I refer to the Star report Be glocal in your work, diplomats told .

The first paragraph said, 'Malaysian diplomats have to be 'glocal' in the way they carry out their diplomatic missions, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said, referring to the term he coined last year'.

When Najib blurted out the term 'glocal' some time ago, there was almost a furor in the blogging community, with bloggers rejecting the idea that Najib coined the term. Just to set the record straight once and for all...

I am an academician plying my trade in a Japanese university.

In 1998, I had the honour of meeting Dr Asma Abdullah at Kyoto, whereby she presented me a gift in the form of a personally signed book called Going Glocal: Cultural Dimensions in Malaysian Management .

That book was published by the Malaysian Institute of Management in 1996.

I urge The Star reporter to not take my (or bloggers') word for it and that he/she should personally go to the library in the said institute to check out the book for him or herself

Meanwhile, I would like to know from The Star whether Najib in fact did say he coined the term. Better still, I would be delighted if Najib himself comes out and declares so.