When Azrie Razak joined Haskell’s Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, office as a Quantity Surveyor four years ago, he quietly began a personal ritual on payday, using a portion of his earnings to purchase and distribute goods to those in need.
“Since I was born here, I have seen a lot of people in hardship, in poverty,” Razak said. “Several friends I went to school with were struggling to find food. I was in a position to do something about it and wanted to do something about it. I can’t see kids hungry. I realized I should show a better version of myself.”
Eventually, his colleagues learned of the good he was doing and joined in and made it an office-wide effort. Participation grew, Rezak said, from just himself to eight team members … to 15 … to as many as 40.
For his valued role at work, where he leverages his lifelong passion for math to estimate and manage costs, and his philanthropy outside the workplace, Razak has received Haskell’s Living the Values Award, given quarterly to team members who display the company’s core values of Team, Excellence, Service and Trust.
“Service is where Azrie truly shines,” Cliff Corbell, the Director of Construction for Haskell in Malaysia, wrote in his nomination letter. “For years, without telling anyone, Azrie has been purchasing food on pay days, and then giving food out to the homeless and needy in designated areas within KL (Kuala Lumpur). The Haskell KL team discovered Azrie was doing this on his own and encouraged him to make it part of a broader Haskell initiative that he currently leads. To date, this has been a successful program that has engaged every Haskell team member at the KL office and has enabled Azrie and Haskell to support the KL community in a very positive manner.”
Razak finds that the attributes of the LTV award are exemplified in his off-work passion.
“There’s an orphanage near where I live, and I spend time with the kids there on weekends, teaching math, because I get great happiness out of what makes others happy,” he said. “The smiles that I can see from them. That’s real happiness for me.”
They say work is a good fit when it matches the personality of the employee. That’s Razak.
“What I like most about Haskell is the core values of the company, valuing the team, service, excellence and trust,” he said. “I believe those are qualities any company should have to grow and become better. This aligns with me both professionally and personally to become the person I want to become.”
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