I entered the public service as a PTD officer on the 24th of April 2009. It was the day that changed my life. I am very thankful to God because of giving me the chance to be part of the premier scheme in public service. Once I became a PTD officer, I realized that I carry a lot of responsibilities to deliver quality service for the public and enhance public service image in the eyes of the people. PTD is also synonymous with leadership. Therefore, I realized that once I became a PTD, automatically I have to build a leadership character in me because PTD occupies strategic posts in ministries, departments and districts level.
I started my career as a PTD officer in Ministry of Defence and was first posted at the Policy Division. I served there for about one and a half years before doing a job rotation and was later posted at the Development Division. This was where the excitement of working as a PTD officer begins. I never had any knowledge on project management. I also never had any experience on construction and engineering but I feel very excited working here, maybe because it was a new environment for me and later I realized that even though I never had any experience in this field but we will build the interest slowly as we go along that line. In the development sector, I see a lot of multi-talented leaders in the making. They are not only doing routine work as a PTD such as writing papers, doing presentations, conducting meetings, etc but they are also doing some technical works. This is where the engineering knowledge comes into the picture. Even though we never had any knowledge about construction (as I came from a political science background) but we must be a fast learner in order to stay relevant in this field. Thus, I learned that being a PTD is not only about writing papers but more than that as they also contribute in the development of infrastructure for the welfare of our people. For me, they are future leaders that will shape the path of our country to become a develop country in the year 2020.
Many said that great leaders are made and not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. I have several leaders as my role model in my career. Some come from political background and some from a business background. I always admire great people like Donald Trump, John P. Kotter, John C Maxwell, Dale Carnegie, etc because they are great leaders that produce even more leaders. Besides that, I also admire people like Tun Ghazali Shafie, Tun Ahmad Sarji and many other influential public servant who contributed a lot for our national development. In my leadership experience while serving in the public service, I would like to name a leader who had inspired and given me a tremendous impact. Among several great leaders that I mentioned just now, I want to highlight Tun Ghazali Shafie as my great leader that had influenced and shaped my career as a PTD officer. He is very influential in shaping my career and is my reference for my career as a PTD as a whole.
TUN MOHAMMAD GHAZALI SHAFIE: MALAYSIA’S GREAT STATESMAN
Tun Mohammad Ghazali Shafie is one of the premier statesman that Malaysia ever had. He was a former diplomat and later turned as a politician and corporate leader. He is very firm in character until people calls him King Ghaz.
He was born in Kuala Lipis Pahang in 1922 and studied law at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth and International Studies at University of London. In 1944 he entered Public Service as a probationary officer and in 1947 he was appointed acting district officer in Kuala Lipis, Pahang. His achievement of four decade public service were many and varied. Between 1955 until 1957 he worked abroad for several times. He served at Commissioner Office in London, UN Permanent Representative Office, British High Commissioner in New Delhi, India. He was appointed as a Malayan Commissioner to India and later he was founded Malayan High Commissioner in New Delhi, India.
He had contributed a lot to our national development. Under our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, he helped shape the country's foreign policy and was involved in the formation of Malaysia. He had played an important role and contributed his mind and energy in the formation of Malaysia. His involvement in the Cobbold Commission was very crucial. Besides that, Tun Ghazali had contributed a lot towards the formation of ASEAN. He has a very good personal relationship with ASEAN leaders. This good relationship together with his reputation as an influential diplomat has made the formation of ASEAN ran very smoothly. His influential characteristic has made diplomatic relations with neighboring countries be in harmony and at the same time our national interest can be guarded safely. For example, negotiation regarding the confrontation with Indonesia, claim for oil fields with Thailand, several problems with Brunei and the Philippines had been settled with regional spirit. He was also one of the architects that helped formed the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the International Islamic University Malaysia and many more.
During his tenure as a Special Functions and Information Minister from 1971 until 1973, he made a big changes to Radio Televisyen Malaysia. After that he was appointed as Minister of Home Affairs and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1981 until 1984. He was known as a person who is very dedicated to his country and his leadership has made Malaysia one of the respected countries in the international arena.
In the matter of regional affairs, he helped bring an end to Indonesia’s Confrontation and restore diplomatic relations. He was one of the members that participated in the negotiation of the eventual surrender of the Communist Party of Malaya. He worked hard to ensure that Malaysia was involved seriously in the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) in the 60s and to be a champion in championing anti apartheid policy that has been implemented by South Africa in discriminating black people.
As a permanent secretary (1959-1970) and later as Minister of External Affairs (1981-1984), he brought our foreign relations to a higher level. During his time in service, Wisma Putra was made a brand name not only within our national civil service but in the region as well.
His expertise in international relations is highly respected as held important posts in international bodies such as Chairman of United Nations Asia-Pacific Conference on the Question of Palestine in Kuala Lumpur in 1983 and member of South Commission and Chairman of commission for reinforcement of ASEAN mechanism. He was also selected as a member in the eminent person team for Commonwealth for South Africa to give support for multi party negotiation process in 1981, member of Commonwealth observer for South Africa’s general election, member of observer for Sri Lankan and Bosnia Herzegovina general election and Chairman of Commonwealth observer for Bangladeshi general election.
After leaving the cabinet in July 1984, he put his attention to other fields as he held several important posts in the private sector and international bodies. Among others were chairman of Peremba, Chairman of Landmark Holdings Sdn. Bhd., board of directors of Rolls Royce Asia Pacific, chairman of Westmont Bank Manila and Chairman of Intermega Energy NL, Australia.
His leadership can also be seen in sport arena as he held several important posts such as Life time Honorary President of Selangor Royal Aviation Club, President of Kesatuan Olahraga Amatur Malaysia (KOAM) since 1962 until 1988.
He was the foreign policy guru for a whole generation of Malaysian and ASEAN diplomats. He emphasized that civil servants should be required to read widely and knowledgeable. Many people admiring his skills in dealing with diplomatic community and the media. His retirement from public service was a loss to the country as he was among our premier statesmen.
Tun Ghazali Shafie had contributed a lot to our foreign policy and helped shaped a good environment in regional affairs. He is one of the great leaders in the diplomatic field that Malaysia has ever produced. He not only played an important role in our regional and international affairs but he was also active in politics when he left the public service. For me, he is a true leader who contributed a lot to our country and his contribution as well as active participation in international bodies had made our country proud. He was the one who placed Malaysia in the international arena. Tun Ghazali Shafie’s experience as a true diplomat and a great politician has given me the inspiration on how to be a great leader like him.
-MIMS
REFERENCES.
1. Carnegie, Dale. 1993. The Leader In You. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc.
2. Covey, Stephen R. 1991. Principle-Centred Leadership. United Kingdom: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd.
3. Tun Ghazali Shafie Negarawan Ulung http://tokohrao.blogspot.com/2011/06/tun-ghazali-shafei-negarawan-ulung.html
4. Tun Ghazali Shafie-Foreign Minister Extraordinary http://malaysiana1.blogspot.com/2010/01/tun-ghazali-shafie-foreign-minister.html
5. Tun Ghazali Shafie http://www.arkib.gov.my/ghazalie_shafie_negarawan_ulung?p_p_id=56_INSTANCE_H5gW&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-3&p_p_col_count=1&page=1
6. King Ghaz, Malaysia’s Premier Statesman http://www.scribd.com/doc/25889563/Tun-Muhammad-Ghazali-Shafie-kemaskini-pada-5-2-2010
7. Concept of Leadership http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html
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