Description:
Khalid Muneer was born in Pakistan in 1951. He recalled his earliest years in Pakistan, particularly the stories his family passed down about the deadly Partition that divided India and Pakistan in 1947. Khalid emphasized how his turbulent migrant experience from India to England motivated him to study a career that ensured financial security and allowed him to travel worldwide. Thus, Khalid worked for an international banking company for seventeen years throughout the 1970s and 1980s, which stationed him across ten countries. He briefly recounted how the larger Cold War affected his professional career, given that he worked and lived in various “Third World” countries. In 1991, Khalid retired from international banking and emigrated to the United States, fulfilling his entrepreneurial desires. Khalid repurposed his deep cultural knowledge from living in several different cultures to serve in public and political positions in Central Florida, including various chambers of commerce, ethnic organizations, and running for US Congressional District Ten in 2022. Khalid underlined the centrality of political representation for minority and underserved communities, fueling his pursuit to serve in the political arena. As he adroitly put it, “If you’re not at the table, you’re going to be on the menu.” Given his profound three-decade experience in Central Florida as a public and private citizen, Khalid discussed extensively the current (c. 2025) conditions of the region, its economic and ethnic contours, its challenges, and what he envisions for Orlando in the next thirty to hundred years.
Transcription:
00;00;00 - 00;00;19
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: This is Sebastian Garcia interviewing Khalid Muneer on February 8th, 2025, at Audubon Church for the Florida Historical Society Oral History Project. Before we begin our conversation in earnest, can you please state your name, your date of birth and where you were born?
00;00;19 - 00;00;27
KHALID MUNEER: My name is Khalid Muneer, and my date of birth is 8-17-1951. And I was born in Pakistan.
00;00;27 - 00;00;35
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Can you share a little bit about your experiences growing up in Pakistan in the late 50s, early 60s?
00;00;35 - 00;02;40
KHALID MUNEER: Well, I was born in Pakistan, and we left Pakistan in 1961 because my parents emigrated to—my father emigrated in 1959 to Britain. So we had a history of migration because my grandparents were in India, and they migrated in 1947 when the country was split up into India and Pakistan. So they migrated to Pakistan. And then my parents migrated from Pakistan to Britain. And I grew up in Britain. I was nine years old when my parents moved there. I was educated there, went to school and college, and then that was followed by a 17 year career in international banking. And I spent 17 years working and living in ten countries around the globe as part of my international banking career. And then in 1991, when the bank was downsizing, I was posted in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. So when they were downsizing and I lost my job, I decided, we decided to move to Orlando, to Central Florida. And the reason for that was five years earlier. We came to Orlando when it was my son's fifth birthday, and he always wanted to visit Disneyland. So when we came to visit Disney, my wife commentated, “Wouldn't it be nice to move to Orlando one day? I love this place. Everything about this place is very vibrant and the weather was nice also.” So five years later, that was in 1986, so five years later, Lord behold, we were here in Orlando, in Central Florida, in Palm Coast. And so that's how I moved here to Orlando.
00;02;40 - 00;02;58
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And before we get into your life in Orlando, do you recall any stories that your parents or your grandparents told you about the Partition—the split between India and Pakistan?
00;02;58 - 00;05;46
KHALID MUNEER: Yes. That split in 1947 was very bloody because you had the Muslim population, major portion were moving from India to Pakistan and a major portion of the Hindu population moving to Pakistan to India, relocating. And they used to tell me something like 6 million people lost their lives in the movement. There was a lot of revenge killings and all kinds of rumors being spread that the people in Pakistan are killing the Hindus or people in Pakistan are killing the Muslims. So there was a lot of reprisal killings that went on in that part of the world. So my parents told me that they were lucky. Their grandparents were lucky to escape that civil war and be still alive and make it to Pakistan and start life all over again. So that’s what I recall. I also recall, I used to go and visit my parents in Pakistan. They lived in a little village, and I used to—and this is going back to when I was about five years old, 1956, somewhere around there—see a lot of Indians coming to visit them in the village, Sikhs with turbans and so on. And I used to ask them, “Well, who are these people?” And my grandfather used to tell me “We used to go to the same school. We were neighbors. We were in the same class, etc., but unfortunately, due to the political situation, we were split up.” They loved to come back and visit the house where they grew up, their parents grew up, their grandparents grew up. So they were very sentimentally attached to the places. So that's what I recall. And I also recall that back in the 50s, those were the developing countries. So they were basic necessities such as power and transportation, vehicles, etc., they were pretty much non-existent. So when you look back, and you start asking, “Okay, well, how did those people survive?” There was no internet. There was no phone service, and there was no power etc. So it's amazing that that makes you appreciate what we have here in this country. And that's one of the reasons I think people from the subcontinent excel here, because the opportunities they get here is unimaginable in a lot of the countries.
