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Friday July 3, 2009

Winds of change at Wisma Putra

COMMENT BY MERGAWATI ZULFAKAR


Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman has a heavy task to bring about change, but he believes his officers will deliver given the chance and funding from the Government.

IF DATUK Anifah Aman can find the time away from his globe-trotting job, he wants to attend courses at the Institute of Diplomacy of Foreign Relations to learn more on what it takes to be a diplomat.

During a chat with the Foreign Minister in Putrajaya recently, Anifah was not ashamed to say “I am willing to go back to school together with my two deputy ministers”.

Since he stepped into the world of diplomacy three months ago, Anifah’s work style has caught Wisma Putra officials pleasantly surprised.

More than 100 Malaysian heads of mission returned home last week for their biennial meeting with several government leaders and had a first-hand observation of what makes the minister tick.

Their verdict? He has a good grasp of things and more surprisingly, his openness.

And what is Anifah’s assessment of his officers? They can do better.

“I do not want to see the level when I took over. I am not saying it is bad or deplorable. I would like to bring it to another level,” he said.

During the one-week meeting, Anifah was able to meet and speak individually with the envoys. That is his style of gauging the communication skills of the diplomats.

One of the first changes he made was allowing his officials to speak to the media providing they take responsibility for what they say.

“I will judge them from there. They are matured, professional and experienced enough when dealing with the press,” he said.

Will this openness create dynamism in Wisma Putra which has been levelled with unkind words especially in the media?

For some officers, Anifah’s style is a boost to their work. Some diplomats felt it is about time that they be given the chance to plot strategies and policies.

This will help nurture creative thinking but of course within the boundaries of the rules and regulations.

There is also another issue that Wisma Putra has to address – some quarters in the government see Malaysia having a bad image overseas and lacking visibility.

Bad press is no surprise because other developing countries suffer the same fate.

But there is also this belief that Malaysia suffers more because the Barisan Nasional government has been in power for so long and it does not help when the Opposition Leader has successfully portrayed himself as a victim of political foul play.

Wisma Putra has in the past contracted a few professionals to handle media queries and respond to events that needed the government’s quick action. Unfortunately this has not worked well as they left the ministry after a short stint.

Anifah still wants to have a spokesman for the ministry but there is the problem of a lack of funds. For the record, the Foreign Ministry has the lowest allocation among the ministries.

“We need to get the right people, not necessarily from Wisma Putra. At the same time when you get professionals, you can’t pay them peanuts.”

There have also been criticisms against the leadership of Wisma Putra over extending the contract of diplomats who have reached retirement age and favouritism among senior staff who have their own children in the service. It seems Anifah is well aware of this.

Favouritism should not be tolerated and merit should be the order of the day.

In the next one year, several ambassador posts will be vacant due to retiring envoys.

Does Wisma Putra have the right candidates to take over?

Being in the first line of the country’s defence and offence, Wisma Putra needs to groom officers who are able to adapt to changes. It is time to groom and train junior officers.

Wisma Putra should also look at posting junior officers to hardship postings as part of their training.

Anifah has set the pace of changes he is willing to bring. The question is: are his officers ready to follow in his footsteps?

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