Articles from the members

Category
  General Knowledge   தமிழ் மொழி   Career Counselling
  Technology   Power of Creator   Religious
  Moral Story   Medical   Kids
  Sports   Quran & Science   Politics
  Poetry   Funny / Jokes   Video
  Golden Old Days - ம‌ல‌ரும் நினைவுக‌ள்   Others   சுய தொழில்கள்
  Stars of Eruvadi
 
Gem Of Tamil Nadu Business Magnet.Mr.B.S.Abdur Rahman.
Posted By:mmk_maduraiin On 8/29/2006

Mr. B.S Abdur Rahman - One Man, Many Missions
 
Article published in Gulf Today about our Vice Chairman Mr. B.S Abdur Rahman... Source Gulf Today Sharjah July 27th 2006
Posted on : 7/29/2006
Published By: SHIVAKUMAR S.
 


The world is the winner when business is not just about self but also about society, says Muhammad Yusuf
B S Abdur Rahman, Vice Chairman of Emirates Trading Agency LLC and Associated Construction and Investments Co. LLC (ETA-ASCON), the Dubai-based $2 billion industrial behemoth, is a multi-faceted personality, much like the diamonds he dealt with when he began his humble business in Sri Lanka, over half a century ago.
Diamond merchant, industrialist, educationist, philanthropist, shipping magnate, generous contributor and enthusiastic participant in many other business and social activities and not a day older than 80 going on 18, he is a Renaissance man whose outlook is Millennial. Meaning, while his values are classical, his thinking is forward looking.
Kilakarai, on the coast of Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, where Abdur Rahman (fondly known as Sena Aana) was born, is a town made famous in the region by his illustrious ancestor, Vallal Seethakathi.
The forbears of Sena Aana migrated to Kilakarai from Arabia in the 12th century. Kilakarai, which means East Coast in Tamil, was a flourishing port to which merchants from the east and west came. A densely populated area, predominantly by Muslims, it owned its prosperity to them.
For centuries they traded with Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon), dealing in pearls, gemstones and conches. Even today, many of them live in Sri Lanka or do business with the island. Sena Aana too  began his career in Ceylon. Among the pearl traders of Kilakarai was Buhari Aalim. Abdur Rahman was his son.
Aalim was an expert in valuing precious stones and pearls. He would hold a gem between his right thumb and index finger and, looking at it against the sun, study the quality of the watermark within to judge the worth of the precious stone. He would be unfailingly correct.
Watching his father at work, the young Abdur Rahman was soon able to understand the nuances of the trade. This training and experience helped him to become one of the most successful merchants in the diamond trade in due course.
When Abdur Rahman first went to Colombo, he was fifteen years old. He had with him just Indian Rupees 149 (Dhs12). He worked as an errand boy for diamond merchants, carrying their diamonds and other gems from sellers to buyers and back. He was at the time staying with some traders from Kilakarai and neighbouring villages. They allowed him to stay with them without any payment, but he had, instead, to fetch tea for them from a nearby hotel, clean the rooms and perform other menial tasks.
A lesser person perhaps would have thrown in the towel. But Sena Aana was made of sterner stuff. Before long, he used his persuasive skills to obtain gemstones from another merchant and began trading in them. In time he became a successful gem trader. The base that Abdur Rahman built in Ceylon was to help him in all his future activities.
He began visiting Belgium, then as now, a centre of the gem trade, the USA, South America and set up business in Penang, Malaysia, Madras (now Chennai), Kolkata (then Calcutta), and then in Hong Kong. It was in Hong Kong that his business flourished. Incidentally, Abdur Rahman was the first person from Kilakarai to go to Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong he launched the Precious Trading Company in 1954. Later, his very special brainchild, the Amana Group of Hong Kong, was established. It was under its banner that the multi-national company ETA-ASCON came into existence. It was started in Dubai in 1973 as a partnership with a friend, Abdullah Al-Ghurair, Chairman of the Al Ghurair group of companies.
Started originally as civil construction contractors, ETA-ASCON has expanded into trading, elevator and electrical installations, real estate, mechanical engineering, building maintenance, car dealerships, and, most recently, shipping and aviation. It employs over 16,000 people, of whom 200 are in managerial positions, 5,000 are in administration and 11,000 are technicians. ETA-ASCON is today the flagship of Abdur Rahmans vast industrial empire.
Says Syed M Salahuddin, ETA-ASCON MD: I recall a quotation. There are people who create things and there are people who watch created things. And there are those who wonder about what has been created. Sena Aana is all three. He creates, watches and wonders.   
Continues Salahuddin: Not only was he the first man from Kilakarai to go to Hong Kong, but he was also the first South Indian to go to Belgium. That was in 1954 or 1955. All the gem traders were sitting in Ceylon and doing business. But he was different. He ventured out and went first to Belgium. I dont know what made him come to Dubai. But whenever something comes to his mind, he acts. His intuition serves him well.
It is Abdur Rahmans firm belief that what people need is not help but self-help. He does not want people to cry for preferences, privileges or advantages, but to get their piece of the cake by active participation in the economic life of their countries.
To give practical shape to this conviction, the Seethakathi Trust was formed in India in 1967 under his leadership. It has promoted several schools for both boys and girls, built hospitals and assisted many institutions. The United Economic Forum was formed in 1979. Its aim is to develop the entrepreneurial instincts of people.
It was in 1896 that Sir Syed Ahmed Khan convened the first all India Muslim Educational Conference. Exactly a century later, in 1996, Abdur Rahman hosted in Chennai the first All India Muslim Womens Education Conference. Sena Aana believes that to educate a woman is to educate a family. Says Arif B Rahman, Group Director-Finance of the ETA-ASCON group and Abdur Rahmans son, My father gives a lot of importance to womens education. He always gives a lot of respect to educated people. His educational ideas were far ahead of their time when he started implementing them over forty years ago.

