MOST MALAYSIAN DIPLOMACY OFFICIALS LACK PR SKILLS, TOO SHY

KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Bernama) -- Forget about learning a foreign language.
Or, even making Malaysia stand out.
Most of our diplomacy officials attached overseas not only lack skills in
public relations, but are also too shy when meeting with officials from other
countries.
This assessment comes from none other than Institute of Diplomacy and
Foreign Relations (IDFR) executive chairman Hasmy Agam.
He said lack of fluency in English was also one of the factors that had
hampered Malaysian officials from communicating effectively with their foreign
counterparts on policies and matters important to the country.
"Our diplomacy officials, whether from the foreign ministry or other
ministries, most of them are too shy to speak up or making presentations,
especially at the multilateral diplomacy, and their level of English has
dropped," he told reporters at IDFR's media briefing here Monday.
Hasmy has been a career diplomat and served as ambassador in many countries,
including France and Libya, as well as Malaysia's permanent representative to
the United Nations, Permanent Mission of Malaysia in New York from 1998 to
2003, before he retired and assumed his current post at IDFR in 2007.
He noted that diplomats in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and even
China, were aggressively polishing up their English, as it was still considered
the top most diplomacy language worldwide.
"I think this needs to be addressed, because if not, it is our country that
will be losing out," said Hasmy.
He added, in view of that, IDFR planned to conduct a comprehensive programme
to train government officials scheduled to be posted overseas, in areas such as
public speaking, public relations, cultures and confidence level.
"We plan to have such courses for our officials...at least, it helps to
boost their self-confidence and allow them to function more effectively abroad,"
he added.
-- BERNAMA


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