KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — A Malaysian who complained she was not allowed into the country’s embassy in Beijing had not arrived with documents to prove her citizenship, said the ambassador stationed there.
According to Datuk Zainuddin Yahya, the embassy’s security measures meant only visitors with the necessary papers to show that they are Malaysians will be allowed entry without appointments.
He said this could have been informally circumvented had the complainant, one Natasha Hussain, conversed in the national language.
“The matter was not greatly helped by the language barrier. The author’s Mandarin was not sufficient enough for the Wujing to understand her, and according to the Malaysian with whom she interacted, even though her proficiency in English was high, her conversation skills in Bahasa Malaysia were practically non-existent.
“With no identification, it was not possible for the guards to allow her into the compound,” he said in a statement responding to her complaint letter published by The Star newspaper yesterday.
Wujing refers to the guards posted by the People’s Republic of China at the embassy for security purposes.
He also refuted her assertion that a member of his staff had rebuffed her, saying the person whom Natasha had conversed with was not attached to the embassy and was visiting Immigration officers stationed there for related work.
Zainuddin also disputed Natasha’s claim that her calls to the embassy went unanswered, saying call logs did not show unattended incoming calls, but conceded that she may have called an officer who was attending to other Malaysians in distress.
He explained that Malaysian embassies were open to citizens seeking to register themselves to be contactable during emergencies, as Natasha had sought to do, but stressed that visitors must arrive with the proper documentation.
In her letter yesterday, the woman said she was turned away by security guards at the Beijing embassy. She added that she then tried to call its main line, but these were not answered.
She further said that she spoke to an embassy employee, with whom the guards had conversed with about her, who questioned why Natasha was keen to be registered with the embassy.
Natasha then gave up on her attempt and left, claiming to feel humiliated and confused by the experience.
