YOURSAY | ‘It’s the usual story that someone down the line got blamed for it.’
Not all seems well at Foreign Ministry over vacancies, says ex-ambassador
Umno VP wants Bersatu minister's head over PM's UAE visit blunder
Vijay47: In most countries, the appointments, postings, and promotions within the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Finance Ministry would involve the cream of the crop, and as pointed out by former ambassador Dennis Ignatius, all necessary protocol would have been long and clearly established.
That Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had to undergo a forlorn experience in Dubai is regrettable, but his response to it makes the entire issue more pathetic.
We thus have the spectacle of the premier furious that he had to go through immigration arrival processing in “the normal hall”, that there were no home dignitaries waiting to greet him with all pomp and ceremony, and worse, there was no motorcade with sirens blazing to escort him to the kasbah. Perhaps Dubai frowns on officials for whom ambulances must stop in deference.
That should make him pause to realise that perhaps the rest of the world does not view him with the same adulation that his lackeys and sycophants here lavish upon him.
This is an attitude seen in most of the nouveau riche, little men who have greatness thrust upon them and then demand that the world attends to them hand and foot.
Two strikes in two weeks must be exquisitely painful – just a while ago, Indonesia sneered at his idea of making Bahasa Malaysia the lingua franca of Asean and beyond. Please, sir, don’t grasp above your reach, the picture hurts to the hilt.
As for the Malaysian officer who apparently failed to facilitate Ismail Sabri making a speech at the World Government Summit (WGS), the man should be promoted and honoured.
Through his patriotic effort, we were spared the vision of our prime minister embarking again on his Bahasa Malaysia spiel to an international audience.
Ketuk Ketampi: I don't blame the two diplomats (who have been called back as a result of this). They have done their job. From my readings, I was made to understand that the UAE asked the PM's Department to postpone the trip but he was adamant.
Anyway, whenever there is a knock-up by politicians, since time immemorial, it's the civil servant who will take the rap. The politicians will always go scot-free.
As for the WGS, the UAE despatched the letter to the PM's Department without the Foreign Ministry in the know. By right, the PM's Department should have informed the Foreign Ministry of this. Why was this not done?
So, heap the blame on the mission office? Don't expect the foreign missions to know everything.
My2cen: Looks like Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has lost control in the ministry… or maybe the UAE doesn’t give two hoots about Ismail Sabri. The UAE must have also done their homework, and knows he is only a seat warmer.
Yes, please write in English if you want them to respond to you next time. Also, have some respect for the ministry officials when they report back to you that the host country has advised it was not a good time to visit because they are all busy.
The WGS is an annual event held in Dubai, how come the PM's aides didn't inform him?
The UAE had no time to entertain a nobody from Malaysia, who will be replaced any day now… so Saifuddin got what he deserved for the poor performance and impression of all the foreign dignitaries here.
He does not deserve any attention from regional and international leaders either for his foreign policy, which has only one item on the agenda - to speak Malay.
MerdekaMerdekaMerdeka: “…Malaysia’s ambassador Tarid Sufian and Malaysia’s consul-general in Dubai, Hasril Abdul Hamid were recalled over the lack of ‘official guest status’ for Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob during his visit to the Emirates last month.”
Ismail Sabri, why punish our diplomats when it is the hosts who did not show or acknowledge your presence or accord you the respect you expected? You can’t demand respect, it needs to be earned, by virtue of your being, your self-conduct and how one carries him/herself as seen by others.
For whatever reason, the Arabs seem to not see you as deserving or worthy of their time. And that’s just that.
The government can even re-designate our diplomats to manage Indah Water as a repercussion, but that won’t change a thing about UAE's perception of you.
Dizzer: Does it really “involve the country’s dignity and reputation”? Or are certain individuals upset by the absence of guards of honour, official motorcades, and reception committees?
In Malaysia, these things are laid on as a matter of course even when a junior minister opens an envelope. Perhaps less so in other countries.
Mano: "He (Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin) added that Malaysia needs new leadership in Wisma Putra, and that Saifuddin's performance had not matched Malaysia’s global stature."
What stature? Overly bloated cabinet? Global kleptocracy? Institutionalised racism?
Pervasive corruption? Hopeless weak but over-bloated civil service?
RedParrot1151: Is this decorum so important? I think the results of the trip with better relations, increase investments, etc, is far more important than this external decorum.
Nato Regime: When a small country like us changes so many PMs due to infighting and weaknesses, other nations will never look up to us, more so if they might have never heard our PM’s name before.
What a shame for this type of treatment but how we act in our country will reflect on their response too.
Not Here Now: Where is our special envoy to the Middle East?
