WAS MALAYSIAN AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE TO AMERICA GOING TO HORSE AROUND?
…HE SHOULD DEAL MORE WITH HOLLYWOOD THAN THE WHITE HOUSE OR CAPITOL HILL.
By Mansor Puteh.
It was such a horrible sight indeed, of the new Malaysian ambassador-designate to America, Jamaluddin Jarjis, to be seen riding a horse, playing polo and portraying himself as a happy-go-lucky person, when it is his duty to represent the country than be seen to be engaging in his personal hobby.
It portrays him not as a serious person who should have been appointed the new Malaysian ambassador to Washington, DC. Don’t they have other persons to choose from who is not an engineer by training? How many engineers are ambassadors and high commissioners?
It makes him look like he is interested to ‘horse around’.
His remarks that I had read a local English language newspaper make him look even worse.
So he thinks he is smart for being able to say he ‘knows the American thinking’ and how they care more about their ‘strategic interests’.
I hate it if someone says he ‘knows the American thinking’ and ‘their strategic interests’. It does not sound original or smart anymore these days after what happened in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq and now Iran.
Does this means he also approves of ‘the American thinking’ and ‘their strategic interests’, so we must approve of what they have done in those countries and region and will do whatever they want in the future?
Are these comments his original ones or did he repeat what the many others had said before? Can’t he say something else which is more intelligent and original, for heaven’s sake?!
Does this mean we can only expect nothing original and interesting from this person, whom his small group of friends call, JJ?
I doubt it if he is able to come up with anything original or interesting through his tenure as the new ambassador; he will end up horsing around, literarily as well as figuratively speaking.
The general perception of many Malaysians is that most Malaysian ambassadors are known not to have done much for the country where they are supposed to represent the country at, which is to shape the thinking of the leaders and citizens of the countries they are posted at, so that their strategic interests do not hurt others.
This is the general perception that many Malaysians have. And they cannot be wrong.
No wonder, there is no ambassador in the past and the ones we have now who can be said to be so outstanding that they have been invited to speak in international conferences to explain international as well as domestic issues of the day.
At the most they will issue press statements when there is a need for that to happen, in cases where there are some controversies which are often handled better by the prime minister of government in Malaysia.
I wonder what the Malaysian ambassadors or the ambassadors and diplomats of the other countries do on their posting. They do not seem to be doing much for their own countries.
Take a good look at the Malaysian ambassador in Indonesia for instance. A lot of unpleasant things had happened outside of the embassy building in Jakarta which are very repetitive in nature, yet, he doesn’t seem to be interested to find out why they happen so they are not repeated in the near or distant future, but they still do.
If he is indeed a smart diplomat, he could have taken immediate actions and get the right persons in Malaysia and Indonesia to try and solve the problem before the second one erupted.
Obviously he has not done that, and chances are he does not know how it started. So the same problem is repeated. It will never end, even after he leaves his posting in Jakarta to take up another posting elsewhere.
The world does not move because of what they do. It goes around on its own axis and even when it goes off-axis, these diplomats do not seem to care. They will spend a lot more time socializing and in the case of Malaysia, they will welcome important dignitaries from Malaysia who are visiting the countries where they are posted at. At such times, they will look unusually busy. But most of the time, they are basically on their own.
And one is not surprised if they and their staff don’t even read the emails that are sent to the addresses that are posted in the official websites, treating enquires with contempt.
There are some embassies and high commissions that answer them. But they do not go beyond their way to accommodate requests for information, etc, as what I had experienced over the years.
Coming back to JJ, I doubt it if he will be remembered as the Malaysian ambassador of America who can do wonders. He will be remembered as someone who has a fascination for horse-riding. I am sure they have better turfs and fields in America or horse-riding clubs in Washington DC where he can be a member of and ride all day.
The truth of the matter is, if JJ thinks he knows the ‘American thinking’ he would immediately say, they (the Americans) love making films and seeing them. And they also enjoy producing theater and watching them, too, so much so that the country is more famous for their actors and filmmakers than their presidents who are mostly known as of late, to be war-mongers.
I spare my thought for the current President Barack Hussein Obama who has not yet been pushed around by the American media and other American war-mongers to pursue the same part as his predecessors did. Maybe America had already been trapped in Afghanistan and Iraq, and not counting the Middle East that they are not able or capable to get another country which has a non-English sounding name to go to war with.
Or, are they saying, America’s enemies must only be Arabs and Afghans, and not the North Koreans or Orientals, especially China?
As someone who can also claim to know the ‘American thinking’ and am aware of the ‘strategic importance’ that America places in their moves, military, and so on, I can offer JJ some advice.
First, he should stop horsing around and ride above almost everybody else, and get his feet on the ground, and
touch base with the ordinary folks in America, who may not agree with what their ‘leaders’ in the White House and on Capitol Hill do, because first of all, Americans do not have leaders the same way other countries have, and they care more of their own personal well-being than that of the others, to worry about.