00;05;46 - 00;06;01
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Absolutely. And you mentioned how you basically grew up in Britain because you were around ten years old at the time when your family moved. So what was life like growing up in Britain?
00;06;01 - 00;10;00
KHALID MUNEER: Well, it was just fifteen, sixteen years after the Second World War ended. So Europe was pretty much battered from the war, and they needed to economically rebuild. And there was a shortage of male working population. And so they had to open the doors for Indian and Pakistanis to come in to fill that gap. And they were the preferred immigrants because English was a medium, a language that was taught in the school as a second language. So the communications were pretty strong because they could speak English, etc., etc. and that was an added advantage. So my experiences from the early days was as—normally when you go into a new country, your number one problem is always the language. So although we could speak basic English, but to jump straight into a secondary school from there, it was difficult because although we were fluent in English, but it was basic English and to be thrown into a class which is where English is a medium language there, it was hard. But nevertheless, we pushed on, my parents. The number one priority was always to get the children educated because you either have the wealth or you have the education which can open up a lot of doors for you in the future. So my parents paid a lot of attention to try to get us educated send us to college universities, etc. So those were the early memories that I have about my parents, how they encouraged us to work hard and get educated and go to college. And in those days, going back to the early up to the 70s, your university degree was very valued. So if you had a university degree, you were amongst the elite compared to now, college degree in this country has become like a high school diploma. So when I graduated from Birmingham University in England, there were so many opportunities that you could pretty much pick and choose whatever career you wanted to go to. And the careers that would open banking, the legal profession, and the medical profession were the three elite careers which had a lot of credibility. So they were the much sought after positions when you graduated from university. So I picked banking, finance. And the reason I picked that because when we moved from Pakistan to England, two years after my father left Pakistan, he could not save enough money to have the family and my mother and my three sibling to be able to go to England by air, by plane. So we had to go from Pakistan to England by any means of transportation we could find on the way. So we traveled on busses, train, horse driven carriages in order to get there and start up a new life.
00;10;00 - 00;10;18
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And once you picked financing as your career, can you talk to me a little bit about what it was like throwing yourself in the market for the first time, looking for jobs? Was your first job in England? What was that like?
00;10;18 - 00;12;05
KHALID MUNEER: Well, my ambition was always to get a job which would allow me to travel internationally. The point about having to travel from Pakistan to England, by road, by transportation other than by air, left a lasting mark on me. So I was determined that I wanted to travel the world, have enough money, or have a career which would enable me to travel the world. So that's exactly what I did when I graduated, I applied to couple of banks, which had an international presence. So the bank that I work for was Standard Chartered Bank, and the reason why I chose that over the other was because they had a strong presence in Asia and Europe and Africa, and those countries were the one that really fascinated me. The alternative was to join a bank which had a strong presence in South America. So I chose the first one. And for the next 17 years, I spent, and I worked and lived in ten countries around the globe in my international banking career. So I spent five years in Africa on the islands of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Then I spent a year in Egypt, then five years in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. And then I spent two years around Europe, in Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands. So it was a fascination about traveling that was a determining factor in me choosing a career in international banking.
00;12;06 - 00;12;19
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And what did you learn personally from living in those very diverse places, and also how different financing works in those countries?
00;12;19 - 00;16;32
KHALID MUNEER: Basically when I joined the bank, the initial two years were spent in Europe learning about the different banking systems so that they were preparing me for a career overseas. So if I was stationed in say Singapore, Asia, which had a lot of trade with Germany, I would be able to understand what the German banking system was like as far as import and export and trade finance is concerned. And it was the same. I spent a time in Paris and Rotterdam and in Milan to learn about those specific banking system. So if I am posted in Africa, wherever, and we are doing business with that country, I would be able to explain to my client, about some of the issues that are involved, make sure they have the right documentation if they're exporting from Singapore or Hong Kong to the Netherlands, etc.
As far as differences in banking systems are concerned, there are major differences in all the banking systems. For example, countries like the Seychelles, where I spent five years, was basically an offshore banking center. So it was where offshore banking accounts were the main source of business revenue for the country. No major manufacturing industry, tourism industry, was the economy based on. So most of business there was to do with exchange of currency, international currencies against a local currency, the Seychelles rupee, etcetera.
