Coming To Aid

Former banker and Generation T honouree, Jasmin Jalil’s career took an unforeseen turn following unexpected news from a loved one— which led to him becoming the executive director of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation. Kathlyn D’Souza details the story of how he developed his passion to help people living with HIV.

- Kathlyn D’Souza

There is something to be said about how our perspective on life changes when a person near and dear to us is stricken. After all, humans are innately driven by strong emotions.

Jasmin Jalil was moved into action 10 years ago, after he found out that one of his best friends was diagnosed with HIV. As Jasmin narrated, he was naïve and confused about the implications to his own health condition, but he also knew that he had to do something about it and stand by his best friend during the harrowing ordeal. No longer was this just a ‘scary disease’. It was now personal. “Due to my lack of understanding about AIDS, I genuinely believed that he was living on borrowed time and I was going to lose my best friend at any moment,” Jasmin admitted.

It was through the bouts of tagging along to doctor’s appointments, counselling sessions and support group meetings that Jasmin encountered Professor Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman. She was then the infectious disease specialist who attended to his friend, and Jasmin, who was fascinated and impressed by the work carried out by the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) decided to sign up as a volunteer.