Dari Penoreh Getah ke Ahli Lembaga ILO: Kisah Yang Menginspirasikan/From Humble Rubber Tapper to ILO Board Member: An Inspiring Story

 Sajad Hussein Kamarally

Di atas mejanya hanya ada satu gambar - gambar ibunya. Tiada anugerah Tan Sri. Tiada trofi. Hanya ibunya. Daripada wanita itulah beliau belajar tentang kebaikan hati, kejujuran, kerja keras dan sedekah. Nilai-nilai itu membawanya dari sebuah kampung nelayan di Melaka ke dewan Pertubuhan Buruh Antarabangsa (ILO) di Geneva.

Pada usia 17 tahun, dengan pendidikan setakat Darjah 4 dan hanya RM30 di dalam poket, Zainal Rampak bekerja sebagai kerani di sebuah syarikat bas. Beliau bekerja sehingga 18 jam sehari - memerhati, belajar dan memahami setiap selok-belok pekerjaan. Tidak merungut. Hanya lapar untuk berjaya.

Lima dekad kemudian, budak kampung itu dikenali sebagai Tan Sri Zainal Rampak - “Bapa Pekerja Malaysia”. Tokoh yang memimpin MTUC selama 18 tahun, berhadapan ugutan samseng, dan akhirnya membantu mentadbir “parlimen buruh dunia” di Geneva.

Kehidupan beliau membuktikan satu perkara: permulaan hidup bukan penamat takdir seseorang.

Saya pertama kali bertemu Zainal pada tahun 1973 di sebuah sidang media. Beliau masuk dengan tenang - mata tajam, suara lembut tetapi tegas. Ketika itu kami tidak tahu bahawa persahabatan penuh hormat akan terjalin selama bertahun-tahun. Dalam perbualan sambil minum kopi dan pertemuan lewat malam, beliau sering berkongsi kisah di sebalik tabir MTUC, Pertubuhan Pekerja ulung di Malaysia,  rundingan sulit dengan kerajaan, pergolakan dalaman, dan detik-detik nasib pekerja bergantung kepada seutas benang.

Beliau dilahirkan dalam keluarga miskin di Tanjung Kling, Melaka. Ayahnya seorang nelayan. Ibunya pula sering mengingatkan: “Jadilah orang baik, jujur, rajin bekerja dan suka bersedekah.” Gambar ibunya sentiasa berada di atas meja pejabatnya. “Dialah yang membentuk saya,” katanya suatu ketika dahulu.

Zainal hanya belajar hingga Darjah 4 dalam aliran Melayu. Tetapi beliau dahagakan ilmu. Bahasa Inggeris dipelajarinya sendiri - melalui pengalaman, pendengaran dan bacaan apa sahaja yang ditemui. Semangat belajar sendiri itulah yang membawanya jauh.

Apabila syarikat bas tempat beliau bekerja ditutup, takdir membuka jalan baru. Beliau menyertai Kesatuan Pekerja Pengangkutan (TWU) yang dipimpin mentor dan sahabat rapatnya, Dr V. David. Bersama-sama mereka membina TWU menjadi kesatuan yang kuat dan dihormati. Pemandu serta konduktor bas mempercayai mereka. Majikan pula gerun terhadap kekuatan kesatuan itu.

Namun perjuangan mereka bukan tentang kuasa semata-mata. Ia tentang pengorbanan.

Pernah sekali, ketika Zainal mengetuai mogok melibatkan 16 syarikat bas sehingga melumpuhkan operasi pengangkutan, samseng datang ke rumahnya pada waktu malam dan mengugut untuk menembaknya serta keluarganya. Beliau tidak melarikan diri. Beliau berunding, melindungi keluarganya dan akhirnya menamatkan mogok dengan persetujuan bersama. Tegas, tetapi tidak pernah melulu.

Bakat kepimpinannya terserlah sejak kecil lagi. Ketika guru tiada di sekolah, guru besar sering meminta Zainal menjaga murid-murid lain di hadapan kelas. Beliau mengambil tugas itu dengan serius. Budak kecil yang mampu mengawal sebuah kelas akhirnya mengendalikan krisis buruh negara.

Kerajaan akhirnya belajar mempercayainya. Sebagai penghargaan, Yang di-Pertuan Agong menganugerahkan beliau gelaran Tan Sri - satu-satunya pemimpin kesatuan sekerja yang menerima penghormatan tersebut. Beliau juga dilantik sebagai Senator mewakili pekerja dari 1998 hingga 2005.

Dari tahun 1986 hingga 2004, beliau memimpin MTUC selama 18 tahun. Di bawah kepimpinannya, MTUC menjadi badan pekerja yang dinamik, disegani dan digeruni kerana satu sebab - Zainal tidak pernah berkompromi soal maruah pekerja.

Beliau juga seorang yang sangat berpegang kepada agama. Walau sesukar mana rundingan sekalipun, beliau tidak pernah meninggalkan solat lima waktu. Mesyuarat dihentikan seketika untuk beliau bersolat, kemudian beliau kembali menyambung rundingan. Disiplin itu, katanya, datang daripada didikan ibunya.

Beliau mencapai impian tertinggi seorang aktivis kesatuan — menjadi ahli Lembaga Pentadbiran ILO di Geneva. Anak penoreh getah dan nelayan itu akhirnya menjadi pembentuk dasar buruh dunia.