What this means in simple English, JJ, is he should focus his attention not on the goings-on in Washington DC, but on Hollywood.
If he can relate to the people there and get them to believe that the world out there is larger than America itself, and there are a lot more countries than all the 50 states in the American Union or Fortress America, it will be good for them.
The end result which I want to see if for Hollywood to morph into the New Hollywood where they can start to produce feature films to reflect the new reality. Some of them are heading in that direction already, but they need prodding to come up with better films if they want to maintain their hold on the international market, and not be rejected by the viewers in the other countries who may soon learn how they have been made fools of by the Old Hollywood which did not care for them.
If JJ can do this, I am sure he can be remembered as a Malaysian ambassador with class and who really knows the ‘American thinking’, and is fully aware that the country cares more for their ‘strategic interests’, one of which is how they want Hollywood films to be shown all over the world.
Remember how their commerce secretary had warned Indonesia to allow the screening of Hollywood films in the country, or else, America would not import cloth and other cheap goods from their factories, despite the fact that these goods were made for American companies anyway?
How many countries in the world which does this, by forcing other countries to accept their films other than America?
You can never expect our relevant ministers to force other countries or festivals to accept our films.
Russia, England, Japan as well as the other developed countries do not do that. And JJ surely does not know this, as most of the others unless if they read this blog to find out about it.
Hong Kong and China were better off, and they could show their films in most countries in the world because they have a small community of Chinese who accept them.
This is the truth, and JJ ought to realize this soon before he packs up his back to fly to Washington DC to become the new Malaysian ambassador to the country, that he should get an office in Hollywood and be with the people who influence American foreign as well as domestic policies. They are not the electorate, who generally depend on Hollywood.
And if JJ can initiate films productions by Hollywood studios that include Malaysia and other Muslim countries, it would be even better, since it will be of their ‘strategic interests’, too, to have these in order for them to remain where they are in World Cinema.
This is something which the think-tankers in Malaysia and elsewhere do not prescribe. But what have they prescribed that has worked for Malaysia and the world? They get better recognition and recognized for saying something ordinary most of the time.
The problem with most of the diplomats, think-tankers and politicians is that they think so lowly of the cinema and what it can do without realizing that America is nothing without Hollywood and their entertainers. They are their propagandists.
If he can do this, he can be described as the ambassador who changed the face of world politics and diplomacy?
If he doesn’t do something outrageous and original, then he will be condemned to be described as the ambassador who goes to Washington DC to ride horses which in itself is not a bad thing to do especially if he can win some awards in horse-riding there.
But then again, this achievement is only for his personal entertainment and benefit, which will see him riding to oblivion and the diplomatic and Hollywood sunset.
By Mansor Puteh.
It was such a horrible sight indeed, of the new Malaysian ambassador-designate to America, Jamaluddin Jarjis, to be seen riding a horse, playing polo and portraying himself as a happy-go-lucky person, when it is his duty to represent the country than be seen to be engaging in his personal hobby.
It portrays him not as a serious person who should have been appointed the new Malaysian ambassador to Washington, DC. Don’t they have other persons to choose from who is not an engineer by training? How many engineers are ambassadors and high commissioners?
It makes him look like he is interested to ‘horse around’.
His remarks that I had read a local English language newspaper make him look even worse.
So he thinks he is smart for being able to say he ‘knows the American thinking’ and how they care more about their ‘strategic interests’.
I hate it if someone says he ‘knows the American thinking’ and ‘their strategic interests’. It does not sound original or smart anymore these days after what happened in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq and now Iran.
Does this means he also approves of ‘the American thinking’ and ‘their strategic interests’, so we must approve of what they have done in those countries and region and will do whatever they want in the future?
Are these comments his original ones or did he repeat what the many others had said before? Can’t he say something else which is more intelligent and original, for heaven’s sake?!
Does this mean we can only expect nothing original and interesting from this person, whom his small group of friends call, JJ?
I doubt it if he is able to come up with anything original or interesting through his tenure as the new ambassador; he will end up horsing around, literarily as well as figuratively speaking.
The general perception of many Malaysians is that most Malaysian ambassadors are known not to have done much for the country where they are supposed to represent the country at, which is to shape the thinking of the leaders and citizens of the countries they are posted at, so that their strategic interests do not hurt others.
This is the general perception that many Malaysians have. And they cannot be wrong.
No wonder, there is no ambassador in the past and the ones we have now who can be said to be so outstanding that they have been invited to speak in international conferences to explain international as well as domestic issues of the day.
At the most they will issue press statements when there is a need for that to happen, in cases where there are some controversies which are often handled better by the prime minister of government in Malaysia.
I wonder what the Malaysian ambassadors or the ambassadors and diplomats of the other countries do on their posting. They do not seem to be doing much for their own countries.
Take a good look at the Malaysian ambassador in Indonesia for instance. A lot of unpleasant things had happened outside of the embassy building in Jakarta which are very repetitive in nature, yet, he doesn’t seem to be interested to find out why they happen so they are not repeated in the near or distant future, but they still do.
