From the days under the "Malay Forum" in the United Kingdom and later in Kuala Lipis, Pahang, to the pinnacle of his career as Chief Secretary to the Government and subsequently Chairman and Chief Executive of PETRONAS Tan Sri Abdul Kadir had dedicated his life to nation building of a new nation. In 1956 he was a member of the "Merdeka Mission" (talks for the Independance of Malaya), was later involved in the formation of Malaysia, and also in the "peace talks with President Soekarno" in Manila and Tokyo as well as the historic meeting in Bangkok in 1966 to end the Indonesian Confrontation with Malaysia. On the country's achieving Independance from colonial rule, he played a major part to Malaysianise the nation's Civil Service. After the aftermath of 13th May 1969 he was one of the initial 5 members of the National Operations Council (NOC) to bring back the country to order, and continued as the Head of Civil Service in the enlarged NOC until it ceased operations when the nation went back to Parliamentary rule. He successfully lead PETRONAS in difficult negotiations toward production sharing contracts with major petroleum giants in 1976; he passed away while still in service with PETRONAS.