As far as other banking practices are concerned, of course, Middle East was totally different because there was no concept of interest when banking first started. There was a concept, but because in the Middle East, all your relationships or most of your relationships are really governed by religion. So banking, for example, the interest was usually against the laws of Islam. And it's the laws of Islam that applied in a lot of those countries. So I learned years ago that some of the American US banks that were operating there through their subsidiaries, they were charging interest on loans. So somebody took them to the Sharia or the local religious court, and the court ruled in favor of the individuals, saying that according to the law, this is illegal. So they had to refund years and years of interest that they charged to the client back to the clients, and takes some heavy, heavy losses. So this is why it was important for me to learn about the different banking system. So that I know what we doing is within the law, of that country.
In the Middle East, I'm going back to the 70s and early 80s, some of the issues that you had to deal with, I mean, that's totally strange to us, we have the credit report system in this country. Well, in the 70s and 80s, when I was working in Egypt and in the Emirates, it was totally different criteria for the credit score. So one of the column used to be, “How big is your family?” And that included, “Well, how many wives do you have?” because it was common to have more than one way. So for example, if you had four wives, that means you have money. Your economic status is high, so you would qualify for any loan application, etc. So that was very important to understand that banking system in the Muslim country. So make sure that, you know, you're abiding according to the laws of the country.
00;16;32 - 00;16;45
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Absolutely. And, out of those countries and in involvement professionally with them, in your opinion, which one was the most rewarding for you?
00;16;45 - 00;20;06
KHALID MUNEER: I think the one that was most rewarding were the countries that were developing, because when you are living in a developed country, like in the United States or Europe, those economies have already developed. The challenges are really in countries that are developing because that's where the opportunities are. So in the 70s, a lot of these countries were in the developing stage, so they needed technical manpower. They needed people who could come in and establish banks. They needed people who could come in and establish foreign exchange departments of the bank, because international trade was becoming very substantial. So they needed people who could set up the foreign exchange department because of the different currencies that were involved in transactions, etc. So I think the most rewarding places for me was really Abu Dhabi, because at that time the banking system was just taking off and exploding. So you had new ideas which were being implemented, or you came up with the new ideas how to do the marketing, increase the business of the bank deposits, etc., way to lend it. So I think my time in the Middle East when I spent five years was very rewarding.
But as I said, you know, in different countries you have different types of experiences. So in the end, I visited over 56 countries around the globe. I managed to be fluent in over eight languages because it was a requirement of my bank that I learned the language of the country where I'm station, so at least I could understand if we were doing a business deal what the other party is saying in their own language. So I think the most rewarding experience was also the fact that I had this great opportunity to learn the languages. And you really learn about culture if you live in a country, right. So, visiting for a week or four days on a tourist trip is totally different because that's how you get to know the people and understand the cultures. We have a lot of differences in cultures, but a lot of the time we just gloss over them or they're total strangers to us, until you go deeply and start understanding them, start talking to the local people about what do you do this and what do you do this, and etc., etc. so I think that's been the most rewarding part of my life, and that is one of the asset that I carried on when I moved to the States, because I have served here as a leader, as a president of many international chambers here, simply because I was able to understand the people we were dealing in and knew how to deal with the Asians or the Latinos or the Brazilians, etc., simply because that just involved transfer of the skills from there into this environment that I was dealing with.
00;20;06 - 00;20;26
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And how, when you were operating in those countries during the 70s, in the 80s, that also coincides with the larger Cold War. I'm curious, how did the Cold War affect your professional experience?
00;20;26 - 00;23;07
KHALID MUNEER: Well, one of the thing was with the Cold War going on, there were a lot of restrictions. Who could do business with who. And also it required different approaches. Just to give you a simple example, I was writing an import export documentation department of a bank in London and in Rotterdam also. So one of the requirements in those days was that you could not use certain words, which amounted to a political statement on your documentation. So I was telling you earlier on the purpose of understanding different banking system is to conform with the laws. And right up to this day, I still remember that I made a mistake on a letter of credit, import letter of credit. So letters of credit were the main sources of financing your imports. You went to the bank, you opened a letter of credit, and that letter of credit would go to the exporters bank. So on one of them, we added that the exporter needs to have insurance for the merchandise being exported. So if there's any issues that are related, the insurance is covered. Then we received a reply back from the exporters Bank in China to say that we refer you to our beloved leader Mao Zedong’s Red Book and on page so-and-so, it says the people of the world would rise and by any means at their disposal would overthrow the systems, so please, we cannot insure you for any riots, civil commotions and any of those because they are legal in this country. And those letters of credit are unacceptable. So that's just one example of why you need a good understanding of the international banking system to be able to conform with the laws and regulations and the political systems of those different countries.
