THE government recently directed that Malay be used at government functions abroad where English is not the host country's national language.
But English can still be spoken when dealing with host countries' officials in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland and India, where their national language is English.
In all other countries, Malaysian diplomats and officials from the capital are to converse, negotiate and deliver messages in Malay, if my understanding is right.
If this is so, it is quite a tough call for our diplomats. Power imposes the very choice of language which is used in a diplomatic negotiation and in an agreement. From the 17th to 19th centuries, French was the language of diplomacy.
It was also the period of French ascendancy. If China ruled the world today, the language of diplomacy would be Chinese. If Russia ruled, we would speak Russian.
However, for rich and intimate communication on complex and important issues, English has an essential role as a common denominator in negotiations today despite the fact that the English-speaking population is smaller than the Chinese-, Spanish- or Indonesian-speaking population.
Secondly, the language of diplomacy is unique. It has its own jargons and nuances. It did not appear just yesterday. Its formalisation into special patterns, with chosen and sometimes repetitive patterns, have been designed to oil the joints of relationships between peoples and nations.
Diplomats around the world use the same pattern of written communication in what is called the diplomatic note, the aide memoir, note verbal, memorandum or the third-person note.
Following a certain pattern, the diplomatic language is designed to convey several messages at once: to soften their negative impact when this is intended, thus leaving face-saving room for the other party to respond in kind, which protects the messenger (most of the time, the ambassador) from the responsibility of their impact.
Ideally, the aim is to protect the messenger from being killed.
Communication between diplomats is a two-way street. One cannot expect to obtain information unless one is able and willing to convey useful information as well.
It is first and foremost the act of sharing. The emphasis is normally on "what to say" rather than "what not to say". Sometimes, silence is more eloquent than words.
Trained diplomats avoid potentially aggressive, insensitive, offensive or destructive language. The diplomatic language is peace-making, peace-building and peace-promoting. Not only must diplomatic language be polite, choice of words must also be correct.
However, if one wishes to camouflage one's thoughts, it can be achieved by using a more complicated style, complex sentences, digressions, interrupting the other's flow of thought and introducing new topics. Ambiguity is a useful tool in diplomacy as it is in abstract art.
Today, English, French, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and Arabic are the official working languages at the United Nations. The best interpreters in the world are found at the UN, where speeches are interpreted live and written documents translated swiftly.
All other languages require the use of one's own interpreter who must be able to converse in the UN languages. When negotiations are conducted in smaller groups, no interpreters are present and the only medium of communication is English.
Since the creation of the Malayan Diplomatic Service by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj in 1956, Malaysian diplomats have done fairly well speaking and negotiating in English.
English has been a useful tool in promoting the country's image abroad. Peace and trade agreements have been concluded in English. Some deals are secured quickly and cannot be delayed for the sake of translation.
Today's diplomats face new challenges with the new directive. The Malay diplomatic jargon is a work in progress. Diplomats now have to learn to use the diplomatic language in Malay and this will have to start from now.
In addition, the Foreign Ministry will need to hire professional interpreters and translators of UN standard and who are au fait with diplomatic jargon so that no message is lost in translation.
Perhaps it is more effective, less tedious and less costly for those representing the country abroad to brush up the English they already know.
As one diplomat says, Malay-sians should be proud to be proficient in many languages rather than limit our potential to a compulsory electoral favourite.
The writer was a career diplomat and has served in Brussels, the Fiji Islands, Washington DC and the Netherlands