A Business with a Human Face

I was never happy with the planning and design of my three-storied house with only two garages and no proper façade and approach road, built on less than a four Katha of inherited land in Dhanmondi. I toyed with the idea of developing the land by a developer but with no success. The construction business which was once booming and burgeoning had almost nose-dived on account of political instability, flight of capital and insecurity. People were in quest of greener pastures popularly known in expatriate Bangladeshi community as 'Begum's encla ve' in Toronto and second homes in Malaysia. The economy floundered and stagnated despite seeming GDP growth. There was a glut of unsold apartments. The developers were hesitant to invest in lands, let alone small lands.
However, I heard of a house building company which was an exception and might be interested to take up my project. I discovered that the MD of the company was a former president of REHAB, builder's Association.
I went to see the MD of the company. He was busy in a meeting. The secretary asked me to wait with the deputy general manager of land procurement, on the first floor. I entered the third floor and found rows of cupboards stacked with medicine, first aid items including cotton and bandages. On the other side of the big room there were groceries - rice, lentils, oil, spices, onions etc. I was flabbergasted. I knew I was on the wrong floor. I learnt from the DGM that the medicine was for workers and the groceries were for the in-house canteen. Every day, the company doctor visited the construction sites to examine the health of workers. Every Friday the company provided meat for the employees during lunch. After Jumma prayers the workers were free for the day and not allowed to work. He said that worker relations were prompted by the twin principle of moral resposibility and motivation that resulted in contented workers who willingly offered their best service.
It was 2 pm. The manager invited me to join him in the dining hall for lunch. He said each employee made a monthly contribution of 500 taka for lunch. The menu - rice, fish, vegetables and lentils and chicken or beef once a week. The deficit expenses were supported by the company. The result was a a sense of participation and belonging among the employees to the organisation as members of a family. As I entered the dining hall he showed me the MD who was having lunch with the employees. It was a rare example of camaraderie in our extremely classist society.

The lunch over, the manager took me to introduce me to the MD in his office. The MD, after much discussion, said he was willing to take up my project and proposed that out of six apartments he would give me four apartments besides taka one lakh per month as house rent. He said he would also consider giving me some monthly maintenance allowance. He would take up my project although he knew full well he would not be able to do much business. I looked at him in disbelief and asked him why he was interested to take up the work, considered not viable. He said “Money is important in life, but it is not everything. It is merely a means to an end which is peace of mind and happiness. One must attach importance to human values of love and compassion for others. We live in a human society and not in an island. Our short lived and transitory life must have some meaning and purpose which is to serve humanity'. He said he also believed in the saying, “Little drops of water make a mighty ocean”. If the land owners and apartment buyers survive, he and his business would survive. He said he wanted to make enough money to be able to lead a decent and fulfilling life, sustain his business and support his employees and workers.
Yet another surprise waited for me. As I was preparing to leave, a lean and thin boy took his seat before the MD. The MD asked him about his tuition fee, living expenses in the Dhaka University dormitory. He called the accountant to provide the student taka 3000 per month henceforth. He informed me, so far more than fifty boys and girls had passed out as MBBS, MBA, accountants and also engineers from BUET with his humble financial support. The charitable foundation of his company supports monthly stipends of about 500 students now. He said it was the moral and social responsibility of the well to do of the society to help poor, meritorious students. Without help and his determination, he confessed, he could not have become an engineer from BUET. A little earlier, an eminent writer came to him and presented ten copies of two of his recently published books. I knew the MD had financially supported the publication. I also learnt that he was building a 12 storied condominium for the elderly near Manikganj. I asked him if his business model was inspired by social business of Noble Laureate Professor Yunus. He said he was certainly motivated by ethics and morality in business.
While talking about his career he said he had started as a civil engineer in a consruction company in Singapore. One night realisation dawned on him about the futility of serving a foreign employer in a foreign country and wasting his talent, skill, vision and organisational abilities without serving his own country to which he owed so much. A short course in management training in Japan confirmed his self confidence that he could do well in business. He returned home and started from scratch, building what is now one of the top ten real estate companies in the country, with impeccable credentials of honesty and integrity. He has constructed and handed over more than 120 quality high rise buildings and has sixty ongoing projects in Dhaka city and some in outlying district towns.
He said with a little more construction friendly government policy, steady supply of electricity and gas and less delay in negotiating 'transaction cost' every step of the way of myriads of bureaucratic tangles, he could offer apartment buyers a more affordable price. When asked what is his greatest satisfaction in life ? His answer is instant: “a smile on the faces of my apartment buyer couple”.
He is passionate to see engineers work with hand and tools in the field as true nation builders of roads and highways, buildings and bridges.
It was 4-30 in the afternoon. As I was plodding homeward, my weary way of eighty winters, I was wondering why could not other company owners particularly the much tainted and derided garment industry, emulate and replicate this farsighted MD's best business practice. Life would be so much more pleasant and decent and society so much more just and caring.

The writer is a columnist and former diplomat.