A life dedicated to nation-building
"Take me home, this is your job," were the last words of Syed Manzur Elahi to his son Nasim and daughter Munize, who were holding his hand at a Singapore hospital on March 12. Nasim embraced me beside his father's grave and told me weeping, "I performed my job, but couldn't bring him back alive."
The huge turnout at Manzur Elahi's namaz-e-janaza at Gulshan Central Mosque as well as at Banani graveyard proved that he was much more than a business icon—he was our national hero. He not only created job opportunities for thousands by building commercial brands, but served the nation in different capacities throughout his illuminating life. He happened to be the only person who was appointed twice as an adviser in the former caretaker governments of 1996 and 2001.
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Born on February 26, 1942 in Kolkata, he lost his father, Sir Syed Nasim Ali, the then chief justice of undivided Bengal high court, at the age of 5. His elder brother, Justice SA Masud, who became the chief justice of Kolkata High Court later, served as Manzur's guardian. After completing BA (Hons) at St Xavier's College, Kolkata, Manzur came to Dhaka to complete his MA at the University of Dhaka.
Before the results of his MA were published, Manzur got a job in Pakistan Tobacco Company (now British American Tobacco) with posting in Karachi. But he always dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur, and the opportunity came after the liberation of Bangladesh. In 1972, he left his job and got involved in leather trading business with the help of a French businessman who inspired him to set up a leather processing facility for export. Ultimately, he bought an old tannery in Hazaribagh and made it operational. That was the starting point of the long journey of Apex. Today Apex is a Bangladeshi brand well-known at home and abroad for quality and style. The company exports shoes to 50 countries and has become the leading shoe-making company in the country.
As Manzur recollected, the journey was not at all smooth. The company faced many challenges upsetting the business, but his vision and determination finally took him to the road to success.
He was probably the most respected business person in our country, who never compromised with ethics, honesty, and patriotism. Even on his deathbed, he advised his children to place the country above everything else.
I remember one day, while I was chatting with him, Nasim entered the room with two CVs of candidates for the position of independent director for their company, asking for his father's opinion. Both were women with a background in finance. Nasim mentioned that one was a hard nut and the other easy-going. Without looking at the CVs, Manzur Elahi advised Nasim to go for the hard nut. It was always better for the company to have people who would give hard time to the management in the board meetings, Manzur added.
Though he was a highly successful business person, he preferred not to be known as a businessman, but as a person who wanted to serve the nation through different organisations and institutions. He was one of the founders of East West University where his classmate Dr Farashuddin was the key person. He stood by his wife Niloufer Manzur, who established Sunbeams, a renowned English medium school. He was the president of the Dhaka University Alumni Society and served in the trustee boards of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Transparency International, Freedom Foundation, Manusher Jonno Foundation, and so on. He was a patron of our Theatre School and Theatre group.
He chaired many professional policymaking bodies like the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh Association of Banks, Bangladesh Employers' Association, and Central Depository Bangladesh.
He took the lead in founding the Mutual Trust Bank and Pioneer Insurance Company. From my professional association with Mutual Trust Bank for about a decade, I found the key management very happy with the ideal working environment and the board never interfered with the working of the bank, which was very unusual for private banks. It was possible for Manzur Elahi and persons like Samson H Chowdhury and others who were on the board.
I remember one day Manzur Elahi called me at his office at Dhaka Chamber Building, where I too had our agency's small office. He wanted to make their banks' calendar based on the theme of honesty to counter the corruption in society. The approach had to be positive as nobody would like to hang a calendar with negative images. It was a hard task, but we could come out with nice visuals. That was the beginning of Mutual's theme-based calendars mostly on paintings. Thanks to the art connoisseur Anis A Khan being the managing director, MTB calendars became collectors' choice after the Bangladesh Tobacco Company's theme calendars.
Manzur Elahi became lonely in a way after his wife passed away during the COVID pandemic. His son and daughter would go out for their work and he had nothing to do in the empty house. So, he would come to the office every day for some time though he was not that involved in business as before. He told me that he would spend his time in the office sipping tea, reading newspapers, and meeting people. I used to go from Banani to his office in Gulshan from time to time and spent quality time with him. Incidentally during my last visit, Nasim was also with us and while I was about to leave, Nasim asked us to stand together and took a photo with his mobile. Could Nasim have imagined that we would never meet again? Of course, we will meet in the other world, which hopefully will be serene and peaceful. Goodbye, my great friend, for the time being!
Ramendu Majumdar is a renowned actor, stage director and theatre producer. He is also managing director at Expressions Limited.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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