00;23;07 - 00;23;21
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: How did your perceptions of the United States changed when you permanently immigrated to this country in 1991, especially considering that you've been to so many places before?
00;23;21 - 00;25;49
KHALID MUNEER: Well, I think, before we come to the United States, we have all these positive preconceived ideas of the life in the USA. However, that perception doesn't last very long when you come to the States, especially somebody like me who had a white collar job and to come here and start all over again. When I came here, I said goodbye to my previous banking career. I had a lot of entrepreneurial spirit, so I wanted to go and start buying businesses and then just move up from there. So we bought a business initially, which was a gas station and a dry cleaning business, etc., to get residency. And, whereas in the third world countries or the countries that I lived in Africa, etc., there is a lot of manpower involved. So you, as a business owner, basically sits in the office and supervise the whole operation. But here, unfortunately, it was different because in small businesses, the money that you make is really how much labor costs you can save. That's a whole idea of a small business. So I had initial shock because, I was doing in those days with $5 for $75 an hour job standing on the cash register selling cigarettes and gas, etc.. So when you come in, you have to reorder or redo your goals, because you're not starting in the top. You have to start at the bottom and climb that ladder. So it does take a few years for you to understand the system, how you deal with your work, with your employees and etc., etc. So it was quite a shock culture and business wise. But then again, I mean, those are the experiences that put you where we are today.
00;25;49 - 00;25;56
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Right. And you arrived in Orlando first or…?
00;25;56 - 00;28;35
KHALID MUNEER: No, we arrived in Palm Coast. So we lived in Palm Coast for a while, but for the last 20 years, my business was in Orlando. So I also bought a place here in Orlando. Because in my professional real estate profession, when you go back to the 90s, there was no MLS, multiple listing system, internet, TPS, electronic key system. So for example, compared to now what we have, everything is automated, we had books which showed what properties were for sale, and those books were one month old. So you had to do a lot of phone call to make sure that property you were narrowing in for your client was still available, and then say you had three or four properties to show to a client in one day. You had to go to the other broker's office, pick up the key, show the property, and then drop the key back before 5:00 to the broker's office. So in other words, if you had to show three or four property that would take you a whole day. Whereas if you look at the system now, you have electronic keys. You want to show a property, make the appointment on the MLS system, and you go there, and I click on you open it right away—so a 15 minute job. So that's how the system has changed over the years. And so that was what enabled me because in those days in the real estate business, you could only concentrate on your farm area. You couldn't think of living in Palm Coast and selling properties in Orlando because you didn't have the MLS system. You didn't have the GPS system. So if you wanted to show one property, Orlando, you probably have to do the research and drive, etc., etc. So when these things came into being especially the MLS system and electronic key and the GPS, it allowed us to widen our farm areas so we could stretch out to other geographical areas—Daytona Beach [and] Orlando. So for the last 20 years, my business has been mainly here in Orlando.
00;28;35 - 00;28;47
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And why when you decided to live here permanently in the United States, why did you choose real estate as a change of profession?
00;28;47 - 00;30;12
KHALID MUNEER: I didn't choose real estate. I owned a number of small businesses, which I developed and sold later. And it was during that process when I was thinking, well, with my background, education, experience, I think I need to build up something more than just a gas station and dry cleaning businesses. So that was what led me into the real estate business, because Orlando, for example, when you look at Orlando, I think there are children in Orange County schools from about 198 different countries. So with my background in languages and understanding culture and understanding people, that was one of the ideal profession for me to develop and create my own company. So today I have 50 agents in my company, and out of the 50 agent, they come from 22 different countries. They speak over 18 different languages. And that's something that I carried on into my real estate profession also, the ability to communicate with people from different countries and different languages, etc.
00;30;12 - 00;30;38
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: You talked briefly about how the profession, the real estate profession has changed technologically. But I'm curious, how has Orlando, in the past 30 years since you've been here since the 90s, changed generally, but also specifically to the housing market and the real estate landscape?
