[Disclaimer: This article was first published in The Nepal Digest (March 16, 1997), and it is reproduced here at the request of the author, and with the permission of The Nepal Digest. The Center for Asian Studies is not responsible for the views expressed in the article.]
---- by Ramesh Shrestha in Bangkok
Are the Nepalese embassies and diplomatic corps abroad doing more harm to Nepal than good?
Asking the question are long-time overseas Nepalese residents who have had the opportunity of observing scores of Nepalese ambassadors - both "political" and "career " appointees - and their support staff at close hand. No doubt, there have been some excellent postings of individuals who have made Nepal proud. But most of the embassy staff, they say, have been "subbas, khardars and section officers" rather than "officials trained in the art and practice of establishing and continuing relations between nations (Longman)".
"They should never have left Sital Niwas for the sensitive diplomatic desks overseas as they are either too obstinate or too dumb to learn about the culture of the host country, to appreciate their ways, take pains to get to know well their counterparts and other important people in the private sectors," say the growing Nepalese community in Thailand who have found the Bangkok-based Nepalese diplomatic corps a misnomer, a total contradiction in term. "Most of them are completely unqualified to represent Nepal, are ignorant about their roles, and too poorly trained to keep even the elementary diplomatic protocol much less abide by the simple etiquettes of the host country, "says one Nepali who has been working with the Bangkok-based UN agency ESCAPE for over a decade.
Most embarrassing of all, he adds, are the functions organised by the Royal Nepalese Embassy when our poorly trained officials fail to recognise and provide proper protocal to the invited high officials from the Thai government, including the privy counselors representing the Thai palace. I have been in Thailand for the last 16 years and I, too, have seen terrible bunglings. Worst of all was the reception the Nepalese Embassy organised for His Majesty the King and the Queen of Nepal , no less, last January (1997).
There must be something wrong with the body-politic of Nepalese diplomacy if the Nepalese Embassy cannot even get right their reception for their own Royal family, the absolute monarch only a few years ago and still arguably the most popular couple and the only hope for Nepal in future.
The function was even more of a disaster in the eyes of the Thai guests attending the crowds milling around the royal visitors, some taking pictures right in Their Majesties' faces posing security nightmares. The final, tragic scene of the Nepalese taking picture with the Royal guests - with the Royal family seated on the chairs and the Nepalese passing behind them, giggling away, pell mell , was nothing less than an insult to the institute of monarchy - in the eyes of the Thai guests and of those Nepalese who have been in the country for some time and appreciate the Thai's legendary respect for their royal family.
Thais consider standing when the members of the royal family are seated a sign of disrespect for the latter. We long-time Nepalese residents of Thailand were mortally embarrassed thus when one of the embassy secretaries waiting on the royal visitors refused a request from some Thai guests for permission to take a picture with the Nepalese Royalties with them seated on the floor rather than standing behind.
" No, you are not to sit on the floor . You must stand behind , if you want your picture taken," he decreed.
Noticing a potential disaster in the making, some of us tried to intervene. We explained to the visiting Royal aide de camp, who actually did waive at the Thais to proceed to take the picture but were brazenly stopped by the same secretary. As if having taken the cue from the Thai request, the same official later took a picture with the royal couple seated on the floor, which infuriated the Thais even more.
What stupidity! What utter disregard for local people! What insensitivity! What a totally senseless show of power! Is that Gurkha diplomacy, or what? What kind of diplomats do we produce in Nepal? What kind of training does Sital Niwas provide them so these inept secretaries are stopped from ruining the image of Nepal in foreign countries. Still interested? Then read on for more sordid details from the Royal reception.
I received a call late Tuesday night (January 21) from an Embassy official inviting me and my wife to a reception on Thursday 6:30 pm at the Oriental Hotel. But where was the invitation card? A reception for Their Majesties the King and Queen of Nepal without a formal invitation? The question crossed our minds. But then may be everything was being organised in a hurry, we thought. In my 16 years in Thailand, it was only the second time we had been invited to a reception for the Royal couple. Naturally, we were more than excited. We braved the Bangkok evening traffic and got to the famous riverside hotel on time.
The hotel lobby was milling with the Nepalese from various fields - university students , United-Nations officials and their wives, businessmen, engineers, and other local residents . Going up a flight of stairs took us to the Ballroom- the venue of the reception. On the foyer was a "reception desk", where two Thai ladies, a young one who handles our visa section single-handedly and the other a middle-aged lady who has been our embassy's chef for over a decade were making valiant attempts to hand guests their name badges . There was nobody greeting anybody. The Ambassador was not around. A third secretary was busy peering through the list of invitees. No wonder badges could not be found to match the guests name. And embarrassing for me personally, they couldn't find one carrying my wife's name .
