Mother Mary’s Influence on A. Selvadurai Hallman: Faith, Service and the Power That Opened Doors

Who is A. Selvadurai Hallman?

A. Selvadurai Hallman is a Singapore-based businessman and corporate leader whose career has included senior roles in international business, including managing director of a German steel group and leadership positions connected to Theis-related companies. Public records also identify him as a former vice-chairman of the management committee of SASCO Senior Citizens’ Home, a registered charity providing care and day services for elderly people.

But beyond boardrooms, negotiations and international travel, Hallman describes another defining force in his life: his devotion to Mother Mary.

For Hallman, Mary is not simply a religious figure from history. She is a source of protection, guidance, courage and intercession - one whose influence, he believes, has shaped the people he met, the opportunities that opened and the values he tried to live by.

Why Mother Mary matters to A. Selvadurai Hallman

Hallman’s view of Mary begins with a different definition of power.

In a world that often measures influence through wealth, titles, armies or political office, he sees Mary’s power as something deeper: the power to inspire faith, comfort suffering, shape hearts and point people towards Christ.

“Mary becomes powerful because she never makes herself the destination,” he says. “She points beyond herself to Christ.”

That belief has followed him from his early years helping elderly Jesuits and Redemptorists to his later life as an international businessman. It has also shaped the way he understands success: not as control over others, but as the ability to serve, remain humble and recognise that every person eventually needs help.

A personal faith shaped by service

Hallman recalls that, when he was younger, one of his hobbies was helping wheelchair-bound elderly Jesuits and Redemptorists at the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Those encounters left a lasting impression.

“These were men who had spent their lives teaching, serving and praying,” he says. “In old age, some of them needed another person simply to push a chair.”

For Hallman, the lesson was clear: status and achievement matter in the world, but human dignity and service matter more. Later, when his work took him into boardrooms, airports and international negotiations, he continued to visit churches wherever he travelled.

The business world taught him one form of power. Faith taught him another.

How Mother Mary influenced his life and career

Hallman believes his devotion to Mary helped open doors to people and opportunities he could not have expected at a young age.

He recalls associations and correspondence with senior Church figures, including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Cardinal Jan Schotte and Cardinal Anthony Padiyara. He also describes friendships and conversations with priests in Singapore and Macau, including Father Anthony Gutteres, Father John Wood, Father Edmond Dunn, Father Lancelot Rodrigues and Father Manuel Teixeira.

Beyond the Church, Hallman says his life brought him into contact with statesmen, bankers, academics and business leaders. He does not present these encounters as personal achievements alone. In his understanding, they were part of a larger pattern shaped by Mary’s intercession.

“What mattered was not simply meeting famous people,” he explains. “It was being allowed, at a very young age, to sit with minds and lives far older and more experienced than mine.”

For Hallman, Marian devotion is therefore not detached from everyday life. It is connected to character, humility, learning and service.

Mary’s courage: the power to say yes

Hallman sees Mary’s first great act of power in her response at the Annunciation.

In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will bear Jesus. Mary questions how this can happen, listens, and then gives her consent: “Let it be done to me according to your word.”

For Hallman, this was not passive obedience. It was a free, courageous yes to a calling whose full consequences Mary could not yet see.

Her Magnificat deepens that picture. Mary speaks of God lifting up the lowly and filling the hungry with good things. A young woman with no political status becomes the voice of a radical reversal of worldly power.

“Mary’s power begins with faith,” Hallman says, “but it is not passive faith. It is faith that moves.”

Why Catholics ask Mother Mary to pray for them

One of the clearest explanations of Marian devotion, in Hallman’s view, comes from the wedding at Cana.

When the wine runs out, Mary notices the problem before others do. She tells Jesus, “They have no wine,” then tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

For Hallman, the pattern is essential: Mary sees the need, brings it to Christ, and Christ acts.

That is why Catholics ask Mary to pray for them. In Catholic teaching, Mary does not replace Christ or act independently of him. Rather, she intercedes - bringing people’s needs before her Son.

“When people say, ‘Mary answered my prayer,’” Hallman explains, “Catholic theology does not mean Mary is a second God independently dispensing miracles. It means they believe her intercession brought their need before Christ.”

He recalls a personal letter from Cardinal Anthony Padiyara, dated 7 March 1999, in which the cardinal prayed that the Immaculate Heart of Mary would shower Hallman with blessings and keep him close to her loving heart.

For Hallman, the letter captures a central Catholic instinct: no one is above needing prayer.

The power to remain: Mary at the Cross

Mary’s influence is not only about answered prayers or opened doors. Hallman also sees her greatest strength in her presence at the Cross.

