Press coverage of “Malaya’s First Year At The United Nations” book launch- The Edge Daily

Launch of ‘Malaya’s First Year At The United Nations’
by Jacqueline Toyad

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaya’s First Year At The United Nations (As Reflected in Dr Ismail’s Reports Home to Tunku Abdul Rahman) was launched by its publisher ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) and ASLI (Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute) here yesterday.

The event celebrated the release of a book based on almost daily letters sent by Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Malaya’s first ambassador to Washington DC and its first Permanent Head of Federation to the United Nations in New York, to our nation’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.

“After my father’s death, I looked through the papers that were in his study and came across a black folder with carbon copies of the letters he’d sent to Tunku during his time at the UN.

“When I saw them I thought, wow, there could be some interesting things here… this could be a story on its own,” said Mohamed Tawfik Ismail, Dr Ismail’s eldest son, who co-compiled the book with Dr Ooi Kee Beng.

From left: Ooi, Tawfik, Raja Nazrin, Keith, Kesavapany and Navaratnam at the book launch yesterday.

Ooi authored The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time (2006), a biography of the former deputy prime minister and home minister based on Dr Ismail’s unpublished memoirs and private papers as well as interviews, facilitated by Tawfik, with his old friends and colleagues. The book, now in its ninth print, was also published by ISEAS.

The launch was officiated by the US ambassador to Malaysia, James Keith, and saw the attendance of the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah, members of the diplomatic service, local UN representatives, and friends and members of the Ismail family.

In his speech, Keith said: “The art of governing, politicking and diplomacy is implementation, and it takes a lot to get those ideas implemented. We should admire Dr Ismail for having the courage to document his efforts in detail and for being so transparent.”

At the event, ASLI director Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam remarked that “the book is invaluable as it gives insight into the thinking, values and inspirations of Dr Ismail” and it reflected the “tremendous thinking of our unique leaders of that unique era”.

Ramon also added that the transparency and accountability that Dr Ismail displayed in his letters was unseen in any modern day politician.

ISEAS director K Kesavapany said primary sources such as these letters were hard to come by and that “there is still a lot more wisdom to be harvested” from Dr Ismail’s papers.

Tawfik acknowledged his gratitude to ISEAS, announcing that Malaya’s First Year At The United Nations is the first of a series featuring his father’s private papers.

“This is the first of the series of primary documents left behind by my father. And as a son of a doctor, I understand enough to know that such medicine must be carefully administered and introduced in small doses so as not to shock the patient.

“The patient has been diagnosed with mild amnesia, occasionally forgetting who he is, and must be brought back to normal with love for what he can be, gentle reminders and a harsh dose of hard, historical reality. Also important to the long-term recovery of the patient is that the doctor is an optimist, a trait my father often described of himself,” said Tawfik.

Malaya’s First Year At The United Nations, touted as a must read for the diplomatic corps and Malaysian foreign policy analysts, is available for RM60 at bookstores nationwide.