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MALAYSIAN DIPLOMATS: OUR STORIES

was supposed to be convened the following year.

By the f nal day of the meeting, I faced a major dilemma. Whether to
proceed with an issuance of a summary by the Chair that captured what
transpired during the two-week meeting, or to pursue the other option of
not issuing any outcome document. T e latter meant that delegations would
return to their respective capitals with naught. No tangible substantive
progress achieved for all their toil. If I were to present a Chair’s Summary, it
would surely trigger mixed reactions. T e deliberations among NPT States
Parties up to that point had clearly demonstrated tumultuous political
undercurrents, which at times turned acrimonious.

I was well aware of certain delegations which disagreed with some of the
elements contained in the draft Chair’s Summary. As such, my issuance of a
Chair’s Summary would not go down easily. In disagreement, any delegation
could respond to the Chair’s Summary in the most acerbic manner.

T e clock was ticking. I looked at the gavel given to me, admiring this little
tool for its symbolic nature and decisive function in a multilateral deliberative
process. As delegates eagerly scouted for clues of my next course of action, I
let my mind wander and travel, in search of the necessary resolve.

Ref ection
T e shinkansen came to a complete stop. I checked my watch. T e Japanese
bullet train impressively arrived at our destination at the exact time it
promised. At f rst glance, the city of Hiroshima seemed to exude an aura of
great pride, not unlike the city of Nagasaki that I had toured the day before.

In my capacity as the Chair of the T ird NPT PrepCom, I humbly accepted
the invitation from the Government of Japan to visit both cities which had
experienced the devastation of massive atomic bombings approximately 74
years ago. T e visit was intended to demonstrate to the Chair, a few months
ahead of the T ird NPT PrepCom, the unthinkable destruction caused by
nuclear weapons.

I initially thought that the visit to Japan would not bring anything new.
After all, I had read and listened to testimonies of the hibakushas (Japanese

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