Treating them right

Global connection: Ismail Sabri (centre), with Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah (left) and ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin, pictured in front of a screen showing Malaysian heads of mission from around the world at the virtual meeting in Putrajaya. — Bernama

THE Heads of Mission Conference (HOMC) organised by the Foreign Affairs Ministry brings together Malaysian envoys and the country’s leaders and top civil servants for an update on the latest policies and priorities of the government of the day.

The last HOMC, the eighth edition, was held eight years ago.

One of the highlights of the event is usually the keynote address by the serving Prime Minister, followed by a question and answer session with our diplomats.

The ninth HOMC, held on Sept 6 and 7 in Putrajaya and attended by about 100 heads of mission, was held virtually perhaps due to expenditure cuts as it would be costly to bring everyone home.

With so many time zones involved it must be tough for some of them to fully follow the presentations and discussions with ministers and senior civil servants, especially on the last day when the final session ended at nearly 2am Malaysian time. Hopefully, too, the sessions proceeded smoothly without connectivity issues.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was at Wisma Putra to give his speech but it was a missed opportunity for our diplomats to interact with him. No dialogue was held this time.

As expected, Ismail Sabri outlined his vision and touched on efforts to internationalise Bahasa Malaysia on the world stage, saying he had directed that all correspondence, including that involving foreign matters, be written in Bahasa Malaysia.

“In fact, I have written letters to world leaders in Bahasa Malaysia, accompanied with an English translation,” he said.

While some quarters in the country have lauded his efforts, those in Wisma Putra have quietly questioned the move.

“What matters is reading a letter in a language the recipient countries can understand,” said one diplomat.

It will not be a surprise that the Prime Minister, who is travelling to New York this month, will address the United Nations General Assembly in Bahasa Malaysia.

He will not be the first leader to use his/her national language but the content of his speech is more important as he addresses global problems. It may look good to the audience back home too as he promotes the language on an international platform.

Efforts to promote the national language internationally are laudable but perhaps more study should be done to identify the best strategies to do so.

In international negotiations, English is the working language. English remains, and will always be, the operating language for Malaysian diplomats and they must have excellent command of the language. There is no question about it.

One announcement that came from the Prime Minister at the HOMC was that civil servants stationed abroad who use foreign languages during their official work will have their monthly language allowance increased. The increase would take effect Jan 1, 2023.

He said this is to encourage Malaysian diplomats to master foreign languages, in line with the need for language skills during diplomatic and trade negotiations.

The announcement was met with applause but after the dust had settled, questions arose whether Ismail Sabri is contradicting himself.

“Some of us are asking each other about the contradiction in promoting BM while increasing allowance for foreign language expertise,” said one diplomat.

Another explained the Prime Minister wanted to emphasise Bahasa Malaysia but at the same time diplomats still needed to master English and other languages.

The monthly language allowance that the prime minister mentioned is currently less than RM200 and can be claimed if the diplomat has already mastered the language, has the certification and is using it in the country in which he/she is serving.

For example if a diplomat takes up Mandarin, is posted to Mandarin-speaking countries and converses in the language for work, then he/she can claim the allowance.

Over the years, this writer has addressed some of the problems Wisma Putra faces, including staff shortages and cost-cutting. We understand, for instance, that for the National Day celebration this year only a limited number of missions received allocations to hold receptions. All this has affected staff morale, and the problems are not going away.

At this HOMC, envoys were reminded by the government that they are the frontliners and need to be creative to produce good results. But the truth is, a number of missions are without ambassadors, several vacant for more than two years and being run by the charge d’affaires, some of whom are junior level officers. There has been talk about reducing the numbers of missions through a rationalisation exercise but it has remained just that.

And yet the Prime Minister has four special envoys. In July, Special Functions Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad in a parliamentary reply said almost RM1mil has been spent by the four special envoys over the past two years. This included the costs of official visits to the countries and regions each was assigned to. How they add value to the work of professionals remains up in the air.

I hope a survey is done among our diplomats on how useful this HOMC has been. There must be honest feedback from the country’s envoys whether virtual meetings like this one are as effective as physical ones. The virtual format has its constraints, especially with timing, content and interaction.

Frankly, there was no rush to hold this HOMC, which we understand was organised within two weeks, unless of course the country’s political leadership is thinking of a general election in the next few weeks that would mean there wouldn’t be time to meet the envoys.