Captain Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed

 

Putting the Sail on Singapore

 

India-born Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed set up Singapore’s first national shipping line, the Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), in 1968. He then fought for its right to access the very lucrative Far East-Europe trade route which connected major ports in Europe and North Africa via the Malacca Straits to those in Southeast Asia. Today, NOL is the largest shipping and transportation company listed on the Singapore Exchange.

 

Singapore has always been an important maritime location but until 1968, it did not have a shipping line to call its own. This meant that in times of crisis, Singapore would not have its own ships to carry cargo and its survival would hinge on aid from others. Captain Muhammad Jalaluddin “MJ” Sayeed came to the aid of Singapore, advising Finance Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee and EDB Chairman Dr Hon Sui Sen on setting up a national shipping line. At that time, Captain Sayeed, also known fondly as Capt. MJ, was the commercial manager of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, and had spent three decades as a sailor. He was known for his conscientiousness. In 1963, he sailed in his tugboat to personally warn each ship at the Chittagong port of an impending cyclone.

Capt. MJ arrived in Singapore in April 1968. It was at the Botanic Gardens where he wrote his plan to “set up a national shipping line for trading round the world and round the clock.” Pleased with his report, the government encouraged him to stay on in Singapore and run the NOL.

But Capt. MJ was hesitant to give up his job as a commercial manager and uproot his family from Pakistan. His wife was running a school then, and his children were still studying in “good English-medium schools”. In the end, he changed his mind. “I was drawn to the opportunity of setting up a new carrier and working for a government known for its wise policies and efficiencies,” he wrote in NOL's commemorative book.

Capt. MJ had free rein to run the company, which began in a small room in Fullerton Building. That NOL did not have a government label was Dr Goh’s idea. The NOL was registered in 1968, and within two months, Capt. MJ had ships setting sail. Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s wife, Kwa Geok Choo, took an active interest in naming the ships. NOL’s first large oil tanker was christened the Neptune World by Kwa. In 1969, ownership of NOL was transferred from the government to Temasek Holdings.

To become viable and competitive, NOL had to acquire ready ships to enter the major trade lanes in order. From the outset, it fought hard to join the Far East Freight Conference (FEFC), which controlled the lucrative Far East-Europe trade route. Its Western members controlled the number of ports a shipping line could visit, amount of freight rates and proportion of routes. The Far East-Europe trade route connected major ports in Europe and North Africa via the Malacca Straits to those in Southeast Asia. But joining the FEFC had its challenges.

The FEFC treated Capt. MJ and his colleagues shabbily, and tried to dissuade them from joining by pointing to the “hardships” they would face. Once, the FEFC even wanted to limit the amount of tonnage that NOL could carry. Nevertheless, Capt. MJ stood his ground and negotiated for a place for Singapore in the exclusive club. By taking part in Far East-Europe trade, Singapore gained access to the entire route right through the Malacca Straits located at its doorstep.

After four years on the job and with NOL owning a fleet of about 20 ships within that short time, Capt. MJ felt that it was time for a Singaporean to take the helm. Goh Chok Tong, who would later become Singapore’s prime minister, succeeded the captain. When Capt. MJ left, Lee Kuan Yew wrote in a farewell letter, “Thank you for your letter of September 7 telling me that you have decided to return to Pakistan. May I sincerely thank you for having helped NOL get on its feet. Your services were invaluable. Thank you for the kind and generous compliments you have paid to the people of Singapore, and for your good wishes to my wife, children and me. May I wish you an interesting and rewarding future as you move to new challenges. For a person of your years to find the time and interest in between your duties to be able to write a note to me in Chinese demonstrates the triumph of an inquisitive mind and an indomitable spirit over hard challenges.”

When Capt. MJ left Singapore, he was already 63. He went on to join the United Nations (UN) Conference on Trade and Development and taught at the Arab Maritime Transport Academy. He also helped to build up the Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company, before returning to Pakistan in 1982.

Capt. MJ died in 2005 at the age of 95. Two days after he died, Capt. MJ’s wife received a letter from Goh Chok Tong. He wrote, “None of us had ever run a shipping line and Captain Sayeed was patient in teaching us the ropes. On a personal level, I will always cherish Captain Sayeed’s friendship. He was kind and considerate. He was unselfish in passing on his knowledge and I learnt quite a few things from him. He was, in my eyes, the perfect gentleman.”

References

The Importance of The Straits of Malacca and Singapore,”
Singapore Journal of International & Comparative Law 2 (1998): 302.

Rahita Elias, Beyond Boundaries: The first 35 Years of the NOL Story
(Singapore: Neptune Orient Lines, 2014).

Chew Xiang, “They Fuelled the Passion,” The Business Times, August 28, 2006.

Ardeshir Cowasjee, “Sayeed of Singapore,” DAWN, September 25, 2005.

 

 

Captain Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed
India, b.1920–2005