00;30;38 - 00;36;15
KHALID MUNEER: When you talking about Orlando, you have to look at the changing demographics of Orlando. And by demographics, I mean not only the age structure of the group, but also the ethnicity. For example, right now when you talk about Orange County, you looking at the demographics, which are 33% Hispanics, 23% African-American, 10% Asians, and then other ethnic groups. So those ethnic groups which came into Orlando 30 years ago, those groups have done extremely well in certain professions. The Indian and Pakistanis, they were mainly either in the medical profession or they were in the small businesses. So 30 years ago, those same individuals started our businesses, now, the extremely wealthy, extremely size of businesses has grown. Some of them have even gone on to listed businesses on the stock market, etc. So first of all, the economic prosperity over the last 30 years has really shot up. Secondly, now we come into the next generation. You know, I take my own family, I have five children and yet none of them are my profession because I cannot ask my daughter, who's a dentist, to come and join me or my other daughter in the medical profession, my other daughter who's in the cyber security, etc. The major problem is with the businesses now is it takes 25, 30 years to build up the business. You want somebody in the firm to carry on that business. And that, I think, has become extremely difficult for a lot of people.
So Orlando has also, over the last 30 years, changed, apart from the demographic composition, it's also changed in terms of the size of businesses that have moved to Orlando, you know, major corporations, they are moving to Orlando to have their major headquarters. I'm talking other than the Universal and Disney, etc. and they also have shown a major, major growth in the theme parks and the new theme parks. And they have to do that because for them to keep attracting the tourists, attendees at these theme parks, they have to keep creating new stuff. Otherwise people will not come back. You know, they'll think, well, we've seen it. There's nothing. But if they bring in, like the Epic [Universe], for example, they're bringing in, that’s what attracts those recurring tourists or even the new ones.
And then, of course, when you look at areas like Lake Nona Medical city that was not there 30 years ago and it is a world class attraction from a medical point of view and also from health and wellness and from a sports point of view, USTA is there, it's a major hub for the LPGA also. 60% of your world golfers live here in Orlando, 30% in Lake Nona and 30% in Bay Hill. So sports has also been a major area apart from Orlando Magic. Camping World Stadium is really grown, it is now a world class stadium, etc. I recently was involved in about four months ago, I was one of the organizers for international soccer game between the Colombian champions and Mexico City champions here at the Camping World. So Orlando has become a world class facility in terms of your sports, in terms of the convention center, for example, you know, it's second biggest in the USA now, the number of 5 million, 6 million attendees attend the convention center. So I think we've seen a major growth and we're seeing a major growth. And that trend will continue. And you can see that because land costs have gone up. So, Orlando, when you think of Orlando, you're not thinking of just Orange County. The area is where Orlando is expanding, where the land availability is, for example, Lake County is an expanding area. Polk County is the fastest growing county in the USA. Well, why is that? Because Orlando has become saturated. Land prices have gone extreme, now. So for builders it is very important to find cheap land because that is their raw material. So Orlando has spurred growth in all the neighboring counties as well. And which is beneficial to not only Orlando but the whole of Central Florida.
00;36;15 - 00;36;15
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Right.
00;36;15 - 00;36;20
KHALID MUNEER: So when you think of Orlando, it is the central hub of the Central Florida economy.
00;36;20 - 00;36;26
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Absolutely. And what are some challenges that Orlando faces today?
00;36;26 - 00;39;27
KHALID MUNEER: I think the major challenge right now is transportation. You know, I-4 was built in 1956, and it is a major thoroughfare for transportation to go from east to west. And that has become very congested. And it was built in 1956. I don't think I've seen a year where there hasn't been any repairs or expansion on I-4. So you're looking at over 68 years, and there is no way no other alternative as well. For example, I'm coming from Daytona Beach. I had to go downtown to go to Disney, I have to come on the I-4, there are no alternatives. I mean they got the 429 now, but that kind of goes out of the way. So I think the leaders here recognize that transportation, for example, you know, if you're going over to the Champions Gate, it takes you 45 minutes to just get off the exit. And that affects our real estate business because our clients will say, “Oh, we don't want to be Champions Gate because it's too congested.” And that is one of the challenges facing in the real estate market also. Lake Nona has become very congested. So what are the areas that are, not that dense, I live in Doctor Phillips, which is still okay because you can get to the major roads 408 and 528 and I-4 from there quite easily. But transportation to me is probably one of the main challenges. And then also, of course, you hear a lot about the homeless, how homeless is a serious issue here in Orlando and none of that has to do with the way prices have risen in the real estate market. Orlando right now the median price of a house is $460,000. So $460,000. Even somebody making $100,000 does not qualify to buy a median price house. So you've got transportation, and you got housing, and they go hand in hand because in order for people to get to work, [and] if they are looking for cheaper accommodation, then transportation issues come up. So, I see the economic picture of Orlando and the outskirts is very good. And I see people coming from all over the USA wanting to move here.
00;39;27 - 00;39;44
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: You ran for US Congressional District 10. You were a candidate for the US Congressional District 10 for 2022. Can you talk to me about that experience? Why did you decide to run?
