Philanthropist receives tabla! Community Champion Award 2013

Philanthropist receives tabla! Community Champion Award 2013

SINGAPORE - The third tabla! Community Champion Award was presented today to businessman and philanthropist Mohamed Abdul Jaleel at an award ceremony held in conjunction with the inaugural Singapore International Deepavali Shopping Festival 2013 at the Singapore Expo.

Guest-of-Honour S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry, presented the award to Mr Jaleel.

Mr Jaleel, who is well-known in the Indian community for his generosity is helping those in need and supporting worthy causes, is the founder and chief executive officer of Mini Environment Service (MES), a construction logistics company. MES is a pioneer in providing world class dormitories for foreign workers in Singapore and the Middle East. The company has an annual revenue of more than $100 million.

The award also comes with a cash donation of $10,000 from the State Bank of India, to be given to the charity of Mr Jaleel's choice -- the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA). The $10,000 cheque was presented by Mr Aravind Kumar, Executive Vice President, Credit Syndication & Investments, State Bank of India.

Mr Jaleel's inspirational story began when he came to Singapore almost five decades ago with his family from Chennai, India. To ease his family's financial burden, he dropped out of secondary school and took up odd jobs like cleaning cars, washing toilets and helping his father run his sundry shop before he found work in a construction firm. That was the turning point for Mr Jaleel. With his knowledge of the construction industry, he started MES and transformed the company into a leading construction logistics company and rose to become one of the most respected and successful Indian businessmen in Singapore.

Today, he heads S.M. Jaleel Foundation (Shaik Mohamed Jaleel Foundation) - a charity supporting causes related to children's education and families - and aims to donate almost $1 million every year to various charitable causes.

Accepting the award, Mr Jaleel said: "I am humbled and honoured to be given this award. I will continue to do my best for the community. A huge thank you to the organisers."

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