He has set up girls schools like Crescent Matriculation Higher Secondary School for Girls, Chennai (500 students), Nagore Crescent Matriculation Higher Secondary School for Girls (300 students) and Madurai Crescent Matriculation School for Girls, Madurai (400 students), among others. The jewels in the crown are of course the B S Abdur Rahman Crescent Engineering College, Chennai (3,000 students) and the Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women, Kilakarai. Abdur Rahman can be called the Sir Syed of South India.
In recognition of Abdur Rahmans contribution the cause of education, the Students Majlis of Aligarh Muslim University, India, honoured him with life membership. His acceptance speech is a fine example of his forward thinking. We dont know what skills may be needed in the years ahead, he said. That is why we must train our ablest young men and women in the fundamental fields of knowledge rather than in the hot specialist fields of the moment. We must also equip them to understand and cope with change. Calling for knowledge-based education and skill-based training, he also spoke on the necessity of educating women living in small towns and villages.
Apart from numerous schools, colleges, hospitals and orphanages he runs individually, the number of institutions he helps is legion. Abdur Rahmans emphasis on the education of women has seeped into the second generation. Says Arif Rahman: Men have to change their outlook vis--vis womens education. I think the I-T field is best suited for them since women will not have to move much outside their homes. The younger Rahman also says that the challenge today is to match education and jobs.
Though his business is global today, Abdur Rahmans heart is still in India, particularly his home State of Tamil Nadu. This is shown by the fact that he has christened three ships he owns as Gem of Madras, Gem of Tuticorin and Gem of Ennore (after three ports in Tamil Nadu).
Forward and backward integration of business and life is his driving principle. As one of his admirers says by way of illustration, having started a construction business, he established a brick kiln as a subsidiary and bought lorries for the transport of the bricks and other construction material. To supply fuel for the lorries, he started a petrol bunk and then ran the entire gamut by becoming an insurance agent to insure the employees and the establishment! For some people, doing business is not just a matter of money.      
In others words
In a lifetime spent in the business world, B S Abdur Rahman has met and mingled with the best of its citizens. Some of them share their memories and opinions of him.
Abdullah Al-Ghurair, Chairman, ETA-ASCON: Abdur Rahman built his business on the strong foundation of trust, for which he is famous today. The bond of friendship between him and me is nothing else by Gods gift to us. We started working together in building construction in 1964 when we won a contract for Dhs6,50,000 to raise the Mashreq Bank building. Once we did not have the capability or the technical knowledge to lift 4,500 tonnes of bauxite. Today, the positive attitude of Abdur Rahman enables us to lift 12,000 million tonnes with ease!    
Abdullah Hassan Al-Rostamani, Chairman, Al-Rostamani Group: I have known BSA Rahman for over 40 years. I first met him in Colombo when I handled the dried fished shipped from Dubai to Colombo. I used to regularly visit India where I would meet Rahman saheb and do business with him.
Our relationship was very special. I remember the time Rahman saheb came to Dubai, shortly after started my own business in 1968. That was three years after my marriage and I invited him to my house. He said he would come for breakfast. He then asked me Do you have an Indian cook? I said Yes, I do. He is from Malabar but knows Tamil.
The next morning, Abdur Rahman arrived at my villa sharp at 8 oclock. Breakfast in the Arab world comprises eggs, bread, honey, fruits, particularly figs. Abdur Rahman looked at the spread and said, Please call the cook!
So I called my cook and he spoke to him in Tamil. He asked him, he later told me, whether he know to make a particular Indian dish with chillies in it. When the cook said, Yes, I know, he asked him to prepare it and also to make some kadak tea. He enjoyed the preparation but I found it too hot. He then tanked me for the breakfast and left. That was Abdur Rahman, always informal with friends.
Majid Al Futtaim, Chairman, Majid Al Futtaim Group: Mr Abdur Rahman is known to a lot of my friends in Dubai and he is always welcomed in our offices and homes. He has been treated by all in Dubai as a family member. Everybody feels very comfortable around him. I have never come across anyone who doesnt appreciate his work and efforts either in his business or his efforts to donate time and money in improving the lifestyles of others.
Juma Al Majid, Chariman, Juma Al Majid Group: B S Abdur Rahmans contribution to the business and social life in Dubai is remarkable. But during his long stay away from his country, he did never forget the people of his homeland. He has dedicated a lot of his time, efforts and money to improve his country and the life of poor people.  
His Highness Nawab Mohammed Abul Ali, Prince of Arcot, Tamil Nadu: It is heartening to note he has founded more than thirty educational, social and welfare organisations which have benefited thousands of young men and women in obtaining the highest level of education and become responsible citizens of India and ambassadors of goodwill abroad. His services continue to benefit the poor, downtrodden and underprivileged sections of society.
Syed M Salahuddin, Managing Director, ETA-ASCON, Dubai: I am from Kilakarai. I have known Rahman saheb from the time I was four or five years old. He is my first cousin; his mother and mine are sisters. I must have been about nine or ten when he came home one morning, around seven, and asked my mother to wake me. After berating me for being lazy, he said he was going abroad and wanted to know what I would like him to bring back for me.
I told him I wanted a globe. Pleased with my request, he turned to my mother and said, This fellow is asking for the whole world. He will definitely become a big man. Perhaps it is because of this wish of his that I am in the position I enjoy today.    
                 
              
SOURCE : THE GULF TODAY SHARJAH 27TH JULY 2006

M.Mehboob Khan.

Dubai.

 


 
 
 
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




General Knowledge
Date Title Posted By
The view points and opinion solely those of the author or source. nellaiEruvadi.com is not responsible for the posted contents..