"You and I have memories; longer than the road that stretches out ahead" - two lines from a Beatles song, that captures the journey with our beloved late FE Editor and Publisher, AHM Moazzem Hossain.
The days of working under the leadership of Moazzem Hossain, a reputed journalist and pioneering entrepreneur of our time, can't be contained in few stories or sheer words. His dynamism was so transmissible that anyone would have been infected by his energy after an interaction with him. Nonetheless, I would never find one word that defines his personality or leadership, primarily because he always took more than one role in a discussion. He made sure that his thoughts were thorough and always asked sharp-edged questions to the people around him that demands one to go into the depth of one's own intellect, in a way how a good question brings out the genius in any person. Our beloved Editor's questions always invoked clarity and reason. The first question that he asked me was- "Riaz, what are the scopes of improvement that you think we should look at to improve the value we deliver to our readers?" I was rather baffled by the nature of the question; partly because it was my first day and partly because it was my first interaction with a leader who invites direct feedback and criticism.
I had my share of good luck in witnessing moments of Moazzem Hossain's leadership. At times, I found him to passionately argue on behalf of his journalist colleagues to protect the best of their interests while protecting every bit of interests of his own organisation and shareholders. The way he could juxtapose diverse perspectives allowed him to rise to any situation an organisation demands. And he always did more than it was required of him, in a sense that his pursuit of excellence for delivering the best for FE readers was an endless voyage. As colleagues, we could always seek his counsel for our own development and never return without exceptional insights and answers. One of the many foundations that he has instilled in us is the strong ethical framework that is present in every one of The Financial Express. He showed us how to stay unbiased while delivering most critical messages for the nation. His writings were powerfully vivid filled with energy and questions that cut through the clouds of information we have.
In moments of celebration, our late Editor never held back in engaging with everyone. From praising enthusiastically with specific details of one associate's work to showing warmth to a colleague's family members in events, the unparallel compassion he displayed was authentic and refreshing.
One thing our late Editor always kept to himself or within the foundations of The FE was his professional milestones and business success. He was a firm believer that if one does great work, it will speak for itself.
I was having a discussion from different angles with our beloved late Editor, Moazzem Hossain. It was regarding this digital and social media age. He was very intense on the issue of how this digital age armed by the incessant amount of questionable social media contents is shaping our lives and our future generations. "We have a role to play, Riaz. Digital tools need to be redesigned so that it works harmoniously with society and serve our nation's best interests. Once I recover, we will chalk out the next projects, we can undertake," That was the end tête-à-tête I had with him before he left us all.
To show gratefulness to him for all he did, why not take the best of his examples and ask new kinds of questions, for new kinds of frontiers? He was what enlightenment looks like in business and financial journalism. The boldness he showed in establishing a unique product and value in Bangladesh should inspire the future entrepreneurs. His legacy echoes that if we are truly passionate about our work, anything can be achievable.
Md Riazuddin Khan is Senior Management Consultant at the FE.
