M'sia's Envoy To Senegal Ends Tour Of Duty With Prestigious Award From President Macky Sall

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s outgoing ambassador to Senegal Dr Shazelina Zainul Abidin was conferred the National Order of the Lion, Senegal’s highest order, by President Macky Sall on Wednesday. Shazelina is the first Malaysian to be conferred the award by the West African nation for her contribution in furthering bilateral relations. The award for the class of Commander is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a foreigner. The award for this category is limited to 200 living recipients only. In an interview with Bernama on her last day in Dakar before flying home to Malaysia on Thursday, Shazelina said not only was the award a total surprise to her but also the manner it was presented to her. She said as it is summer now in Senegal, the President was on leave. “Knowing that I would not be able to make a farewell call on him before I left the country, I wrote him a farewell note and went to see the Diplomatic Advisor in his office. “I was as frank as I could be in the letter, explaining the points that I thought were pertinent for him to know as the President of the Republic, particularly in areas beneficial to Senegal,” she said. She added that she sent the note to the Diplomatic Advisor on Monday and much to her surprise she was later informed that the President wanted to see her despite being on vacation. Shazelina was then invited to the Presidential Palace on Wednesday. “When the President greeted me in the Big Hall, I was taken aback that there were journalists and a TV crew as well as many other people in the room. “Normally a farewell call is very private, the Diplomatic Advisor and the Foreign Minister would be present and that would be it. But this was different. “That was when the President presented me with the medal, and said in French that Senegal was pleased to confer the National Order of the Lion (Ordre national du Lion) on me for services rendered in furthering bilateral relations. “I was speechless. All the rehearsed French phrases about being sad to go etc, all flew out the window. Thank God for the mask - or else you would have seen my jaw hanging open!,” she said. “I feel very honoured to have received this award for Malaysia. I consider this award is for Malaysia and not for me personally because I am here only in the capacity as the country’s envoy. “I am glad to have had a tour of duty in Africa, and I am glad that it was Senegal,” she said. Instituted in October 1960, the National Order of the Lion consists of five classes - Grand Cross (grand-croix), Grand Officer (grand officier), Commander (commandeur), Officer (officier), and Knight (chevalier). Shazelina was appointed as Malaysia’s ambassador to Senegal in November 2017, her first posting as an ambassador. On her tenure in Senegal, she spent her first six month meeting people, paying courtesy calls not only on the members of the administration but also civil servants and fellow diplomats, laying the foundation for her to carry out her duties effectively later on. “Senegalese are essentially very welcoming people. They have as their tagline “Teranga” which means “hospitality”, much like Malaysian hospitality. “Here it is more about establishing good contacts and maintaining it, rather than throwing your weight around because of who you are. “I have been fortunate in that the contacts I first made when I arrived here were facilitated by some of my retired bosses. There were people in the Senegal Administration who had served together with my bosses in New York, in Geneva, and in Malaysia even. From there, it was just a matter of capitalising on those initial contacts to get more contacts,” she added. On Malaysia-Senegal ties going forward, she said the momentum has now been set for greater Malaysia-Senegal relations. The visit of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Dakar in January 2019, after a 27 year hiatus greatly propelled that momentum, she added. “I hope to see more concrete relations in the future. There are many projects in the pipeline, and we have to get out of this mentality of merely trying to ‘sell’ products. “We need to build a relationship, and that takes time and effort. We cannot be selling products and then washing our hands of the whole thing - pretty soon we will be left without a market to do business,” Shazelina said. -- BERNAMA