Story of struggle and success

SINGAPORE - Almost five decades ago, Mr Mohamed Abdul Jaleel didn't have a roof over his head. Sometimes three meals a day were hard to come by and, as the years passed, he dropped out of secondary school to help his father run a small shop.

Today, there is a vast gulf between his childhood days and his current comfortable and wealthy life. Mr Jaleel, 55, runs a construction logistics business which has an annual revenue of more than $100 million. The Mini Environment Service (MES) Group, of which he is the founder and chief executive officer, is a pioneer in providing dormitories for foreign workers who flock to Singapore for better-paid jobs.

However, he insists that those early days of hardship taught him life's best lessons and everything he knows and credits his success to those difficult days. They motivate him every minute of his life, he says.

Mr Jaleel came to Singapore in the 1960s as a five-year-old with his family from Chennai, India. Soon, his father had to send his mother and four sisters back due to financial difficulties. The young Jaleel stayed on to help his father.

"My father ran a small convenience store just behind City Hall, where the Prime Minister's office stands," Mr Jaleel tells tabla! in his sprawling office in Lower Delta Road where, in an anteroom, sit miniatures of his many dormitory projects.

It was a three-storey shophouse, which the duo were asked to vacate for redevelopment projects which were going on in full swing in Singapore in those days. They were offered shops in Toa Payoh and Jurong in return, but his father could not afford the rent. Instead he opted to take up a stall in a back office on High Street before moving to Stamford Road. Which is where, Mr Jaleel says, life really began for him.

"I can still remember and feel the hardships of those days. Even three meals a day were a luxury then."

His father's convenience store opened from 6am to about 10pm, which didn't suit the young and restless Jaleel.

"I didn't like sitting in one place. I had dropped out of secondary school (Whitley Secondary) and was restless to do some work and earn some money for the family," he says.

He took to cleaning cars and shops and washing toilets, which led to him meeting construction company Sum Cheong Piling's then-boss Low Sum.

"I owe Mr Low a lot. He saw potential in me and took me to my first construction site and gave me my first job," Mr Jaleel says.

He began as a watchman on the construction site and learned various other construction skills.

"Mr Low taught me how to clean and service cranes, clean drains and piling equipment and many other aspects of the construction and maintenance business."

Mr Jaleel says it was during this time that he realised that profits in the construction business were a hundred times better than sitting in a shop all day long.

"I was ready to get myself dirty, it didn't matter, so that I could help my father and my family."

Mr Jaleel didn't shy away from doing any "dirty work". "To me it was good money and an honest living. I did it. And slowly I learnt more and more and built my own business," he says.

Mr Jaleel started MES in 1977 as a sole-proprietorship providing environmental cleaning services, recruitment of manpower for the construction industry and also undertaking various sub-contract jobs in construction.

Providing housing to his workers led to him getting into the business of providing lodgings for construction workers. Today the MES group provides dormitories for more than 20,000 workers employed in Singapore. The company is also planning a mega-housing project which will provide shelter for about 25,000-30,000 foreign workers in Singapore.

Mr Jaleel says, in the 1970s and 1980s, housing for foreign workers was a big concern for the Government. "The matter was brought up to them many times and when they first decided to offer tenders, I was in a joint partnership with another company and we won the first tender. We started building and from there it took off."

Mr Jaleel says he realised the need to provide housing to these workers who have left their families behind to earn a living. "They deserved a dignified place to live. If they can rest well, they will perform their duties well."

That was about 35 years ago. Today, housing and organisation of foreign workers have become efficient. "Workers today are gifted and competent because they are organised," Mr Jaleel says.

MES has expanded its housing projects for foreign workers in the Middle East, where they are present in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman and Qatar, and will enter Saudi Arabia shortly.

Mr Jaleel says he is as active and involved in his company and its progress as he was 35 years ago when he started it.

