LETTERS: One of my neighbours in Subang Jaya was Malaysia's ambassador to an Asian country. He speaks good English and is friendly.
He is humble too. Diplomats and ambassadors play an important role in a country's foreign policies. They need to be equipped with great negotiating skills.
One who readily comes to mind is Dr Henry Kissinger who in 1971 as the special emissary of the late Richard Nixon helped in establishing diplomatic relations between Communist China and Capitalist United States in 1979.
Nixon later visited China in July 1972 and the event was described as "the week that changed the world". It was a pivotal geopolitical move that was game changing in the midst of the Cold War.
Kissinger has made himself a name in the world, much sought after in top-level negotiations and dispensing views on global politics. Now, we do not see many diplomats of Kissinger's stature and standing.
In 1925, Jules Cannon had said that diplomacy will always have ambassadors and ministers; the question is whether it will have diplomats.
American diplomat George Kennan had said that changes are now under way which make it extremely difficult to predict the future of diplomacy or prescribe its conduct.
In his book "How to run the world", Parag Khanna said that there are few tougher jobs than being an African diplomat, yet they best represent what diplomacy is becoming.
Using just Gmail accounts and cell phones, young Africans serving in Europe and Asia today go door-to-door at ministries and corporate offices lobbying for the easing of trade restrictions and for greater investment.
Their countries' survival depends on their persuasiveness and thorough understanding of how to set up a corporate visit, arrange project financing through an export-import bank, ensure sound legal contracts, and provide security for a factory once it's set up.
They are lobbyists, negotiators and ambassadors rolled into one. A highly demanding job indeed. Some, however, can handle their jobs with flair and ease.
Some examples come to mind. The late Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie was one and Kissinger is another.
Dr Koh Aik Khoon
Alumni, UKM
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times