Young Diplomats Should Take Multi-Racial, Cultural Experience As Advantage - DM Of Foreign Affair

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 (Bernama) -- Young diplomats need to use the experience of living in a multi-racial and multi-cultural society in Malaysia as an advantage to strengthen their diplomacy and negotiation skills, said Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Marzuki Yahya. Marzuki also encouraged them to understand and appreciate other cultures, especially when they were assigned abroad. “Much like culture, diplomacy is about liking and knowing other people. So when working with people and building relationships with them, it would be good to have some perspective and understanding of their cultures. “Hence, states nowadays opt for cultural diplomacy as part of their soft power approach instead of the traditional hard power,” he said when officiating the 2018 Cultural Appreciation Day at Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR), here Friday. Marzuki added, the appreciation towards multiculturalism, respect, tolerance and to cherish differences have always been the important elements in Malaysia's domestic stability for many decades. The Cultural Appreciation Day organised by IDRF was aimed to promote cultures from more than 15 countries including Kazakhstan, Croatia, Uzbekistan and Bahrain. The event was also participated by Malaysia's young diplomats-in-training, international participants of Malaysian Technical Corporation Programme and ASEAN Junior Diplomats. -- BERNAMA