The passing of Tun Ghazali Shafie, whose long illustrious service as the nation’s top Diplomat and Politician extraordinaire is indeed a great loss. In his heyday King Ghaz’s reputation in that specialized field is regarded by both friends and rivals as arguably, “Second-to-None”. A good reflection is reproduced here from The Star:
The long and illustrious road of a no-nonsense ministerBy PAUL GABRIEL
Monday January 25, 2010
paulnews@thestar.com.my
TUN Ghazali Shafie (pic) was often said to be a man who could surmount any challenge, and defy all odds.
Even when the media predicted his death when the light aircraft he was flying in with two others crashed at Kampung Janda Baik, near Genting Highlands, Ghazali emerged almost unscathed after spending 28 hours in the dense Pahang forest.
That was way back in 1982, when Ghazali was Foreign Minister. The other two were killed in the crash.
The Star’s headline on January 11 read “Ghaz in plane crash, minister feared dead”. Inside, two pages were dedicated to Ghazali, with pictures of him at the peak of his career.
A full-scale search operation was launched, joined by the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk (now Tun) Musa Hitam.
It was feared that if Ghazali, who had “battled” the communist terrorists as Home Minister from 1973 to 1981, was alive, he could be captured by them.
He calmly said after being found: “I’m alive and walking... God is great.” It was reported that Ghazali, a qualified private pilot, had tumbled out of the aircraft “when I saw treetops of the jungle rushing at me.”
“King Ghaz” (a nickname he got from a character of the Alley Oop comics strip), certainly had an illustrious career in public service.
He was an expert in international affairs, known for his flamboyance and dashing style. “Ghazali had style, verve, intellect and confidence verging on arrogance,” wrote one observer way back when Ghazali was at the peak of his life.
He rose to the pinnacle of the ministry after having served as Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, leading in the efforts to keep Malaysia’s foreign policy on a neutral course of non-alignment.
Ghazali, who also served as Special Functions Minister and Information Minister, was probably best known for his “no nonsense” approach as Home Minister.
An avowed anti-communist, he kept alive in the public mind the eternal need for vigilance against the Red peril.
He was so thorough in his work that he expected journalists covering his assignments to come fully prepared.
Senior journalist Johan Fernandez remembers attending the minister’s briefing on a White Paper on the communist threat, back in the 70s, which had been distributed a week earlier to the media.
“When one of the reporters posed a question, a disgusted-looking Ghazali gave him a stare and snapped: “The White Paper was given to you people earlier to read and understand and ask intelligent questions. Whatever you ask is all written in the paper. Don’t waste my time!”
Ghazali’s tough mantle also came to the forefront when he spearheaded negotiations to seek the release of Malaysian, American and Swedish hostages caught in the Japanese Red Army siege at the AIA Building in Kuala Lumpur, where the US Embassy was located, in 1975.
As Home Minister during the crucial period, Ghazali excelled in his role as the “man in the middle”, drawing praise from the then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri (now Tun) Haniff Omar.
“He blew his top at a Japanese official who seemed to be inept in moving to secure the release of the hostages. That was how Ghazali worked,” recalled another senior journalist.
Still, King Ghaz was not without his detractors. Some claimed that he was involved in certain conspiracies, and that he was too fond of making detentions under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Renowned journalist Datuk Seri Azman Ujang recalls visiting Ghazali at his Ampang Hilir residence several years ago, asking if he felt any guilt at all for all those arrests.
Known also for keeping his cool during sticky situations, the reply came: “I was just doing my job.”
It has certainly been a long and illustrious road for King Ghaz. He handled his duties the best way he knew and was not easily swayed by public opinion.http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/25/nation/5539677&sec=nation
The long and illustrious road of a no-nonsense ministerBy PAUL GABRIEL
Monday January 25, 2010
paulnews@thestar.com.my
TUN Ghazali Shafie (pic) was often said to be a man who could surmount any challenge, and defy all odds.
Even when the media predicted his death when the light aircraft he was flying in with two others crashed at Kampung Janda Baik, near Genting Highlands, Ghazali emerged almost unscathed after spending 28 hours in the dense Pahang forest.
That was way back in 1982, when Ghazali was Foreign Minister. The other two were killed in the crash.
The Star’s headline on January 11 read “Ghaz in plane crash, minister feared dead”. Inside, two pages were dedicated to Ghazali, with pictures of him at the peak of his career.
A full-scale search operation was launched, joined by the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk (now Tun) Musa Hitam.
It was feared that if Ghazali, who had “battled” the communist terrorists as Home Minister from 1973 to 1981, was alive, he could be captured by them.