00;39;44 - 00;41;19
KHALID MUNEER: Well, I've always been a public servant. All these years, I've served in a lot of leadership roles here in Orlando. I've been served as a President of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce and a number of other chambers, as well as chairman of a certification minority board. So I'm all for the people, as John Morgan says, for the people. So I ran for District Ten Congressional seat three years ago because I saw an opportunity, in terms of serving the people in another capacity with my connections up in Washington and local connections here. And because I had a deep understanding with the ethnic divides, the breakdown of the county and the district, I was able to connect with all the minorities better than anyone else because I have served as a vice chairman and ambassador for the Hispanic chamber, served on the board of the Puerto Rican Chamber, as well as a lot of the Asian chambers, etc. So my main purpose in running for office was the fact that I can better serve my constituents in that position with the connections and the understanding that I had of the people. Because at the end of the day, it is what you do for the people that matters.
00;41;19 - 00;41;34
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Right. Absolutely. And you mentioned how you served in various leadership positions throughout your time here in Orlando. What was the first organization you led when you came here?
00;41;34 - 00;44;18
KHALID MUNEER: Apart from here, I was also the Chairman of Enterprise Flagler International Business Development. So I used to travel with the governor, Charlie Crist, overseas on his trade missions. I was picked to do that. So I served that. And then I served in, Flagler County Board of Realtors as a Chairman of International Business Development. So most of my leadership roles were connected with international business because of my background and experience. So here in Orlando, I served as the President of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce twice. I've been on the board for about nine years. Then I served as a Founder and President of American Muslim Chamber because you had the Christian Chamber here, you had the Jewish Chamber and Muslim being huge in numbers, professionals also. For example, Doctor Phillips has 350 Muslim physicians, and their average income is 1.1 million a year. So they have the economic resources and power to serve the communities and in nonprofit organizations, etc.. So I have served in that. I served in leadership role with the Hispanic Chamber. And currently I am the President of the Center for International Chamber of Commerce. The Center for International Chamber, which I founded five years ago, was basically because having served in leadership roles in other chambers, one of the common complaint was that if you go to the Hispanic chamber, you only meet the Hispanic. If you go to the Asian chamber and you meet these Asian businesses, we go to the Brazilian Chamber, Brazilian. So a couple of my colleagues came and said, Khalid, you led so many chambers, we like you to form this chamber where you can go and meet everyone. And that's how the chamber came into being. So I took the ex-presidents of the chambers and put them on the board. So we have Doctor Bernheim, who was the President of the Greater Haitian American Chamber of Commerce. Myself, I served on…and etc., and all the other leaders. And so it's a great organization.
00;44;18 - 00;44;4
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And why, as you mentioned, you have a very comprehensive experience in serving in these various commerces and it's not just, Pakistani commerce or an Indian commerce, you served in all different types of cultural organizations. Why did you do that? Why do you think that approach is effective?
00;44;45 - 00;47;02
KHALID MUNEER: I think one of the reasons is when I'm asked to serve in a leadership role is I feel honored. People come to you, Khalid, we want you to lead this chamber. Apart from these chambers, I've also served in nonprofit organizations. I have sat on the Board of the Harbor House Domestic Violence Against Women, which is a great organization and Nuevo Sendero, which is the equivalent for the Hispanics, domestic violence against women. And so these are all the ways for me to give something back to the people and the organization and to help them and, etc. One of the things is because I'm out there, I get all kinds of projects to participated, which is totally out of my profession. Just to give you a simple example, in December, there was a Hollywood movie which was filmed in Orlando, “Inspirational Christmas,” which is going to be shown next Christmas. So somebody recommended that they connect with me. So they came to me and used my office for three days to do the filming. And then 22 days in other parts of Orlando. So they were depending on me to connect them with the right people, etcetera, etcetera. I'm a source of connection with a lot of people. They're coming back on the 27th to have a sneak peek and a red carpet. So they reach out to me if I would organize and sponsor, etc., etc. So it's not necessarily that I do these things for material reasons or personal gain, but it's in my blood, with the background, where I started, when life started out, where I am today, it's a way for me to give back to the people, give back to the community. And so that…I have a lot of emotional intelligence.
00;47;02 - 00;47;08
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And in what ways do you think Orlando will change in the next 20 years? 30 years?
