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By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright May 2022
Tajuddin was rejected by Indonesia as our candidate for the position of ambassador (Duta Besar) in 2021 because they knew better.
In fact, they too must have seen what most Malaysians had already known all along. That he was an unsuitable candidate but our government chose to ignore the character flaws that we ordinary Malaysians could easily identify in him.
His outbursts at journalists, at fellow MPs in Parliament and his provocative stance at press conferences for instance are negative characteristics you just do not want to see in an ambassador.
Yet the government of Ismail Sabri still insisted on getting him appointed as our Duta Besar in Jakarta in 2022.
How many more times must he be rejected before we get the hint that Indonesia does not want to accept him as our ambassador?
Netizens are incensed over this latest development, prompting them to express their ire on social media on the choice of Tajuddin. MPs too are calling on the PM to seriously reconsider his appointment.
Malaysians are now convinced that our government is insensitive and clueless to the feelings of our big neighbour next door.
His presence in Indonesia as ambassador is just another press relations disaster that is waiting to happen and would likely result in strained relations between the two countries if he repeated the booboo like he did not too long ago.
Knowing his incompetence it could very well happen again any time in the near future.
If you recalled, in May 2021 Tajuddin was sacked as the Chairman of Prasarana after a public relations disaster during an LRT accident.
That became a butt of jokes on social media by comedians, including Douglas Lim who made us laugh endlessly when he acted out the “don’t provoke provoke” line echoing Tajuddin’s ridiculous behaviour at a press conference where he insulted a foreign a journalist and made a fool of himself.
That parody was heard a million times around the world on YouTube much to our embarrassment as a nation.
But if he were to mishandle a press conference in a similar fashion that could affect the relations between our two nations it could result in an unforgivable diplomatic row, which would not be so funny anymore.
Anyway, instead of distancing himself from the incompetent Tajuddin, the newly minted Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri who is unaccustomed to the subtleties of diplomacy, picked the Melayu from Pasir Salak yet again and brought him along during a three
day official visit to Indonesia in November 2021.
However, after many months as designated ambassador to Indonesia, there was no official confirmation of Tajuddin’s appointment until May 17th 2022 when he himself announced he would be the Duta Besar!
Does our PM think Indonesia is a suitable dumping ground for a controversial UMNO MP like Tajuddin?
Also, does he think we could try pushing Tajuddin like we tried shoving Bahasa Melayu down their throats, to make it an official language for the Asean region?
Jokowi was diplomatic when approached by Ismail on the subject of Bahasa Melayu but his Education Minister did not mince words in his rejection of Ismail’s offer. The young Education Minister would have done the same about Tajuddin if only he was a Foreign Minister and it was diplomatically permissible.
The recent acceptance of Tajuddin after his earlier rejection has made Malaysia a laughing stock. Indonesia’s cautious acceptance this time around was probably out of courtesy and a show of politeness by Jokowi at his diplomatic best.
But diplomatically it was a humiliation to the Agong because the nomination process would have been supported by the PM and approved by the King himself. The question at the back of everyone’s mind is why persist when the host country had already refused him earlier?
It was clearly a rebuff by Indonesia that Malaysia refused to accept. So, someone must have grovelled to get Jokowi to reconsider.
In Bahasa Melayu, there is an appropriate proverb which says, “Hanya jauhari sahaja yang kenal manikam” or only jewellers would know jewels.
Tajuddin is no jewel in Malaysia’s crown and it does not take a jeweller to tell you that. Indonesia knew it too but our Prime Minister who is no jeweller obviously was unaware all that glitters is not gold.
Neither did he know the difference between rewarding an old UMNO supporter and potentially angering an international ally.
It’s just plain foolish on our part to assume Indonesia is clueless just because Ismail Sabri’s government itself is clueless.
Jokowi must have gritted his teeth hard to sign the acceptance of Tajuddin’s credentials this time!
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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