April 30, 2007 • 10:37 am
It’s refreshing to read in The Sunday Star that the new Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia is not only young, but is also female. Penny Williams, 43, is Australia’s first female High Commissioner to Malaysia, and, according to the article is “among her country’s new breed of diplomats who reflect the highly urbanised islan-continent’s young, competitive society”. Ms Williams is a decade younger than former High Commissioner James Wise, and it’s noteworthy that she had exposure to Asian culture, specifically Indonesian culture, when she was an exchange student for a year to Indonesia. She speaks Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish and Arabic, breaking the stereotype of the “mono-linguistic” (and by extrapolation, mono-cultural) Aussie, says the article.
You can read more on Ms Williams in The Star article. I thought it better to highlight this interesting article from the Jakarta Post, written by Retno Marsudi, the Indonesian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Iceland. Entitled “Indonesian Female Diplomats and Gender Mainstreaming in Diplomacy“, Ms Retno rather quaintly discusses whether or not females are suitable for careers in diplomacy.
Some people say that in Indonesia diplomacy is a man’s world. Many tend to believe the myth as they observe the relatively insignificant number of women diplomats, even when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will celebrate its the 60th anniversary on Aug. 19. Is the myth true? And if it is not then how can women diplomats contribute to the future of Indonesian diplomacy?
To test whether the myth is true, we must first closely examine the nature of the work involved in diplomacy. Often a high degree of mobility and constant responsiveness to ever changing environments are required. Such circumstances could easily compel women in our society to exert extra efforts if they decide to pursue this career. It would indeed seem rather tempting to conclude that on the surface, diplomacy is ideally suited for men.
However other critical components required for successfully conducting diplomacy, such as firmness, loyalty, empathy, prudence as well as meticulousness, are qualities generally possessed by women. Diplomacy itself has no requirements that could not be fulfilled by women. Any barriers to getting the job done originate mostly from sources beyond the control of women themselves.
Bravo for the conclusion, but it’s surprising that the issue is still being aired in this day and age.
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Filed under: Newsprint, Women, Work & Productivity
Ahem..just when I was about to post some meaningless lyrics, Sharon, the Malaysian lit Madame, drops in and tells me she’s given me the Thinking Blogger Award.
This award-chain, the brainchild of one Ilker Yodas, requires you to pinpoint the top five blogs that make you think, and I’m surprised but awfully grateful that someone like Sharon finds my blogposts greycell-worthy. And since the rules of the game requires that I tag five blogs in turn, I have to do the incredibly tough task of paring down my favourite reads to offer you the five:
- Pak Adib’s The Reader – because he reminds me of the tenets of Islam and the importance of faith
- Dina Zaman – because she gives significance to the ordinary life, and expresses the frustrations (and humour) of being Muslim in a modern world
- Najah’s Annotations – because she unearths issues on Motherhood, citizenship, and provides a glimpse of what life is like (from a still-Malaysian perspective) on the other side of the causeway
- Fencer’s Quirk – for his well-researched, interesting takes on – well, all manner of things but I especially like his posts on writing
- Idlan Zakaria’s Organised Chaos – for a Malaysian scholar’s perspective on various issues (and glimpses into life in Britain)
I can list at least ten more blogs that frequently make me ponder, and will pass this meme around for them to make the list.
To the bloggers I tagged, the rules are:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.Please, remember to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all – blogs that really get you thinking!
Tag away.
Filed under: Personal Note, Playing Favourites, Tech
Two weeks ago, on almost every day of the week, I would receive an avalanche of messages from my seven year old who’s in Primary One. The SMS-es started with the following:
Mama, nak pindah sekolah hari ini juga. Tak nak Sains, Jawi, Agama dan Arab.
(Mama, I want to change schools now. I don’t want (to learn) Science, Jawi, Religious Studies, and Arabic)
I would, of course, be the strict Mother, and say No, you cannot change schools today and you have to learn the subjects. To which he would reply:
Cikgu garang! Adik* takut!
(The teacher is fierce! I’m scared!)
And my response was that unless he is especially naughty, he would be fine in class.
The SMS-es then got more frantic and demanding, with him insisting that the teacher is too fierce and that he wants to change schools immediately. I think at one point, I even told him that his teacher loved all the students in the class but he didn’t buy it. When he sensed that I was getting annoyed, he then typed:
Mama, sakit perut. Sakit perut sangat-sangat.
(Mama, I’ve got tummy ache and it really hurts)
And when that didn’t work, he would send me this heartbreaking message:
Mama, Adik paling takut di dunia.
(Mama, I’m the scare-dest kid in the world)
And I’d be torn between wanting to laugh and rushing home to give him a big hug, and yes, to give him his day off school.
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Filed under: Personal Note
Right. When the heart and mind are too pre-occupied to write (and when an assignment is urgently due), you post a quote.
This is one I found today. It’s a very upbeat quote, though, and one that should remind all of us of what it is that we truly define as “success”:
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.
- Anon (Quote from Quoteland)
Filed under: Collectibles
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