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MALAYSIAN DIPLOMATS: OUR STORIES

Early Days in Mexico
In the second week of my arrival, I moved into the newly rented Ambassador’s
Residence located at Francisco de Croix, Lomas Virreyes, about a ten-minute
drive from the Embassy. T e residence was surrounded by high walls with a
spacious compound. I noticed that all the houses there have high walls of up
to twelve feet equipped with CCTV and electric wires, and almost all have
security guards. Due to the high walls, you cannot see how the houses inside
look like. It looked like a prison from the outside, albeit beautiful looking
prisons.

Looking at the security features put in place, you know that security is an
issue, even though it is an af uent enclave. It was not an encouraging sign.

Getting to Know Places
Before I arrived in Mexico, I made a list of famous and interesting places
to visit. T e f rst place I wanted to see was the Teotihuacan, a famous
archaeological site of the Toltec empire, situated 50 kilometres from
Mexico City. During my courtesy call on Ambassador Lozoya, the Mexican
Ambassador to Malaysia then, he advised me not to do strenuous activities
in my f rst week in Mexico City as the city is about 7000 feet above sea
level, and the low oxygen level can be fatal to newcomers. I ended up going
to Teotihuacan during my f rst week there and climbed the Pyramid of the
Sun, which is about 65 metres high. T ankfully, I was able to reach the top
without any problems and watched the breath-taking view of the Avenue of
the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon and Ciudadela.

Looking back, it was rather scary, considering that two Resident Ambassadors
passed away in Mexico City due to shortness of breath. T e f rst was an
Indonesian Ambassador who collapsed while playing football and the second
was the Cypriot Ambassador who died a few days after arriving in Mexico.
Learning from this, the Ministry should consider sending only healthy and
f t diplomats to serve in Mexico.

My next destination was Acapulco, a beach resort located about a two-and-
a-half hours’ drive from Mexico City. It was the f rst city I visited outside of
Mexico City. I was not disappointed as the city was blessed with beautiful
sandy beaches and many popular attractions. Acapulco was famous in

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