If he is indeed a smart diplomat, he could have taken immediate actions and get the right persons in Malaysia and Indonesia to try and solve the problem before the second one erupted.
Obviously he has not done that, and chances are he does not know how it started. So the same problem is repeated. It will never end, even after he leaves his posting in Jakarta to take up another posting elsewhere.
The world does not move because of what they do. It goes around on its own axis and even when it goes off-axis, these diplomats do not seem to care. They will spend a lot more time socializing and in the case of Malaysia, they will welcome important dignitaries from Malaysia who are visiting the countries where they are posted at. At such times, they will look unusually busy. But most of the time, they are basically on their own.
And one is not surprised if they and their staff don’t even read the emails that are sent to the addresses that are posted in the official websites, treating enquires with contempt.
There are some embassies and high commissions that answer them. But they do not go beyond their way to accommodate requests for information, etc, as what I had experienced over the years.
Coming back to JJ, I doubt it if he will be remembered as the Malaysian ambassador of America who can do wonders. He will be remembered as someone who has a fascination for horse-riding. I am sure they have better turfs and fields in America or horse-riding clubs in Washington DC where he can be a member of and ride all day.
The truth of the matter is, if JJ thinks he knows the ‘American thinking’ he would immediately say, they (the Americans) love making films and seeing them. And they also enjoy producing theater and watching them, too, so much so that the country is more famous for their actors and filmmakers than their presidents who are mostly known as of late, to be war-mongers.
I spare my thought for the current President Barack Hussein Obama who has not yet been pushed around by the American media and other American war-mongers to pursue the same part as his predecessors did. Maybe America had already been trapped in Afghanistan and Iraq, and not counting the Middle East that they are not able or capable to get another country which has a non-English sounding name to go to war with.
Or, are they saying, America’s enemies must only be Arabs and Afghans, and not the North Koreans or Orientals, especially China?
As someone who can also claim to know the ‘American thinking’ and am aware of the ‘strategic importance’ that America places in their moves, military, and so on, I can offer JJ some advice.
First, he should stop horsing around and ride above almost everybody else, and get his feet on the ground, and
touch base with the ordinary folks in America, who may not agree with what their ‘leaders’ in the White House and on Capitol Hill do, because first of all, Americans do not have leaders the same way other countries have, and they care more of their own personal well-being than that of the others, to worry about.
What this means in simple English, JJ, is he should focus his attention not on the goings-on in Washington DC, but on Hollywood.
If he can relate to the people there and get them to believe that the world out there is larger than America itself, and there are a lot more countries than all the 50 states in the American Union or Fortress America, it will be good for them.
The end result which I want to see if for Hollywood to morph into the New Hollywood where they can start to produce feature films to reflect the new reality. Some of them are heading in that direction already, but they need prodding to come up with better films if they want to maintain their hold on the international market, and not be rejected by the viewers in the other countries who may soon learn how they have been made fools of by the Old Hollywood which did not care for them.
If JJ can do this, I am sure he can be remembered as a Malaysian ambassador with class and who really knows the ‘American thinking’, and is fully aware that the country cares more for their ‘strategic interests’, one of which is how they want Hollywood films to be shown all over the world.
Remember how their commerce secretary had warned Indonesia to allow the screening of Hollywood films in the country, or else, America would not import cloth and other cheap goods from their factories, despite the fact that these goods were made for American companies anyway?
How many countries in the world which does this, by forcing other countries to accept their films other than America?
You can never expect our relevant ministers to force other countries or festivals to accept our films.
Russia, England, Japan as well as the other developed countries do not do that. And JJ surely does not know this, as most of the others unless if they read this blog to find out about it.
Hong Kong and China were better off, and they could show their films in most countries in the world because they have a small community of Chinese who accept them.
This is the truth, and JJ ought to realize this soon before he packs up his back to fly to Washington DC to become the new Malaysian ambassador to the country, that he should get an office in Hollywood and be with the people who influence American foreign as well as domestic policies. They are not the electorate, who generally depend on Hollywood.
And if JJ can initiate films productions by Hollywood studios that include Malaysia and other Muslim countries, it would be even better, since it will be of their ‘strategic interests’, too, to have these in order for them to remain where they are in World Cinema.
This is something which the think-tankers in Malaysia and elsewhere do not prescribe. But what have they prescribed that has worked for Malaysia and the world? They get better recognition and recognized for saying something ordinary most of the time.
The problem with most of the diplomats, think-tankers and politicians is that they think so lowly of the cinema and what it can do without realizing that America is nothing without Hollywood and their entertainers. They are their propagandists.
If he can do this, he can be described as the ambassador who changed the face of world politics and diplomacy?
If he doesn’t do something outrageous and original, then he will be condemned to be described as the ambassador who goes to Washington DC to ride horses which in itself is not a bad thing to do especially if he can win some awards in horse-riding there.
But then again, this achievement is only for his personal entertainment and benefit, which will see him riding to oblivion and the diplomatic and Hollywood sunset.
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