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MALAYSIAN DIPLOMATS: OUR STORIES

lead in regional af airs then. To win their support Dato’ Ismail Ambia had
to cite a passage from the Hindu Classic, the Mahabharata, that informs
the Indonesian psyche until these days. T is was a reference to when Rama
had to send Hanuman to save Sita from the demons. It was known then,
Indonesia had shown the way even in recent history in putting extra ef orts
at achieving regional cohesion and unity. Appealing then based on this same
spirit and values the Ambassador had asked his Indonesian colleague at that
instance of time and place to do so, once again in the name of regional
cooperation.

I also wish to record for posterity the meaningful intervention at grand
diplomacy by (the late) Tan Sri Khatib Hamid who had spent some time
in Indonesia as Malaysian Ambassador. In an attempt to convince the
Indonesians to join in a regional exercise in unity-building, he had wisely
introduced with dramatic ef ects and positive results at a regional Conference
in Jakarta, the ubiquitous pantun (the Malay poetic quatrains/couplets that
had enriched Malay literature throughout the ages) and something that
was evocative of the ‘serumpun’ ethos that has been at the core of relations
between Malaysia and Indonesia:

“Kalau roboh kotanya Melaka
Papan diJawa kita dirikan
Kalau betul bagai dikata
Badan dan nyawa kita berikan”

T e pantun carries the meaning that if anything were to happen to the good
relations between the two countries such that if one were to fall the other
would come to the aid of the other with body and soul. Such were the
intensity of our designs at grand diplomacy in those days.

Dr. Azhari-Karim is a diplomat for Malaysia from 1970 to 1994 with service as Ambassador
to Iran in 1990 and Ambassador to Spain in 1992. His forthcoming publications are T e
Working of Malaysian Foreign Policy and T e United States and the World.

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