00;47;08 - 00;50;49
KHALID MUNEER: Well, the main driving force for Orlando is really tourism. So they are working right now, the tourism figures about 75 million, out of which 15 million use the airport, come to the airport. So they're planning on by say 2030 to have that figured up at 100 million tourists coming into the Orlando area. So with that kind of numbers, they've already been working on expanding the transportation system. Now you have Brightline and SunRail, etc., etc. However, what they really need to work on is a road system. So the whole point is that that is very limited in the sense where you can have the new road. So the alternative is to have alternative means of transportation, so there is less traffic on the roads, and that's exactly what they're doing. The connection from the South Miami have the train goes directly to the airport. Takes a lot of the traffic off going to the airport both ways, and also the SunRail and Brightline. As I pointed out earlier, one of the major issues is going to be transportation. How do you get people from work and how do you get them to the international airports, etc.? That's going to be a major challenge. And I think that's going to be the number one economic issue there that the counties will be focused on. And we are lucky, we have a lot of planning committees here. I have served in the past on the executive committee of the Orlando Economic Development Commission, which is the OED, and they're well aware of this, so we discuss them in the meeting, etc.
The second issue of how it's going to change in the next 30 years is the demographic groups. And by that I mean that the immigrants. When they get to a certain level, they move on to the next social class, next economic class. But you still need people to run the small businesses and the gas station convenience store. And so we have to think in terms of where those people are going to come from to sustain those kind of businesses. So we somehow need to have a plan to attract those either from other countries because the thing is, like with myself, we came as immigrants, so we started at bottom of the ladder—gas station or whatever—[but] then my children, they're not starting there, they want to start at the $200,000 level jobs, which is understandable because the education they have, you know, dentists and physicians, etc. So who is going to fill those jobs that we still need the labor force? So you got to have some kind of act in place because we facing that right now. Labor availability is the number one issue right now. I have so many people, my friends call me from gas station convenience urging anybody. Yeah. We can pay them $15 an hour. Can you find somebody for us? So that is an issue that's becoming more and more serious.
00;50;49 - 00;51;36
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: I should have asked this earlier, admittedly, but you've traveled to a lot of places, as you mentioned. I think you said 56 countries around the world. Why did you…well, I guess now that I'm asking this at the tail end of our conversation, looking back are you content with your decision of staying in the United States? Because I'm assuming you had the option to live permanently anywhere, since you've been to so many cities and countries and experienced different cultures. I'm just curious, given your very diverse life.
00;51;36 - 00;54;31
KHALID MUNEER: Yes looking back, I think we made the right decision because as immigrants, our number one priority is always to go somewhere to build the future of our children. That's always the number one priority. So we work very hard so they could have a future. So looking back, it was the right decision. And this country, we are blessed this country is like no other country, the opportunities that are here. One of the biggest advantage in this country is that you can live any style of life that you want without anybody telling you or forcing you to live. A lot of other countries to have simple things like a driving license is a project, getting a business license is a project. Well, here you can go to the city offices, fill in the forms and pay the fee and there is your—same with a driver's license. So these are the things that inspire people to go into businesses and live in this country. The educational system in this country is the best in the world, the higher education, especially. So when you go to a college or university in this country, that college degree is universally recognizable. You can go anywhere in the world and get a job with it. So, despite the drawbacks, it's a great country.
And I'm so happy that I made the right decision. I have five children, and they all went to college. They've all done very well. This morning I was having lunch with somebody from Egypt, and we were discussing the same thing. And I just asked them a simple question, and that was, “Are you better off now or when you left your country?” And I think everybody should ask this simple question. And the answer is always inevitably, “Yes, of course. Thank God, we came to this country.” Because we are not looking at just us. We are looking at our next generation. I have grandkids. I'm looking at their future in this country also. So I think it's the best decision I made looking back 33 years ago. This country has given me a lot of opportunity. And from a small village in Pakistan, to be able to run for United States Congress is, I think, something that I really value for the opportunities that I have been given in this country. And I will continue to pray, God bless this country.
00;54;32 - 00;54;54
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Absolutely. And something more trivial as I just was going through your very illustrious CV on LinkedIn, you have a picture with President Obama, and I think I saw a picture of you with Clinton, just talk to me about that experience. What was that like?