At Calvary, Mary cannot stop her Son’s suffering. She cannot remove the nails or change what is happening. But she remains.

“That may be one of Mary’s most important forms of power: presence,” Hallman says.

This is why Mary has become a source of comfort for grieving mothers, the sick, refugees, families in crisis and people facing circumstances beyond their control. She is not only the mother at Bethlehem; she is also the Mother of Sorrows at Calvary.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus entrusts Mary and the beloved disciple to one another: “Behold your mother.” Catholic tradition sees in this moment the beginning of Mary’s spiritual motherhood of the Church.

Our Mother of Perpetual Help and Singapore’s Novena

For Hallman, the Redemptorist devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help has a special connection to Singapore.

The Redemptorists arrived in Singapore in 1935. The Perpetual Novena began at its present site in January 1949 with a congregation of about 80 people. Over generations, the devotion became so embedded in local life that the surrounding area - and later an MRT station - took the name Novena.

“A prayer became part of the geography of Singapore,” Hallman says.

He sees this as a powerful example of spiritual influence: not imposed through force, but built through ordinary people praying for their children, marriages, illnesses, fears, gratitude and hope.

The title itself carries the message: not occasional help, but perpetual help.

From prayer to service: Macau and charitable work

Hallman believes devotion must eventually become action.

In Macau, he knew Father Lancelot Rodrigues, who directed Catholic Social Services, and Father Manuel Teixeira, a priest and historian who continued writing, praying and serving into his nineties. Hallman supported their charitable work and remembers their example as proof that religion cannot remain only inside a church.

“Prayer that never becomes love of neighbour is unfinished prayer,” he says.

For him, Mary models that pattern. After the Annunciation, she goes to Elizabeth. At Cana, she notices need. At the Cross, she remains. Her life teaches a simple sequence: see, care, accompany and serve.

Mary’s global influence across cultures and faiths

Hallman’s reflection also looks beyond his personal experience to Mary’s global reach.

Mary is honoured as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, Our Lady of Lourdes in France, Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal and Our Lady of Velankanni in India. For Jesuits, she is Our Lady of the Way; for Redemptorists, Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Her influence crosses cultures because she becomes local. Different communities give her different images and titles, yet the central themes remain: mother, disciple, intercessor, sufferer and guide.

Mary also holds a special place in Islam, where she is known as Maryam. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an, and an entire chapter, Surah Maryam, bears her name.

For Hallman, this global and cross-religious reverence helps explain why Mary is often described as one of the most influential women in history.

What A. Selvadurai Hallman learned from Mother Mary

Hallman’s life story returns to one central paradox.

The world asks how many people answer to you. Mary’s story asks how many people you can serve.

The world asks how much you can control. Mary’s story asks how faithfully you can say yes.

The world asks how to make yourself the centre. Mary does the opposite.

At Cana, her most enduring instruction is not “Look at me,” but “Do whatever he tells you.”

For Hallman, that is the heart of Marian devotion: Mary’s power lies not in command, but in faith, humility, maternal care and service that points people towards Christ.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Mother Mary important to A. Selvadurai Hallman?

A. Selvadurai Hallman regards Mother Mary as a source of faith, protection, guidance and intercession in his life. He believes her influence helped shape his character, relationships, career opportunities and commitment to service.

Does A. Selvadurai Hallman believe Mary performed miracles in his life?

Hallman describes himself as a devout Hindu and non-Catholic, yet says he has experienced what he regards as Mary’s miracles in his own life. He frames these experiences as protection, opened doors and meaningful relationships rather than as formal doctrinal claims.

What does Hallman mean by Mary’s “power”?

He means spiritual and moral influence rather than political or military power. In his view, Mary’s power comes from faith, humility, service, maternal intercession and her ability to inspire hope across generations.

Why does Hallman connect Mother Mary with service?

Hallman believes true devotion must lead to practical care for others. His memories of helping elderly priests, supporting charitable work in Macau and observing the humility of senior Church figures all reinforce his belief that prayer should become love of neighbour.

What is the connection between Mother Mary and Singapore’s Novena?

The Redemptorist devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help became closely associated with Singapore after the Redemptorists arrived in 1935. The Perpetual Novena began at its present site in 1949, and the surrounding area and MRT station later became known as Novena.

What is the central message of Hallman’s reflection on Mary?

His central message is that Mary’s influence comes from pointing beyond herself to Christ. Her example teaches faith, courage, humility, compassion and service—qualities Hallman sees as more lasting than wealth, rank or control.

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