BALANCING ACT: The life of a diplomat is not only all about globetrotting, attending cocktail parties and mixing hobnobbing with the who’s who of society. It includes promoting good relations with your host country, mending ties in the face of adversity, helping fellow countrymen in distress and largely living out of a suitcase for the most part of your career, reveals Malaysia’s newly appointed ambassador to Romania Tajul Aman Mohammed, who left the police force to join the diplomatic service 24 years ago, to the New Sunday Times
Question: Why did you leave the police force to join the Foreign Service?
Answer: I served in the police force for about 13 years. At that point, while I enjoyed my job, my career had stagnated and promotional prospects were poor. and had stagnated. As a Political Science graduate, I applied to join the civil service and left (the Royal Malaysia Police) PDRM when I was accepted as an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer, or PTD as many know, with the ambition of becoming a district officer. Instead, I was posted to the Foreign Service as an assistant secretary.
It was kind of funny because after being posted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry, or Wisma Putra, I was assigned to be a desk officer in the European Division. One day, my mother asked me what my job was. I told her that I was the assistant secretary at the ministry. MFA. With a deadpan expression, she asked me why I had left the police force just to be an assistant secretary when a neighbour’s daughter without a degree was a full-fledged secretary!
Question: What does it take to be a diplomat?
Answer: We are the face of Malaysia abroad. We have our Key Performance Index to meet, so we have to know everything like the back of our hand. For example, businessmen come to us to explore business opportunities in Malaysia or expand their horizons and vice versa. We are the face during any political and economic situation. We are also the bridge for Malaysians who venture abroad. We have to know how to articulate problems even in the worst of times. So we are trained on matters such as negotiations, conflict resolutions, media relations and many more to be prepared for any eventuality during our tour of duty.
Reading is a prerequisite as you have to be knowledgeable about a lot of things. Besides the need for a good command of English, competency in another foreign language, such as Spanish, French, Arabic or Mandarin, is very useful. As we serve in all parts of the world, a good understanding of cross-cultural differences helps. As we represent Malaysia in various capacities, we are also trained to dress well and are taught the finer points of dining.
Question: How did your job in the police force help you in your role as an ambassador?
Answer: In the force, one of most important skills that was required of us was being observant. You must also have presence of mind to take stock of the situation and respond accordingly. The force also taught me discipline. These skills came in handy because very useful as a diplomat, because you need to remain calm in the midst of a storm, such as during the conflict in Zimbabwe. You also learn to connect the dots during a situation. This situational awareness enables us to provide informed reports to Wisma Putra so that they can advise our government to come out with the correct policy decisions.
Question: Where was your first posting as a diplomat?
Answer: I started my first diplomatic assignment as a Second Secretary in the High Commission of Malaysia in London in 1995. Being the most junior officer at the post, I practically did everything. London is considered a busy assignment as it involves attending meetings, arranging functions and travelling to and from all the airports in England for protocol duties and many times at very early hours in the morning. My core function was writing reports. It was far from glamorous!
Question: During their tour of duty, diplomats are also required to undergo hardship posting (where the living conditions in the host country are difficult or dangerous). One of your assignments was as First Secretary at the High Commission of Malaysia in Harare, Zimbabwe. Can you describe that experience?
Answer: I was assigned to Zimbabwe during the peak of the country’s land reforms. We witnessed the conflict that arose as a consequence of the land reforms under the leadership of President Robert Mugabe. The trouble led to massive economic problems, where the inflation rate went up 1,000 per cent. It had terrible consequences on the people as there was a shortage of all basic needs and amenities. I remember queuing from 11am to buy 25 litres of petrol and I was only able to get it at 2pm the next day!
Wisma Putra took note of our predicament and gave permission for us to travel to South Africa to get our foodstuff and services. We travelled about 1,000km by road every month to purchase foodstuff such as bread, flour, onions and potatoes, toiletries and household items, and get other services. We were also concurrently accredited to eight 8 other neighbouring countries —, such as Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Seychelles, Mauritius and Comoros, where we travelled for various assignments. Zimbabwe was the most difficult and physically demanding assignment, but it made me a and my family more resilient.
Question: What was next after Zimbabwe?
Answer: After Zimbabwe, I was assigned to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the Malaysian Consul-General. Personally, it was a totally different environment. I recalled standing in awe in a well-stocked supermarket in Jeddah after experiencing the bare shelves of supermarkets in Harare.