00;54;54 - 00;57;26
KHALID MUNEER: Well, at that time, when I started getting involved in the political arena, it was my community, they wanted a voice because they pay taxes, they're businesspeople, but they just don't have a voice. And how we needed people to represent us because it's very difficult to understand how they think unless you're one of them or what their priorities are or what's going through their mind. So I ran for public office back in 2018, Orange County Property Appraiser. That was my first experience running for the office, and I picked up a lot of valuable experience. So it was basically that people were coming to me and saying, Khalid, you really need to run for office because we need a voice there. The Asian community need a voice. The Muslim community needs a voice. And you understand the mainstream community anyway. But they don't understand what the minorities think or what are the issues, etc., etc. They all put them in one little box. So that was my first time running. And then, you know, I ran for the District 10, and it was for the same reasons, because the issues that our communities have are not necessarily the issue that the main communities have. Plus the fact that, as I said, I wanted to give back something to the people and run for public office so that I can show our community to inspire them. You need to encourage your children to participate in the political process, right? And not just tell them to be doctors and engineers, etc., because this is very important for us to have a voice in Washington. If you’re not at the table, you're going to be on the menu. So that was my main reason or my inspiration to run to create an example. So in the future years, in 50 years’ time when the first Muslim Asian is elected to the US Congress from the State of Florida, just like you are doing for the future record, they will look and see who was the first guy you ran, and that was Khalid Muneer.
00;57;26 - 00;57;27
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Exactly.
00;57;27 - 00;57;55
KHALID MUNEER: And so it's inspiration to these minorities to come forward. The Latino community is well represented because the numbers, you know, 75% of the population in Kissimmee is Latino. So they're able to participate and have their representatives in Washington represented in the city, in the county, in the state, etc.
00;57;55 - 00;58;13
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: To that point, in what ways has your Pakistani heritage influenced not only your perspective on life generally, but by living in the United States, in Orlando specifically?
00;58;13 – 01;01;36
KHALID MUNEER: Well one of the one of the issues that we have is not necessarily myself, because I'm in a different age group, but for the children is that we try and bring our children up in our own religious environment, in our own cultural environment, and then you have the outside influence, the school, etc., they're pulling them in some other directions. So that is a main challenge that I've always had growing up in Britain also. And this is the same challenge that we have bringing up our children and grandchildren in this country. Those challenges mainly to do with religious values or cultural values, in terms of the family unit. What is important as a family unit in terms of respect for the parents, etc.? It's not a question of to bring them up in such a way so they realize, hey, when the parents get old, they are not to be put into a facility that is not our culture and dumped in a warehouse, etc.. And I've seen that happen. And then also, for example, you know, I'm a Muslim, so you come to one month of the year for Ramadan, and the kids are going to school, and they have to deal with the environment that is out there. Why are you not eating? And why are you always dressed in trousers, in pants, which go right the way down to the—why don't you wear mini dress, miniskirts and stuff like that? So that's one of the issues, because I used to go to some of the schools and give them presentations on our culture because they were fascinated by the fact that my daughters go to school all covered up and not half dressed. So those are the challenges that we face, the cultural and religious values that we give our children and try to keep them strong, install them in a strong way so they know the difference between right and wrong. One of the basic things about culture is, you know, our culture is built up over thousands of years. I mean, what my wife cooks for at home, that's been around for 500 years is my favorite dishes. So how do you preserve that? By passing on the culture to your children. But environment here is so strong that 60% of the time they're in school and outside. And that was what the issue was back in the 80s and 90s. The issue right now is the internet. It's the internet that brings up the kids now. So it's a challenge trying to keep within the cultural norms and values and religious norms and values, etc., but at the end of the day, my wife's always stayed at home while I worked to make sure that they have the right supervision, because that makes a lot of difference.
01;01;36 - 01;01;55
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: And lastly, you mentioned someone listening to us in 50 years, that's very appropriate because that's my final question. If someone is listening to this recording 50 or even 100 years from now, what do you want them to know about your culture and the state of Florida?
01;01;55 - 01;03;42
KHALID MUNEER: When in 50 years’ time with the growth of the minorities in this country, the numbers will be substantial and they have a high birth rate, etc. So they will have the numbers to be fairly represented in Washington and Tallahassee, at the local Orange County or the city level, etc. So they will be more attuned with the requirements of their community, which they can always bring up the issues to those level and then make them national issues rather than just as local issues. So economic power will lead to federal representation [and] political power. And it's only a question in 50 years’ time. What I am looking at my crystal ball, I see a totally different Orlando. As I pointed out earlier, in Orange County, there are children from 197 countries. So you can imagine each one of those ethnic groups multiplying over the next 50 years. I look at myself, me and my wife, we have five children, three grandchildren. So from two of us, we're already ten. Not counting the spouses. And so I think the numbers will change. Demographics will change. Totally different.
01;03;42 - 01;03;50
SEBASTIAN GARCIA: Khalid, thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy day to share a little bit of your life story. I really appreciate it.
01;03;50 - 01;03;52
KHALID MUNEER: Oh, no problem. Anytime.