AUGUST 6 — We have four ambassadors in Malaysia named Carlos i.e. Mexico, Brazil, Spain and Philippines (Charles is Carlos in Spanish). Soon there will be two as Carlos Dominguez Diaz from Spain is heading to Geneva. And Daniel Dargent from Belgium will be posted to Abuja, Nigeria.
Our BNO club bids both farewell!
Charles C. Jose
Jose (born 1960) started his career in diplomacy with the Office of Asean Affairs in 1986. His first overseas assignment was to Beijing in January 1989. Almost exactly five months later he “witnessed” the Tiananmen Square protest in which the official death toll was listed as around 300 including soldiers, policemen, civilians and students.
Estimated figures from NGOs ran as high as 10,000 deaths with 40,000 wounded. The protests were concurrently held in 400 other Chinese cities. It was an especially anxious and scary time for young Jose and I am certain for all other expatriates too. He served until mid 1995, by which time he had been promoted from Third Secretary to First Secretary.
It was his dad, an automotive parts businessman, who pointed him towards this career. His mom was a public school teacher.
His other overseas postings were to Singapore (1999 - 2006), Thailand (2007-09), Chongqing, China (2009-11) and Shanghai, China (2011-14).
Joses was posted to Malaysia as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on April 15, 2017. He expects to be in Kuala Lumpur for up to six years unless exigencies arise.
Jose is here with spouse Maria Victoria (Vicky) and they have been married 30 years, having first met as classmates at the University of Philippines’ School of Economics. They have two daughters, Denise (27) who writes for a lifestyle magazine, and Charlene (17) who is in Senior High.
Jose, known for his spontaneous bursts of hearty laughter, enjoys leisurely walks with Vicky around their residence in Titiwangsa.
Philippine diplomats retire at 65.
Flurry before the fight
It made good commercial sense for Manny Pacquiao to choose Kuala Lumpur as the fight venue.
Besides the close relationship we share as trading partners (Malaysia ranked 10th largest out of 223 in 2017), and deep personal bonds, there are also up to100,000 documented workers here. Together with the local fans they would make a good number of captive audience.
And to further endear with Pacquiao’s large fan base, the ambassador announced that the management team of Senator Pacquiao had decided to lower the general admissions ticket price from RM488 to RM250 for Filipino residents.
Then president Rodrigo Duterte confirmed on July 9 that he will be attending the fight. The flurry of diplomatic and security arrangements began.
And on July 12, when Pacquiao met with our prime minister he invited our Tun to the fight as his personal guest. So on fight morning we saw three grand entrances; the two fighters and the two Asean heads of governments entering Axiata Arena.
On July 16, the day after, Duterte met with Tun in Putrajaya.
A land of newsmakers
During the time of less restrictions on the hiring of foreign entertainers, Filipinos were top draws in our clubs and lounges. Their musical talent was so admired that we even kidded that only those who couldn’t quite compete at home were hired in Malaysia.
I shared their pride when 18-year-old Lea Salonga was selected to play Kim (lead role) in West End’s musical Miss Saigon in 1989. It played to packed houses.
Filipinos have won three Miss Universe crowns (1969, 1973 and 2015) and one Miss World crown (2013) with top finishings in other years. They have also won in many other international beauty pageants.
President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda had hogged world society pages like royalties in the second half of the 60s (assumed office 1965). Then Marcos gained real “infamy” with his martial law proclamation in 1972, lifted in 1981.
A returning top opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jnr was assasinated at the tarmac of Manila International Airport in 1983. His wife Cory Aquino was subsequently elected president (1986-92), followed by their son, Benigno Aquino III in 2010 to 2016. Wasn’t that pure poetic justice played out?
The People Power Revolution toppled the Marcos regime and drove him to exile in 1986. That was when the world first knew of the 2,700 pairs of shoes in Imelda’s closets. Her famous retort was supposed to read, “They went into my closets looking for skeletons, but thank God all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes”. What a lady — style even in the face of disaster!
Imelda returned to Philippines after Marcos died in 1989 and she has been elected four times to the House of Representatives!
There was colourful president Joseph Estrada (1998-2001) and now, the larger than life Rodrigo Duterte.
Their one term six-year presidency is working rather well. It allows for what the incumbent believes to be right be done without re-election constraints.
Philippines was under Spanish rule continously for over 350 years followed by about 50 years under the US, and only came into their own in 1946. Perhaps that can shed some light on their “colourful” style.
Postscript
Anyway, Imelda’s long standing shoes notoriety has lost its shine with our version — the stash of RM116 million cash, 12,000 pieces of jewellery, 567 super high-end handbags, 423 luxury watches and 234 branded pairs of sunglasses.
Any one for the famed Filipino dried mangoes?
* Datuk Lee Yew Meng is CEO of Genovasi d.school
** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