" Was I really invited," she asked.
"Don't you have a blank card I can write my name on," She suggested helpfully.
Of course, they didn't have a spare name badge either. Thankfully, there were more people without their badges. Why bother making badges with name cards when you can't even issue proper invitation cards in the first place? Even more importantly, without a competent embassy official present at the reception area, wasn't the whole process of maintaining protocal in a disarray? Isn't diplomacy about observing protocals, to some extent? Inside the ballroom were more Nepalese and many Thais. I ran into Dilip Pradhan from Asian Institute of Technology and asked him how many had come from the AIT.
"One Hundred and Fifty", he answered.
" Oh yes, there' re about 150 Nepalese students, faculty members and their
families at AIT, I know," I tried to correct him.
One hundred and fifty Nepalese had indeed been transferred in three buses to the Oriental. "Why not? "I t asked myself. Every Nepalese should have the right to see their king and queen, especially while they are living overseas. For some reason though, the embassy's generosity in inviting as many Nepalese as they could did not match their effort in making sure that every one was properly taken care of. "I mean, the Nepalese officials always tend to mistreat us in Nepal. Why can't they be a bit more civil, more diplomatic, more world class at least when they are not wearing their daura-suruwal and topi"? I asked myself. I've seen again and again that the food is the first thing to vanish from our Embassy functions. We Nepalese are not exactly the most moderate eaters even when we know it's just a cock-tail party. But then our Embassy should know how we eat.
But then the big embarrasing question is what about the non- Nepalese guests? Most Nepalese embassy functions in Bangkok serve poorer food than in a press party given by a non-name Thai company. Does the Embassy not have enough money to celebrate the King's birthday? Or is it the incompetence of the Embassy officials? They should know that you can't invite 300 people to a cock-tail party and order only ten food courts, some with only nuts and sweets. Anyone with any experience in selecting menus for official functions should know that noodles, being very smelly, are a poor choice . And yet the noodle station had the longest waiting line throughout the night (we thought thanks to the Oriental banquet manager,who must have taken pity and ordered his staff to continue to serve the noodles no matter what). I saw one frustrated Nepalese student who had come from Mahidol University after more than three-hours of bus ride opening and shutting the food trays loudly one by one because food was gone from every one of them. The event started at 6:30 pm. No one from the Embassy cared to tell us when the Royal guests were arriving. What was the programme? How would we receive them? What was the protocal?
With most stomachs still rebelling that one had to go hungry even at a Bhoj held in the King's name, the news of Their Majesties' arrival sparked our herding instinct , lining up in disarray and almost jamming up at the two sides of the door. Some looked about ready to join with noodle bowls still in their hands. Some started running now for the noodles that they appeared within easy reach. The King and the Queen went through the "reception" lines, talked to a lot of us asking what we were doing, offering their hands to the Thais. One could see that the Royal guests were relaxed and enjoying themselves. They were offering hands to the Thais as appropriately as the Thai monarchs do to the foreign visitors.
The Thai physician who attended our King, also the physicians for the King of Thailand, were still around, having kept themselves to themselves. There was not a word uttered between any Nepalese and these physicians; not a single bridge built. Among the Thais were Thai King's representative, the Lord Chamberlain with his consort, staying away mostly unnoticed until they too had to introduce themselves to the King and the Queen before they left. And soon after that our own Royal guests too left, just as we all did. It was a long night; typically tragic, thanks to the lack of organisation. No doubt, the embassy staff are not only to be blamed. They are seriously understaffed; their job is hopeless, especially when every visiting minister, every "VIP" expects full service from them. After all, Bangkok is bigger than Kathmandu. Every member of parliament, minister, secretary, their wives, relatives, their chakariwallahs- every one needs to go shopping whether it is for gold or for a good hospital. Who takes care of them? It's the embassy staff. If they can't manage, it's the only business we got - the Royal Nepal Embassy or those who run it. One should also make allowances for the fact that the Foreign Ministry has not made up its mind to send a replacement for the last Ambassador who left almost a year ago.
But the problem is not the appointment of new Ambassadors . They come and go. What seems to be lacking is a system whereby a sense of continuity is in knowledge, or diplomatic know-how if you will, is maintained . That the new diplomats are trained on the cultural sensitivities of the host country before , that the departing Ambassadors are debriefed for the benefit of the new ones? Without any method of keeping that continuity, each new diplomat starts at zero and by the time he begins to understand anything, four years have passed and it's time to leave.
Obviously, they need help. They should not be too shy to learn, including from the long-time Nepalese residents and societies who will be too glad to do their worth. By the same token, the latter too need to be more organised and get involved so that Nepal and its image can be saved from being hurt by these bungling embassy clowns who go around the world calling themselves "Nepalese diplomats."