He calmly said after being found: “I’m alive and walking... God is great.” It was reported that Ghazali, a qualified private pilot, had tumbled out of the aircraft “when I saw treetops of the jungle rushing at me.”
“King Ghaz” (a nickname he got from a character of the Alley Oop comics strip), certainly had an illustrious career in public service.
He was an expert in international affairs, known for his flamboyance and dashing style. “Ghazali had style, verve, intellect and confidence verging on arrogance,” wrote one observer way back when Ghazali was at the peak of his life.
He rose to the pinnacle of the ministry after having served as Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, leading in the efforts to keep Malaysia’s foreign policy on a neutral course of non-alignment.
Ghazali, who also served as Special Functions Minister and Information Minister, was probably best known for his “no nonsense” approach as Home Minister.
An avowed anti-communist, he kept alive in the public mind the eternal need for vigilance against the Red peril.
He was so thorough in his work that he expected journalists covering his assignments to come fully prepared.
Senior journalist Johan Fernandez remembers attending the minister’s briefing on a White Paper on the communist threat, back in the 70s, which had been distributed a week earlier to the media.
“When one of the reporters posed a question, a disgusted-looking Ghazali gave him a stare and snapped: “The White Paper was given to you people earlier to read and understand and ask intelligent questions. Whatever you ask is all written in the paper. Don’t waste my time!”
Ghazali’s tough mantle also came to the forefront when he spearheaded negotiations to seek the release of Malaysian, American and Swedish hostages caught in the Japanese Red Army siege at the AIA Building in Kuala Lumpur, where the US Embassy was located, in 1975.
As Home Minister during the crucial period, Ghazali excelled in his role as the “man in the middle”, drawing praise from the then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri (now Tun) Haniff Omar.
“He blew his top at a Japanese official who seemed to be inept in moving to secure the release of the hostages. That was how Ghazali worked,” recalled another senior journalist.
Still, King Ghaz was not without his detractors. Some claimed that he was involved in certain conspiracies, and that he was too fond of making detentions under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Renowned journalist Datuk Seri Azman Ujang recalls visiting Ghazali at his Ampang Hilir residence several years ago, asking if he felt any guilt at all for all those arrests.
Known also for keeping his cool during sticky situations, the reply came: “I was just doing my job.”
It has certainly been a long and illustrious road for King Ghaz. He handled his duties the best way he knew and was not easily swayed by public opinion.http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/25/nation/5539677&sec=nation
I can recalled some memorable fleeting encounters with King Ghaz, the most recent one being at one of the ISIS conference/seminar in 2007.
But my first encounter with him was during the turbulent first week after May 13th. I believed he was then the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry. This is where I, as a young subaltern witness “his flamboyance and dashing style”. He was adressing a crowd at the Balai Dato’ Harun in Kampung Baru where I and my troop was patrolling. What struck me then was his thight blue jeans and a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver tucked under his belt behind him. He called me aside and asked for an up date. I gave the “under control situation reports”. He listened without interruption until I completed my short briefing. He then nodded at the rest of the troops and let us continue with our patrolling.
The second encounter was in May/June 1974 after the tragic accident suffered by Majid Din HSB Pahang. He was in a coma at the Temerloh Hospital and King Ghaz, who was then Home Minister and Majid Din’s Kampung mates decided that the victim is to be airlifted to HKL. If my memory served me right, the accident was on a Sunday and King Ghaz requested that I, as the MIO to arrange for a Nuri airlift. I got to speak to the duty officer in Mindef, a Major at about 1600hrs. Sensing that I have problem getting the Major to deal with the request, King Ghaz motioned that I gave him the handset. As a Captain I witness his “no nonsense side”. I can still recollect the words used by the minister, the result of which a Nuri was hoovering at a makeshift helipad at a school padang at about 2000 hrs flood lighted by about 20 cars headlight that I had arranged.
My third encounter was in early August 1988 which took place while waiting for my flight home to KL at Don Muang Airport, Bangkok. This was more on the lighter side of life and as a Lt Col I witnessed King Ghaz display of his intellect and wittiness at its best. I was approaching the airport restroom when King Ghaz suddenly exited from the ladies restroom. (I could only summised that in his haste to satisfy the call of nature he must have missed the signage to the men’s room) He almost collided with two Europen ladies and was reprimanded in no uncertain term “sir, this is meant for ladies”. Inside me I was telling myself how the hell is my minister going to respond. But true to form and without betting an eyelid King Ghaz quipped, “ I too,Ma’am, is meant for ladies”. Phew! you should be there to see the look on the two mat salleh's faces!!!
May Allah blessed his soul. Alfatihah.
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