Jamaluddin, the philanthropist donated part his fortune to charity, says former reporter

Rompin member of parliament (MP) Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis made a midlife career shift into philanthropy and channeled much of his personal fortune into social causes, disclosed close friend and former journalist, Syahril Kadir.

Jamaluddin died in a tragic helicopter crash in Semenyih, Selangor on Saturday along with five other passengers.

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According to Syahril, Jamaluddin would normally sought his assistance to silently donate some of his private earnings to several children placed at an orphanage after an earthquake devastation in Pualu Nias in the coast of Sumatera, Indonesia especially during Hari Raya.

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“Normally, I'd be accompanied by two or three of his confidante to execute the humanitarian mission. Other than Muslim orphans, the kind-hearted and generous Jamaluddin had asked us to channel the fund to Christian orphaned children after an earthquake devastation hit the island.

“The last time I brought his zakat money was four months ago … and I bring this to everyone’s attention as this was among his many other contributions that were silently carried out in the past," said Syahril in a post on his Facebook.

He had insisted that his actions not to be revealed to the public or media.

Syahril said, “I admit that I have been the direct contact person by Tan Sri to channel a sum of his private earnings to the orphan children, victims of earthquake.

"For as long as I’m alive, there’s no point of regaling people with this story – that was what he said to me,” said Syahril during an interview with Astro AWANI on Sunday.

According to him, he was introduced to Jamaluddin some ten years ago when he was assigned to cover the earthquake tragedy in Sumatera.

Jamaluddin, said Syahril was friendly and loved by most media personnel.

“From the aspect of journalism, Syahril was a government leader who was easily accessible and had great knowledge and experience. It was easy for most of us to execute our tasks especially when we needed to refer to a government officer.

“As a backbencher officer at the Parliament, he was always around, he was friendly. He was also humorous.

He always had a way to make us comfortable being around him and also to deal with a leader like him. His loss is greatly felt by the media members," said Syahril.