Daripada kerani bergaji kecil dengan RM30 sebulan, beliau akhirnya dianugerahkan gelaran oleh Raja.

Tan Sri Zainal Rampak meninggal dunia pada 4 Julai 2024 pada usia 84 tahun, meninggalkan seorang isteri dan empat orang anak. MTUC menobatkannya sebagai “Bapa Pekerja Malaysia”.

Saya amat bertuah kerana beliau menjadi subjek kajian kes Sarjana saya. Saya melihat beliau bukan sekadar pemimpin kesatuan, tetapi seorang insan yang bangkit daripada kemiskinan untuk membawa suara pekerja Malaysia ke Geneva. Tiada jalan pintas. Hanya iman, kerja keras dan pegangan kepada nilai-nilai ibunya.

Kepada generasi muda hari ini: jika seorang budak kampung yang hanya belajar hingga Darjah 4 mampu duduk di meja ILO dan menerima penghormatan tertinggi negara, maka latar belakang bukan penghalang kejayaan. Yang menentukan masa depan ialah watak dan prinsip diri.

Al-Fatihah sahabatku Zainal.
Engkau mengajar kami bagaimana memperjuangkan hak tanpa merosakkan negara dan bagaimana menang tanpa kehilangan jiwa.

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By Sajad Hussein Kamarally

On his desk sat only one photograph - his mother. No Tan Sri medal. No trophies. Just her. From her, he learned kindness, honesty, hard work, and charity. Those values carried him from a fishing village in Melaka to the halls of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva.

At 17, with only a Standard Four education and RM30 in his pocket, Zainal Rampak took a clerk’s job in a bus company. He worked up to 18 hours a day - watching, learning, absorbing everything around him. No complaints. Just hunger to succeed.

Five decades later, that village boy became Tan Sri Zainal Rampak - “Bapa Pekerja Malaysia”. The man who led the MTUC , the country's premier  labour body,for 18 years, faced down gangsters at his doorstep, and eventually helped steer the world’s labour parliament in Geneva.

His life proved one thing: your beginning is never your ceiling.

I first met Zainal in 1973 at a press conference. He walked in quietly - sharp eyes, soft voice, but unmistakably firm. None of us knew then that a deep and respectful friendship would grow over the years. Over coffee  conversations, he often shared the behind-the-scenes struggles within MTUC - the delicate negotiations with government, the internal tensions, and the moments when workers’ futures hung by a thread.

He was born into poverty in Tanjung Kling, Melaka. His father was a fisherman. His mother constantly reminded him: “Be kind, be honest, work hard, and give to others.” Her photograph remained on his desk throughout his life. “She made me who I am,” he once told me.

Zainal studied only up to Standard Four in Malay medium education. But he hungered for knowledge. He taught himself English through experience, listening, and reading whatever he could find. That self-taught spirit carried him far.

When the bus company he worked for shut down, fate opened another door. He joined the newly formed Transport Workers Union led by his mentor and close friend, Dr V. David. Together they built TWU into one of the country’s most respected unions. Bus drivers and conductors trusted them. Employers feared them.

But their struggle was never about power alone. It was about sacrifice.

Once, when Zainal led a strike involving 16 bus companies that paralysed transport services, gangsters arrived at his home at night threatening to shoot him and his family. He did not run. He negotiated, protected his family, and eventually settled the strike through agreement. That was Zainal - firm, but never reckless.

Leadership showed itself in him even as a child. Whenever a teacher was absent, the headmaster would ask young Zainal to stand before the class and care for the younger pupils. He took the responsibility seriously. The boy who once managed a classroom would one day manage national labour crises.

The government eventually learned to trust him. In recognition of his contributions, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong conferred on him the title of Tan Sri, the only trade unionist in Malaysia to receive the honour. He later served as senator representing workers from 1998 to 2005.

From 1986 to 2004, he led MTUC for 18 years. Under his leadership, MTUC became dynamic, respected, and feared for one reason - Zainal never compromised on workers’ dignity.

He was also deeply religious. No matter how difficult the negotiations became, he never missed his five daily prayers. Meetings would pause for him to pray, and he would return calmly to finish the job. That discipline, he said, came from his mother.

He reached what every unionist dreams of  -a seat on the ILO Governing Board in Geneva. The son of a rubber tapper and fisherman became a global labour policymaker.

From a poorly paid clerk with RM30  per month salary, he was eventually knighted by the King.

Tan Sri Zainal Rampak passed away on 4 July 2024 at the age of 84, leaving behind his wife and four children and 7 grand children Degree. MTUC honoured him as “Bapa Pekerja Malaysia”.

I was fortunate that he became the subject of my Master’s  degree case study. I saw him not merely as a union leader, but as a man who rose from poverty to carry the voice of Malaysian workers to Geneva. No shortcuts. Only faith, hard work, and loyalty to his mother’s teachings.

To today’s youth: if a village boy who studied only up to Standard Four could sit at the ILO table and receive the nation’s highest honours, then your background is not your limit. Your character is.

Al-Fatihah, my dear friend Zainal.
You showed us how to fight for justice without breaking the country — and how to win without losing your soul.