Asa Singh Johal, Vancouver, Sawmills Owner, billionaire,
celebrates 98th Birthday
Los Angeles, August 24, 2020
Balwant Sanghera/ NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh Grewal
Prominent businessman and philanthropist Asa Singh Johal celebrated his 98th birthday with his family, friends and members of the congregation at India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas on Monday, August 17. His well-wishers at the Gurdwara wished Mr. Johal a very happy birthday. Asa Singh Johal is a great role model for young and old alike. Despite his advancing years Mr. Johal keeps himself very active and busy. All of us at India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas are very proud of Mr. Johal and wish him a long and healthy life.
Asa Singh Johal came to Canada with his parents as an 18 months old toddler in 1924. His father, Partap Singh Johal, had come to Canada in 1906. Asa mentioned that at that time, there were approximately 1200 Indo-Canadians in Canada. Most of them lived in the Metro Vancouver area and worked in lumber mills. Asa dropped out of school at age 14 and started working delivering wood for fuel and also in lumber mills . This started his journey towards building a formidable lumber business . In addition to being a lumber baron, Asa and his family have also donated generously to various causes. These include University of British Columbia, B.C.Cancer Society, Richmond Hospital, BC Children`s Hospital and many more including his ancestral village of Jandiala in Jalandhar district of Punjab in India.
A few years ago, some prominent members from Jandiala approached Mr. Johal with a request to build a much needed auditorium for the Government Girls Secondary School in his native village. This popular girls`school serves a very wide area around Jandiala in educating girls .The Johal family opened its hearts and wallet and built a very spacious and impressive auditorium for the benefit of almost 1500 girls attending school there. There are so many examples of Mr. Johal and the Johal family`s generosity as well as other acts of kindness.
A number of attributes stand out for this great role model for our community. He is a very disciplined , punctual and humble person. Mr. Johal is always pleasant and polite to everyone he meets. His sharp intellect and commendable business sense have earned him appreciation and accolades . Mr. Johal stands out as a great pillar of not only the South Asian community but also the community at-large. All of us at India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas wish him a very happy birthday.
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