"My company is my passion. I started it with nothing and worked very hard to bring it to the level it is at today. I am committed not only to the company but to all those who have worked with me for over 30 years. They are like my family," he says.

He adds that he owes it not only to himself but to every employee to take the company to greater heights.

"Even my tenants, who live in MES dormitories, I feel responsible and committed to them. They deserve a certain standard. They should have somebody to go to in times of crisis. We try to help them in every way. These things give me the satisfaction and motivation to keep moving forward. Every day is a new challenge."

Mr Jaleel says he sees his six children - four boys and two girls - taking his legacy forward. His five oldest children are already involved in the business in one way or another. His youngest son who is 18, is finishing his studies and will soon join the family business.

He says he constantly tells his children of his early hardships so that they remain grounded.

"To stay ahead and succeed in life, your thinking must be clear and you must think big no matter what your beginnings. You have to constantly keep learning. Never think you know everything, because that is when learning stops. And those who think they know everything, never take risks, never question, never do. The key to success for me has always been the willingness to learn," Mr Jaleel says.

He adds: "I was never academically smart but I think I am street smart and learnt to work hard very early in life."

A big part of Mr Jaleel's life today is also the charitable work he does. He runs a charitable foundation, S.M. Jaleel Foundation, which was launched by former president S.R. Nathan in July 2011. Through it he aims to donate almost $1 million every year to various charitable causes. He takes up children's causes like education, helping children with disabilities or those from broken homes, donating regularly to the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and the Singapore Indian Development Association's (SINDA) various programmes. This year he is donating half a million to the ST School Pocket Money Fund on Oct 4, which is Children's Day.

During the tabla! Integration Night on July 30 this year and even in the first edition of the event in 2012, Mr Jaleel's generous contribution during the auctions went to SINDA programmes.

He is very reluctant to talk about his charity work. He says: "I am doing very little. There is always more to be done, so much more. At grassroots levels, at orphanages. There are so many who need our help, our time," Mr Jaleel says.

It's the hardship that he has experienced first hand that propels him to give his time and money to causes close to his heart and to people who require it most. He can connect with those in need.

"I have seen a lot of suffering. I know what a meal costs and what a person without a meal feels. All these things have taught me a lot in life. Even a dollar can make a difference in someone's life. But, frankly, I am not doing enough," he says and kept reiterating that there is so much more he has to do.

He is also an adviser, mentor and donor to grassroots groups in Bishan and Toa Payoh and religious organisations such as Jamiyah Singapore. He began volunteering as a young boy at the Bencoolen Mosque, helping in cleaning and preparing for prayers. He still makes time to volunteer whenever he can.

In fact, his weekends are mostly spent working at or attending some event at a charitable organisation.

Mr Jaleel says nothing gives him more satisfaction than helping others.

"Life works only one way. Once you are here on earth the only way is forward and then you are gone. So in this transit if you are blessed, fortunate, if you are gifted then try and help the country or society that has helped you get to where you are. That is my philosophy. My hardships have taught me to always be humble and compassionate towards others. Whenever you can help those in need, you must," he says.

Mr Jaleel says his biggest strength has been keeping a positive attitude in times of great hardship.

He recalls the night of Aug 23, 1992 when the cruise ship MS Royal Pacific, in which he and his entire family were onboard enjoying a holiday, was hit by a fishing trawler off Port Dickson in Malaysia. The ship which sank had over 530 passengers on board - two died and many suffered injuries.

"My entire family was in the water within minutes. I had to force my mother to come with us. She kept saying 'let me die and save yourself'. But we were not going to leave her behind," he says. The whole family survived the accident.

His mother was killed in a car accident in 2011 in which Mr Jaleel also suffered serious injuries and five other family members were injured. "These two instances have taught me an important lesson. You have to fight to survive. Have the will to keep going. Which is what I tell my children and nine grandchildren," he says.

He is a true champion in every sense and an inspiration to many in Singapore.

ankitav@sph.com.sg

Get a copy of tabla! for more stories.