Bring grouses to me, Anifah tells retired envoys

(NST) FOREIGN Minister Datuk Anifah Aman wants retired diplomats to bring to him their complaints over the quality of serving diplomats and not run them down in public.

He welcomes their experience and insight as priceless but prefers that they share it privately with him.

"If they think the foreign service is in decline, I would appreciate it if they come forward and meet me.

"We can have a dialogue and, maybe, even hold a workshop to work things out."

Anifah agrees that some serving diplomats have shortcomings such as weak presentation skills and poor articulation.

But he stresses that a poor showing by a few cannot be used as a general measure of Malaysian diplomats.

He says that under-performers are like "unpolished gems who could be turned into jewels".

"Overall I'm satisfied with their standards, though there is room for improvement… we need to train them."

Anifah stands in defence of young diplomats, saying that the perceived decline in standards was not something that happened overnight.

He says it could be that the decline may have started about two decades ago when "certain policies" were implemented, adding that the implications of such policies were apparent years down the road.

"If a diplomat saw such problems and he did not push forward his ideas to solve them when he was in the service, he is also guilty of this perceived decline."

Anifah says short-term steps have been put in place to ensure that the ministry maintains high standards in the foreign service.

"Only those good in the national language of a given nation qualify to serve there."

He cautions against expecting the ministry to churn out enough qualified staff over a short time to fill every possible position.

"Remember that we have 105 missions. It's not that easy to find gung-ho diplomats to fill all those positions."