At Contact Cultures Properties, we often talk about values, integrity, fairness, legacy. But those aren’t just ideas we plucked from a branding exercise. They’re rooted in real life. In my case, they come from watching my dad, Maqbool-ul-Haq, a businessman through and through.
He ran his father’s flour mill in Lahore and would spend weeks at a time in the Kashmir mountains overseeing the felling of trees. The timber was for a military supply contract our family held. It was hard, physical, logistical work, involving planning, transport, relationships, and risk. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was real business, the kind that taught resilience, negotiation, and quiet leadership.
I didn’t learn business from textbooks. I learned it from seeing Dad hold firm when contractors didn’t deliver. From watching him stay calm when payments were delayed. From hearing stories of the roads he took, sometimes literally, to make sure his word was kept and his responsibilities met.
His word meant everything. If he made a promise, to a supplier, a customer, or a friend, he’d find a way to honour it. That’s a principle I’ve carried into Contact Cultures Properties. Whether we’re handling investor funds, managing refurb timelines, or dealing with tenants, I always ask: would my dad be proud of how I’m handling this?
He also showed me that business and ethics aren’t in conflict. He could be tough when needed, he had to be, but he never crossed a line. He didn’t chase shortcuts. He didn’t put profit above principle. And he didn’t need anyone else’s approval to know when something was wrong.
Today, that’s how we operate too. We’re not in business to impress. We’re in it to serve, our investors, our communities, and our own future generations.
There’s also something else he taught me: to respect every role. Whether he was dealing with a forest labourer, a driver, or a government official, he treated people with dignity. That spirit carries through in how we work with trades, tenants, and team members today. Titles don’t matter, character does.
My dad didn’t build a property portfolio. But he did build systems, operations, and deals in conditions far tougher than most of us will ever face. What he handed down to me wasn’t a collection of assets, it was a way of thinking, working, and living with integrity.
That’s the real foundation of Contact Cultures Properties, built not just on bricks, but on the example of a man who taught me how to do business right.
