Moving again. No, it is not a complaint – it is merely a statement of fact. Every three years or so, the diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs move house – some to a foreign country, others to return home for their stint in Malaysia. We often call it a ‘stint’ even though we are technically ‘home’ because it works the same way as a posting abroad: it is temporary, and one fine day, we will again be called…
We all know that protocol dictates the leader of a State should be photographed in front of the flag of the State. But what happens when (as is normally the case) two leaders meet? Which flag should be on the right, and which on the left? And how do you determine which is left and which is right? All these might seem very basic, common-sense questions. But sometimes, in the frenzy of handling visits, these are the things that slip…
We have all been urged to read voraciously – whether it is an X feed, or a text excerpt, or even an old-fashioned book – reading is always a good thing. Reading, they say, opens the mind and expands your horizons. I won’t disagree with this. What I would like to add to the discourse about reading is that there is also a necessity to READ ALOUD. The usual benefits to reading aloud include: the opportunity to correct one’s pronunciation,…
Today let’s talk about dinner invitations. More specifically, having accepted a dinner invitation, you then find that you can’t make it. For whatever reason. (Of course, the golden rule is that once you have accepted a dinner invitation, you MUST go. Unless you’re lying on a mortuary slab) Assuming that you have a really good reason for not being able to turn up to a dinner, a few things should be done: What do I mean by ‘sufficient’? Preferably, a…
A colleague of mine recently received a request from someone about how to obtain a diplomatic passport. The individual had newly been appointed as a private secretary to a minister, and wanted to ensure he received all the perks that came with the job. He insisted that he be issued a diplomatic passport, even though it was explained that private secretaries to Ministers were not entitled to such. So here we are, trying to debunk the myth of diplomatic passports….
One of the easiest jobs of a diplomat is to inform the host government of the appointment of a new Prime Minister, or a new Cabinet line-up. It always fell to the diplomat to explain the democratic process that took place, the constitutional rules that were adhered to, and the protocol-laden ceremony that saw a new Head of Government being sworn in. The purpose of such explanations are two-fold: the first is so that the host government would be apprised…
An embassy is symbolic because it is a representation of a country on another country’s soil. The land upon which the embassy sits is sacrosanct; it is so entrenched within the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that there is very little room to dispute the sanctity of an embassy’s premises. When a country decides to close its embassy (for generic purposes, let’s just use the word ‘mission’), it normally does so with a heavy heart. In this article, let’s look…
When Queen Elizabeth died on 8 September 2022, the world mourned the loss of a ‘truly royal’ monarch. For 70 years, Queen Elizabeth II had been the standard by which other countries judged their own royals – she was the epitome of grace and elegance, shouldering the burden of the British monarchy with quiet dignity and upholding the best in the monarchical tradition. The news, as devastating as it was to those who knew her, loved her, and respected her,…
I am reminded of the number of times (very few) in which a diplomatic mission is required to open a condolence book. As an ambassador, I have signed several condolence books, all for former post-holders – UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan, the Emir of Kuwait, the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom, the Chancellor of Germany. In 2019, the Malaysian embassies worldwide were asked to open a condolence book for His Majesty Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang, the father of the…
His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agong, Sultan Mizan of Terengganu, presenting the Letter of Credence to a Malaysian Ambassador Ambassador ↗ For a rank-and-file diplomat (what we elegantly term ‘career diplomat’) to become an ambassador, these are the steps that are taken, procedurally. Bear in mind that different countries will have different processes, depending on the type of government in place. These differences are often very small, however, since most countries have a similar process in place. Step One: A…
