
“It’s going to be tough, but I’m ready for the fight,” he said.
He also drew strength from his Christian faith, saying he believed there would always be light at the end of the tunnel.
The Meaning Of “Ketuit”
Throughout his extraordinary journey, Idris has continued to carry one piece of advice from his father.
It centres on the Kelabit word “ketuit”, which he describes as a burning desire to win and the willingness to take extreme measures to achieve a goal.
His father encouraged young people to identify the best-performing student in their class, become that person’s friend, learn what they did and then do it “to the power of 10”.
That determination took him from a remote village in Bario to Shell, Malaysia Airlines, the federal Cabinet and some of the country’s most influential boardrooms.
Today, as he faces one of the most difficult battles of his life, the principle of ketuit carries an even deeper meaning.
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