he become millionare by kenging from NS = good role model

Mar 20, 2010
No home, but dad knew he just had to make it here
Mr Shaik Mohamad Abdul Jaleel has gone from sleeping in back lanes to a bungalow off Orchard Road. The businessman started helping his family make ends meet at a young age, and credits his father with teaching him the value of hard work, discipline and honesty. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
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MILLIONAIRE businessman Shaik Mohamad Abdul Jaleel lives in a bungalow off Orchard Road, but prefers to sleep on the floor.

'I'm used to it - it's more comfortable for me,' says the founder and managing director of Mini Environment Services (MES), a dormitory builder and operator with an annual revenue of $80 million.

He recalls the times when he and his immigrant father, Mr Muthumaricar Shaik Mohamed, slept under the stars.

With no home of their own, they showered in the washing bay of the Stamford Road hawker stall where his father sold groceries.

Earlier, they had lived and worked at the family shophouse in Colombo Court, until they were asked to move out in 1967 by the authorities.

'My father was given the choice of relocating to Jurong or Toa Payoh. But he could not afford the monthly rent. So he chose a hawker stall instead,' says Mr Jaleel, 52.

It had been a gruelling and gritty life for Mr Jaleel's father, who first came to Singapore from Madras, now known as Chennai, in the 1930s to join his family.

Mr Shaik, then in his 20s, made a living here by helping his father run the family business in the City Hall area. His father and three brothers had arrived earlier to pave the way for the rest of their family to join them.

Over the years, the store expanded to three shophouses selling groceries, food and textiles. But business faltered after their father's death and the siblings went their separate ways in 1964.

By then, Mr Shaik had married Ms Syedunisa Bi, his Taiping-born bride, and had five children, including the youngest child and only son, Mr Jaleel.

Without education or skills, Mr Shaik was unsure how he would support his family on his own. He returned to Madras, his hometown, that year, with his family in tow.

But the limited opportunities there and his longing for a better life saw Mr Shaik get back on a ship bound for Singapore. He took only Mr Jaleel, leaving the rest of his family behind.

Home for father and son was the shophouse where they ran their business. When it was taken over for redevelopment, they found themselves without a roof over their heads.

Recollecting those homeless days spent eking out a meagre existence, Mr Jaleel says: 'That's where my life of sleeping in back lanes started for me. My dad took it. He did not feel sorry for himself. He knew he just had to make it here.'

An MP came to know of their plight and took them off the streets by securing a one-room flat in Mosque Street for them.

Every month, his father would earn about $200, and send up to $80 home to support his family.

Mr Jaleel had to drop out of school at Secondary 2 to help make ends meet.

He took odd jobs like washing cars and selling cosmetics from the age of 12, and soon found work as a cleaning contractor for a Chinese businessman.

Mr Jaleel credits his father with teaching him the value of hard work, discipline and honesty - three traits that kept Mr Shaik, who eventually became a Singapore citizen, going.

'He had no other choice. He decided that this was the place where he was going to be.'

In 1976, Mr Jaleel founded his firm MES. Over time, it grew to become today's 20,000-strong international firm based in Lower Delta Road.

In 1980, he married Ms Daulath Bee, a Chennai native. They have six children aged 14 to 27 and five grandchildren.

An active grassroots activist in Aljunied and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRCs, he recently announced plans for a $1 million foundation to support children's education and broken families.

He says: 'My life is here, my future is here, therefore I have to be here. I don't mind contributing back to the country, to the community, whatever extra I have.