Legends Never Die

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

– Eleanor Roosevelt

Mr A Rouf Chowdhury left us two weeks ago, but he is still in our hearts, and I believe he will remain so for many more years.

Mr Chowdhury's fascinating journey will always inspire us. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest personalities in building our industry and service sectors, he was a catalyst of change, a real visionary, a change-maker, and a creator of the new industrial society in Bangladesh.

With his dynamic guidance through many struggles, today, the Rangs Group and Bank Asia Ltd brilliantly stand side by side as an industrial conglomerate in the country. His philanthropic initiatives, his passion to connect the unconnected people to get closer to the mainstream economy were much admired.

I cannot claim to be a telecom expert, but in the industry from its inception till 2016, I witnessed how Mr Chowdhury was fascinated with his vision to be a telecom person and created Rangs Telecom, once the largest PSTN telecom company in the country, where he provided many more services to businesses, entrepreneurship development, fishermen, small businessmen, and small vendors alike through telecom and internet connectivity. He always felt happy to provide jobs to the jobless youth to build their careers. During that time, Mr Chowdhury shared with me many of his dreams and how he supported many poor women by connecting them with income-generating activities. He always believed that women empowerment could eradicate poverty and make children healthy and educated.

Mr Chowdhury was a man of versatile personality. As mentioned, he used to have many dreams, and he was concerned about his employees, from high officials to supporting staff, their livelihood, happiness, their children's education and their parents' well-being.

Mr Chowdhury always believed that those who are privileged to have wealth should contribute significantly to the less fortunate people to give them a better life. He believed in putting humanity before commercial gains, and was involved in many CSR and philanthropic activities. In memory of his beloved mother, he established Bank Asia Ma Amiran Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Munshiganj's Sirajdikhan upazila, where hundreds of thousands of poor, underprivileged people can get healthcare services free of cost.

He used to talk about his early life, how he went to the US, what struggles he went through there as he completed his graduation in business management from MIT. He started his early career at the National Oil Company, where he proved to be an outstanding professional. His dynamic visionary plans made him successful in many diversified businesses like automobiles, transport, pharmaceuticals, seafood, electronics, real estate, telecom and internet, insurance, hospitals and healthcare, securities and banks, and media communications.

For his visionary plans and right strategies, we feel proud to see that Bank Asia is now one of the top 10 in the banking sector of Bangladesh.

With the sad demise of Mr A Rouf Chowdhury, we lost not only a great man and a charismatic person, but also a real guardian and a visionary business leader. His strength, devotion and courage will continue to inspire us. We mourn the loss of such a wonderful personality. His legacy of kindness, love and affection will forever remain in our hearts.

May Allah (SWT) place his soul in jannah. Ameen.

Ashraful Haq Chowdhury is independent director of Bank Asia Ltd and secretary-general of the D-8 Chambers of Commerce and Industry.