Cool and collected: The quietly dignified Kadir had always thrived the most being a backroom operator, says the columnist. — 2015 Filepic/The Star
A STRATEGIST, tough nut, mentor and good boss. He was a man of few words.
Those are some of the descriptions of Tan Sri Kadir Mohamad shared by his former colleagues in the Foreign Ministry. Kadir, who rose up the ranks to become Wisma Putra’s secretary-general, passed away on Monday. He was 81.
Throughout his career, which spanned over 40 years, Kadir had always been a backroom operator par excellence. He served in important diplomatic missions – like New York, Saigon, Brussels, Washington DC, and Islamabad – but very rarely was he in the limelight, unlike some of his more flamboyant seniors and colleagues.
He did confess to this writer during an interview in 2015 that he is a shy person by nature. But his contributions to the country cannot be denied.
Kadir was the leader of the Malaysian team and agent of Malaysia at the International Court of Justice in the case concerning sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan between Malaysia and Indonesia in 2001. Malaysia won the case.
He was also involved in the sovereignty case over Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge in 2008.
Tan Sri Hasmy Agam, former Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) chairman and Malaysia’s Permanent Repre-sentative to the United Nations, is one of the few people who knew Kadir well.
“He was a friend and an outstanding diplomat. There were eight of us – 1968 batchmates – and of course we are the best of friends, and after retirement, we were neighbours, residing in the same place in Cyberjaya.
“He was a hardworking, diligent, and no nonsense diplomatic service officer under the tutelage of [former Foreign minister]Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie,” said Hasmy.
Kadir led the Malaysian team and agent at the International Court of Justice in the case concerning sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan between Malaysia and Indonesia in 2001; Malaysia won.
Since his retirement, Kadir and yours truly remained in touch, with my last message sent to him two weeks ago. From time to time he would send messages about issues he felt strongly about, and one of these was on Singapore. He had left his mark on handling bilateral issues with Singapore; it was during his time in Wisma Putra that bilateral relations with the republic became contentious over several issues ranging from the cost of raw water sold to Singapore to maritime disputes.
He wrote a book aptly titled Malaysia-Singapore Fifty Years of Contentions 1965-2015, which was launched by former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. After retiring from Wisma Putra, Kadir served as foreign advisor to Abdullah when he was prime minister.
“I waited to publish my book in 2015 because I thought it would be inappropriate for me to publish, while still in service, a book dealing with matters concerning government-to-government relations,” he told this writer in an interview.
When writing the book, Kadir relied on personal recollections and notes and other materials he kept over the years on the subject of Malaysia-Singapore relations.
“Every episode or correspondence cited in this book came from the public domain in Malaysia or Singapore or the Internet. I have carefully avoided breaching any confidentiality or any part of the Official Secrets Act,” he says in his book.
That is Kadir for you, a stickler for regulations.
The book has nine chapters providing background information on important events, such as water issues, the dispute over sovereign ownership of Batu Puteh, the saga of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s proposal for the bridge to replace the Causeway, and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, who according to Kadir had dictated the form and substance of relations with Malaysia.
Last year, he wrote another book, Just For The Record, a collection of Kadir’s writings and previous interviews, including one with Malaysia’s Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations. In that interview with the IDFR, Kadir was naturally asked about Singapore and why he wrote Malaysia-Singapore Fifty Years of Contentions.
“I chose to write about issues between Malaysia and Singapore because I believe, for the foreseeable future, the relations between these two immediate neighbours will remain as one of the most important, if not the most important, set of bilateral relations that Malaysian political leaders and Malaysian diplomats will have to deal with.
“Some of the remaining bilateral issues between these two countries have a long history. By writing about what happened during past negotiations, I hope my book can help Malaysian negotiators learn from the past so that Malaysia’s national interest is taken care of in any future negotiation with Singapore, particularly concerning certain outstanding issues,” Kadir said.
Kadir wrote a book aptly titled Malaysia-Singapore Fifty Years of Contentions 1965-2015 as he believed the relations between these two immediate neighbours will remain as one of the most important for the foreseeable future. — 2015 Filepic/The Star
There is also a chapter on Ghazali, touching on lessons he learnt from the former Cabinet minister who served as secretary- general and later as Foreign minister.
Both men came from Kuala Lipis, Pahang, but he only came to know Ghazali when he joined Wisma Putra. Ghazali was then secretary-general.
Kadir, who later served as Ghazali’s special officer when the latter was Foreign minister, writes about journeys to exotic places like Pyongyang and Timbuktu, where the minister wanted to do something to bring two warring sides together to talk peace; and in Mali, Ghazali wanted to find out how the food shortage there could be tackled.
“I learned one enduring lesson from Ghazali Shafie – there is no problem without a solution.”
Another former colleague, Datuk Hsu King Bee said Kadir was very strict and yet he was also very fair in his dealings.
“He believed that in management work including discipline constitutes 50% and welfare, the other 50%.
“He was always well prepared for what could or should be done tomorrow – he would have completed it yesterday.
“Pak Lah said that Kadir had an agile mind,” said Hsu who served as Wisma Putra’s deputy secretary-general for Multilateral Affairs, and as Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to Asean in Jakarta.
Kadir is definitely one of my few career mentors, a brilliant teacher who never tired of explaining issues to a rookie reporter finding her way in the world of diplomacy. He would make time no matter how busy he was.
There is so much more to write about him, and saying thank you is just not enough. For sure, I am forever grateful, Tan Sri Kadir, that we crossed paths.