Working in Jeddah was another experience. Jeddah is the gateway to Mecca Makkah and Madinah, the two holy sites of Islam. Certain skills dealing were needed to deal with officials of the Saudi Foreign Ministry. It was a busy assignment as many Malaysians regularly visit Mecca Makkah and Madinah to perform the haj or umrah. One of the most unforgettable moments was when I had to identify Malaysians who had died or were injured in the stampede during the 2006 haj season. We had to visit all the hospitals in Mecca Makkah and Jeddah to identify the deceased Malaysians. It was a heartbreaking job as families were banking on us to help identify their loved ones.
Question: Your first posting as ambassador was to Timor Leste in 2013, a relatively new country then. What was it like?
Answer: As a young country, Timor Leste was starting afresh. The state institutions were new and lacking in trained human resources, institutional know-how and equipment. Nonetheless, the existing government has done a lot to rebuild all the infrastructure and to their credit, when I left the country, it was developing at a very fast pace. The quiet city of Dili actually had traffic jams during peak hours by last year2015!
As the Malaysian ambassador to in Timor Leste, I managed to develop a very close relationship with the country’s leadership. Last year, the government of Timor Leste contributed US$USD1 million to assist in our flood relief efforts. The government of Timor Leste TL stated that it was in appreciation of all that Malaysia had done for them since their independence.
I took every opportunity to interact with the locals, especially in programmes involving the youth and students. They had many questions about education, career prospects, government bureaucracy, businesses and also challenges. Among the government officials, we talked about Malaysia’s transformation programmes and how we went through the various transformation stages since independence to be what we are today.
Question: As a diplomat, how do you handle sticky situations such as when your host country is unhappy with certain actions or policies implemented by Malaysia that go against their conviction?
Answer: There is this famous old canard that a diplomat is a man who is sent abroad to lie for his country. In my experience, there are usually certain motives behind negative statements or accusation. I remember since my earliest assignment in London, Malaysia had been called derogatory names. In politics, we were accused of being a dictatorship; in agriculture, our palm oil was branded a health hazard; and, our economy was labelled a failure. In the face of such accusations, we must be able to articulate and rebut such accusations with facts. All Malawakils (the term referred by Wisma Putra to all our Missions abroad) are constantly updated on all issues to enable us to respond when such situations arise.
Question: Are diplomats trained to be all smiles even in the face of the most difficult conditions? How do you do that?
Answer: Malaysian diplomats are trained rigorously both through formal courses and also mentoring. As a junior diplomat, you observe how your seniors handle various issues. We learn through observation. The former secretary-general of the ministry, Tan Sri Ahmad Kamil Jaafar, a tall and commanding figure and a seasoned diplomat, had this mantra: “If you are afraid of me, then you are not fit to be assigned abroad because the challenges would be far worse and bigger.” So we smiled. Those days, he would chair the Saturday morning sessions only for assistant secretaries with a stern face. We dreaded those sessions with him, but it was truly a learning experience.
Question: Your most memorable experience so far?
Answer: It was when I was the new Second Secretary in London, and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad attended the 2nd Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM Summit) in London in 1998. Dr Mahathir wanted to meet the (then) French president Jacques Chirac, but there was no prior request from the Malaysian delegation and it was a last-minute instruction. Datuk Hamidah Yusof, who was Dr Mahathir’s adviser on international relations, asked me if I could do something. I decided to walk over to the French delegation’s booth at the Conference Centre and spoke directly to the French security officers. One of them brought me to see President Chirac himself. I told the president about Dr Mahathir’s request and he replied: “Okay, young man. Bring me to
Dr Mahathir.” Walking along the corridor with the French president and his entourage behind me to the Malaysian delegation’s booth where both leaders met was a proud moment for me. I made the bold move because I took Tan Sri Kamil’s mantra quite seriously.
Question: What are your hopes during your tour of duty in Romania?
Answer: Bilateral trade between our two countries is small and yet Romania was one of the two countries within in the Eastern Europe an region that was doing very well. The total trade in 2014 was around RM420 million with the balance of trade in Malaysia’s favour. Malaysia was only the number 19th trading partner of with Romania. I see opportunity here. Perhaps, many of our goods came to Romania through third countries, such as Singapore. We also cover Bulgaria, Greece and Moldova from Bucharest.
Tourism is a big thing in Romania. It is blessed with natural beauty and is also famous ly known for the its Dracula legend in Transylvania. At the same time, we should also project Malaysia as a tourist destination, coaxing the elite to travel to our part of the world rather than their more favoured traditional spots.
We have students pursuing medical degrees in Romania, but the number has dropped in recent years because our Public Service Department does not recognise the Romanian universities’ medical degrees. I have to look into this and try to rectify it for the sake of our students. I was made to understand that the degrees from Romania are recognised by many European Union EU countries such as Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. Some Malaysian graduates students upon graduation are working in Germany, France and Spain.