Hassam Moossa Rawat, a well-known public figure, left us after a long illness and was laid to rest in Riche Terre cemetery on Saturday 24 March at 3 p.m.
Hassam was born in Labourdonnais Street in Port Louis, but he grew up in Beau Bassin when his father decided to move house. After his primary education, he went to the Royal College Curepipe, where he shone and left with good A level results. Unlike his brother Ibrahim and despite his excellent grades at HSC, he preferred to launch into a business career, as business runs in the family blood.
Rawat and Company was founded jointly by Hassam’s father and his uncle Ajum; this involved running three cinema houses (the Luna Park, Roxy and Novelty), a printing press mostly dedicated to printing programs for shows and of course, a textile shop, so as not to break with the Gujrati tradition.
After a dozen years working in the family business, Hassam decided to pitch his camp elsewhere. He started his own HM Rawat company and tried his luck into an altogether new field – the mobile phone. He became the accredited representative of NOKIA. and things did not work out that badly as Nokia went on to command a large share of the mobile phone market in Mauritius.
At the same time, he started importing equipment for bakeries from Germany and offered them on an innovative term; he introduced the hire-purchase system which was unknown in Mauritian business world at that time. The terms were so alluring that HM Rawat equipped the majority of bakeries with his products.
A third area in which HM Rawat became a pioneer is entertainment; he imported and distributed the Scopitone system which became very popular among the youths of the country.
Hassam was influenced by the Islamic values inculcated into him by his elders. He dedicated himself to maintaining masjids; one in particular was the historical masjid of Riviere Citron.
Living in vast premises in Beau Bassin allowed him to play football with his siblings and cousins on the lawn in front of the family house. He developed a liking for this sport and consequently, he sponsored the YMFA Football Club which made quite a name for itself.
Hassam’s health started deteriorating about ten years ago and he decided to wind things down. He had sufficiently groomed his sons Ali and Mamine to take over the command of the small empire he had created.
If Hassam had been born with a silver spoon, he has left his family platinum spoons. I would like to convey my heartfelt condolences to his wife Rooqayya, his sons Mamine and Ali, his daughter Baby, his six grandchildren and to the whole Rawat family in Mauritius and all around the globe. May Allah swt give them sabr to bear their loss and grant the departed Jannat ul Firdaus.
Dawood Auleear
30 March 2022.
NOTE : Les points de vue exprimés dans cette rubrique ne reflètent pas nécessairement ceux de la rédaction et n’engagent que les auteurs eux-mêmes.
