Shazelina rejects gender stereotypes, stressing effort over labels
PETALING JAYA: She’s one of the few female ambassadors, but Datuk Dr Shazelina Zainul Abidin (pic) doesn’t play the victim card when it comes to gender-related topics.
“I have learnt to turn challenge into opportunity. Most of my colleagues are male. When they need to pay tribute to gender equality, more often than not, I get invited to formal dinners or panel discussions,” she said.
But she’s much against grapevine talk that female ambassadors get only “soft” postings.
“I strongly disagree. Every posting has its challenges and opportunities. Any posting can be a ‘soft’ posting if you are only there to turn up at the office, return home, and periodically write reports.”
“But if you bother enough to hit the pavement to meet policy makers, place yourself on substantive platforms where you have to sell Malaysia, and constantly reach out to strangers just to raise the profile of your country, then no posting is a ‘soft’ posting,” said Shazelina, who is the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Canada.
She has served in a number of roles since joining the Foreign Ministry in 1996.
That includes being sent to Washington DC (Second Secretary, 2001-2002), New York (Counsellor and then Minister-Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations, 2007 to 2011), and Senegal (ambassador, 2018 - 2021).
Citing 2022 statistics, she said Malaysia has about 24% of women holding positions of ambassadors and above. This included the heads of divisions and departments in the Foreign Ministry who would be eligible to be posted abroad as ambassadors. Malaysia has 106 diplomatic missions which include embassies, high commissions and consulates.
“That does not mean we are in 106 countries. We are in 84 countries, at the last count. Some countries have more than two diplomatic offices; in Canada we have the High Commission in Ottawa, and the Consulate General’s office in Vancouver.”
She said that there are more than 30 female ambassadors in Canada where she has been elected as the Chair of the Women Heads of Diplomatic Missions.
Shazelina is good-humoured in pointing out the advantages of being a woman ambassador.
“You get to dress up all the time!” she quipped.
But she made clear the importance of having substance underneath the make-up, frills and lace.
“Once you have established that, you gain the respect of the people around you,” said Shazelina, who has a degree in law and politics from Queen Mary College, University of London; and a PhD in political science from the University of Sheffield.
Shazelina has some wise words for women who feel they are at a disadvantage because they are dismissed as “fluff”.
“Use the ability to be seen to your advantage, and then wow the hell out of ‘em with your brains.”
Her passion for writing is obvious, too.
Once, she kept a blog about her nomadic life, posting informative bits about diplomatic passports (no, it doesn’t grant you full diplomatic immunity), and what she did as a liaison officer who had to shadow Queen Elizabeth II during her 1998 visit to Malaysia.
She dished out lessons in etiquette as well.
“The golden rule is that once you have accepted a dinner invitation, you MUST go. Unless you’re lying on a mortuary slab,” she wrote.
There had been another occasion when Shazelina was in the minority, too.
During her two years at the University of Sheffield, she decided to give classes.
“Very few Malaysians would volunteer to teach while doing their PhD. But I thought it would give me something to do.”
“So I taught Contemporary US Foreign Policy to second-year university students. It was a hoot – a Malaysian teaching British students about US foreign policy!”
