Sense & Insensibility
Best-seller: "Titas Gas Success Story"
Do you think I have stolen this money? This money comes from my business." -- Abdul Kader Mollah
Who knew we had a Golden Goose in the guise of a service sector that turned paupers into billionaires? This is no fairy tale or a movie script or a joke or a satire or a witticism or a novel or any asharre golpo. This is as true as that sun shining up in the heavens and you better believe it. This is a mind-boggling success story found in the current best-seller "Titas Gas Success Story." The proud distributor of this book is Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Co Ltd.
Excerpt of the story, that of one Abdul Kader Mollah, has been published in the Bengali daily Prothom Alo and English daily The Daily Star to paint a graphic picture of how a sales assistant of yesterday owns wealth worth Tk. 2, 100 crore today. Move aside so-called tycoons of Asia. This Mollah character,when he started, did not have an industry or a private airline or one hundred ocean going cargo ships or shares in Harrods or Macy's or J.C. Penny. Neither did he have a magic wand or a lamp with a genii inside. All he had was a small job with a monthly salary of Tk. 4, 000.
Now, didn't many of us start our careers with that kind of a salary (even less maybe) in the bygone days? Well, with Mollah it was a different ball game. He was not to be bogged down with such a meagre income. He kept his eyes, ears and claws open. He was quick to learn how and in which channels money travelled. So, he set his traps in the right spots and like a pucca fisherman, hauled in large catch after catch after catch. It was raw and sweet smelling cash money that he hauled in every time he pulled his traps up.
Now, who is this Mollah chap and what did he actually do to amass that kind of money? Rob the salary van every month? No, brother. That's done by robbers. He ain't no robber! Have respect, man! He is a far superior player, who operated from inside and left no footprints behind. He was a leader, brother! And he was a friend of a respected (!?) CBA leader, didn't you know! Well, if you have no idea about CBAs in Bangladesh then we shall seriously question your sanity. Interesting, isn't it? So, how about having a brief look at the media reports (The Daily Star) about his wealth? Tighten your seat-belts, dear readers. Here it goes:
"Mollah has 15 industries that include Thermex Textile, Aduri Apparels, Thermex Cotton Spinning, Thermex Melange Spinning Mills, Thermex Home Fabrics Ltd, Thermex Knit Yarn, Thermex Blended Yarn, Thermex Group, Thermex Denim, Aduri Knit Composite, Aduri Washing and Printing, Aduri CNG Refuelling and Filling Station, Gazipur Gas Company, Padma Enterprise and Nakshi Textile Dyeing and Printing Industries Ltd.
"Mollah has a 5,536-squarefeet flat at Naya Paltan, a 1,800-sft flat at Shantinagar, a 2,899-sft flat at Dhanmondi, a 1,640-sft flat at Siddheshwari and a 1,450-sft flat at Kakrail in the capital. He has flats at Chamelibagh, Dhanmondi, Purana Paltan, Bailey Road, Gulshan and Banani in the name of his wife, daughters and other family members. There is a five-storey building on Sangeeta Road in Narsingdi in his wife's name.
Here is his list of cars. "Kader Mollah has 29 different kinds of cars, microbuses and lorries.
Titas the Golden Goose
"Kader Mollah joined Titas Gas as an ordinary employee in 1985 and retired voluntarily after 12 years as a sales assistant. During his service at Titas, he developed good relationship with a BNP-backed Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) leader (aha, there you are!) and ended up as a close aide to him. Although Mollah was a sales assistant, his colleagues said he used to work as a supervisor using his influence. "Through his connections with dishonest officials (aha, there you are again!) Mollah developed close contacts with many industries. He used to provide these industries with illegal gas connections and played a role in reducing their gas bills, thus earning huge money in return (Hmmmm, that explains. What more did he do?) "Much of his income at the time would also come from controlling transfers and postings of Titas staff. With money pouring in, Mollah dreamt of setting up industries. Mollah's former colleagues said none of his industries came under the enquiries conducted by Titas during the whole tenure of the BNP-led four-party alliance government (hush, hush, not so loud!). "After his voluntary retirement in 1997, Mollah was mostly involved with commercial activities of Titas directly and indirectly. Mollah has a three-storey house at Tinishpur in Narsingdi town. He plans to build a swimming pool on the third floor of his house near the municipal stadium (so, future ministers and MPs will go there to spend a day…not a bad idea)." Well, that was the amazing success story of Mollah. Here is my advice to brother Mollah: Please go on yearly pilgrimage to the Titas Gas head office instead of going to any holy place. After all, Titas has made you a billionaire, isn't it? In fact Titas, the Golden Goose, has made many more Mollahs millionaires and billionaires in last thirty years. Recent newspaper reports say about 130 officials and employees of Titas Gas are ready to return wealth worth over Tk 400 crore. Bravo, bravo. The only difference in the golden goose fiction and the real one is that while the greedy owner had killed the goose for all the eggs at a time, Titas employees keep the organisation alive so that they can have a golden egg every day. Long live Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Co Ltd.
"Kader Mollah joined Titas Gas as an ordinary employee in 1985 and retired voluntarily after 12 years as a sales assistant. During his service at Titas, he developed good relationship with a BNP-backed Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) leader (aha, there you are!) and ended up as a close aide to him. Although Mollah was a sales assistant, his colleagues said he used to work as a supervisor using his influence. "Through his connections with dishonest officials (aha, there you are again!) Mollah developed close contacts with many industries. He used to provide these industries with illegal gas connections and played a role in reducing their gas bills, thus earning huge money in return (Hmmmm, that explains. What more did he do?) "Much of his income at the time would also come from controlling transfers and postings of Titas staff. With money pouring in, Mollah dreamt of setting up industries. Mollah's former colleagues said none of his industries came under the enquiries conducted by Titas during the whole tenure of the BNP-led four-party alliance government (hush, hush, not so loud!). "After his voluntary retirement in 1997, Mollah was mostly involved with commercial activities of Titas directly and indirectly. Mollah has a three-storey house at Tinishpur in Narsingdi town. He plans to build a swimming pool on the third floor of his house near the municipal stadium (so, future ministers and MPs will go there to spend a day…not a bad idea)." Well, that was the amazing success story of Mollah. Here is my advice to brother Mollah: Please go on yearly pilgrimage to the Titas Gas head office instead of going to any holy place. After all, Titas has made you a billionaire, isn't it? In fact Titas, the Golden Goose, has made many more Mollahs millionaires and billionaires in last thirty years. Recent newspaper reports say about 130 officials and employees of Titas Gas are ready to return wealth worth over Tk 400 crore. Bravo, bravo. The only difference in the golden goose fiction and the real one is that while the greedy owner had killed the goose for all the eggs at a time, Titas employees keep the organisation alive so that they can have a golden egg every day. Long live Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Co Ltd.
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