cream of the crop

in the previous post, i just penned down my thought on what make a good diplomat or ambassador. and yesterday, my eyes caught an exciting and mind- boggling editorial article in the local newspaper. i read it with special interest since it speaks about the urge to limit the number of political appointees in the diplomatic service of the host country foreign affair department.
i couldn't help myself from smiling because apparently the issue of who make a good diplomat; trainned career diplomats or selected political appointee has also hit this foreign shore and perhaps has become a universal diplomatic issue else where too.
i have to admit that politics is not my cup of tea. interestingly though, having been a spouse of a diplomat in this esteem service has somehow spurred my concern in politics and diplomacy. at least i care about what's going on all around the globe. politics and diplomacy for one thing, has enhanced my sense of patriotism. of course i am not keen of supporting any parties, instead, the commitment goes solely to the country. history and the tumultuos arab world crisis in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt right now hopefully, will never be replicated in our own homeland. and therefore, i support not any attempt to tarnish the government reputation, to topple it, or to give way for foreign intervention. here lies the need of having such expertise of charismatic diplomat with either political and diplomatic backround or better still, both.

no doubt, diplomats are almost always the cream of the crop, having been selected as the finest among the best trainned diplomatic officers, usually reputadly those with high level of language proficiency, intellect as well as excellent command not only in diplomacy, but also administration, management and international relation just to name a few. nevertheless, i am afraid, substantiating the correlation between a good diplomat and merely those criteria would not be fairly established.

language acquisition is naturally accellerated by a stimulating environment that requires and encourages its usage. as such, given the chance, anyone is capable of achieving the fluency. yet, we have to bear in mind that linguitics intelligence itself includes not only speech or presentation ability. instead, it also covers the ability of one to be word smart in order to obtain the desired communication objective. highly potential diplomat should also posses or develop interpersonal as well as intrapersonal skills. these are normally develop through positive nurturing especially at the very green age. in short, IQ and EQ are equally important in diplomatic career. whereby, being well versed in all the other areas does not come solely from few years of rigorous academic trainning and exposure only in foreign services. so if only these
are allowed to define a good diplomat again, i'm afraid it might do injustice.
there's stark contrast between academic achievement and years and years of hands-on experience in diplomacy. politicians though not all, i'm afraid might be better at this.


diplomatic service should therefore welcome the participation of political appointees or diplomatic officers from just any departments or ministries. time has changed and it requires us to adapt with the changing and demanding diplomatic landscape. having diplomat whose
career has taken him or her across multiple departments and ministries or those from political field should be an added advantage. what is important, diplomats must possess the best ethics possible, profesionalism, knowledge as well as hands-on experience, expertise and perhaps above all those qualities, he or she must be highly patriotics and be aware of his or her duty and responsibility to serve the country
at all times. it is certainly very common for career diplomats to assume ambassadorship at the pinnacle of their careers, however, we should keep in mind that such a pristigious post comes with great responsibilities. and therefore, QUALITIES should always be prioritized rather than individual. the cream of the crop could be just anyone, anyone with remarkable leadership and capabilities yet to be recognized. the brightest
among the bright could be just anywhere, should we look hard enough and give the chance to all. an open door policy would encourage more healthy competition. only then, we would really discover the cream of the crop, beef up performance and make diplomacy more relevant. so why not?