Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed was a Pakistani maritime sailor and industry veteran who was the founding director of

Neptune Orient Lines Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL) was a Singaporean container shipping company. It was founded in 1968 as Singapore's national shipping line, but was later sold as a subsidiary to French shipping company CMA CGM in 2016. On 1 October 2020, NOL ...

(NOL), a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

-based shipping company. He had vast experience as a maritime sailor.

Biography

Early life

Sayeed was born in December 1920 in Hyderabad Deccan. His father Dr Lateef Sayeed was the secretary of the Indian National Congress of Hyderabad state, a journalist, and friend to Rabindranath Tagore, to the Nizam of Hyderabad, to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and to Jawaharlal Nehru.

Syed Mohammad Ahsan Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan ( ur, سید محمد احسن b. 1920 – d. 1990) often known as S. M. Ahsan, was a senior admiral of the Pakistan Navy who was the Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Navy, serving under President Ayub ...

, the Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy from 1966 to 1969, was his first cousin.

Professional career

In 1939, Sayeed signed on ''Jalapadma'', a converted cargo vessel, owned by the Scindia Steam Navigation Company. In 1947, Sayeed qualified as a Master in London. He returned to Bombay to help organize the Maritime Union of India. In 1952, went back to London to study for his Extra Master Mariner's certificate. In 1953, after getting his certificate, he returned to the sea until 1956 when he came ashore to stay. He later joined Karachi's National Shipping Corporation as a marine superintendent in 1960, and worked his way up to become the commercial manager.

Building Singapore maritime industry

In 1968, the Singapore government requested the government of Pakistan for an expert to advise them on the formation of a shipping company. Sayeed was chosen for this task by the Pakistan, which the

Pakistan National Shipping Corporation The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) is a Pakistani national flag carrier and is one of Government of Pakistan's most profitable state-owned entities, most recently having recorded its highest ever profit of PKR 5.6 billion under the ...

agreed to as well. In Singapore, Sayeed formed

(NOL) in 1969 and worked there until 1973. At the time of his departure, the then Prime Minister,

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

, wrote him the following farewell letter. During his career at NOL,

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Parliament of Singapore, ...

worked as a financial controller under him in NOL. After his death, Goh sent the following message to his wife Zareena

Legacy

In 2006, NOL established Scholarship is in memory of the late Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed for Master of Science in Maritime Studies jointly offered at

Nanyang Technological University The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a national research university in Singapore. It is the second oldest autonomous university in the country and is considered as one of the most prestigious universities in the world by various inte ...

and

Norwegian School of Management BI Norwegian Business School () is the largest business school in Norway and the second largest in all of Europe. BI has in total four campuses with the main one located in Oslo. The university has 845 employees consisting of an academic staff o ...

. In NOL's own word, "It (the scholarship) recognises Sayeed's pioneering spirit and his contributions to NOL and the maritime industry in Singapore."

Personal life

Jalaluddin married Zareena Sayeed, and have 4 daughters, Mahjabeen, Nazneen, Lubna and Fatima. He is also first cousin of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayeed, Muhammad Jalaluddin 1920 births Muhajir people 2005 deaths 20th-century Pakistani people Pakistani sailors Pakistani expatriates in Singapore Businesspeople from Karachi Pakistani people of Hyderabadi descent Pakistani company founders Indian emigrants to Pakistan