This autobiography by retired Malaysian ambassador R Vengadesan is a charming and sometimes emotional walk down memory lane.
Vengadesan was born in Banting, Selangor, during the final months of the Japanese occupation of Malaya, and his life story runs in parallel with the story of Malaysia itself.
He served as Malaysia’s envoy to Mali, Senegal, and Namibia, with his career peaking during his stint as ambassador to Italy from 1997 to 2000.
A member of Malaysia’s small Brahmin community, he tells of the challenges of the era in which he grew up: how his family briefly moved back to India and then back again; how, like other Malaysians, they had to face up to the incredible hardships of the Emergency, and the 1969 race riots.
There are also human stories about a kaunda kaundi injury, playing catapult, his mother’s signature brinjal rice dish, and dealing with river snakes intruding in the home by the Klang River.
Along the way, Vengadesan and his brothers became pioneer students at Universiti Malaya when it was the only university in the country. He developed his skill in languages which he inherited from his father who was a court interpreter.
There was the excitement of Merdeka Day in 1957, and a family tragedy when his father died of a heart attack on Malaysia Day itself in 1963.
He also struck up a romance with a fellow UM student of a different religious persuasion, and this too involved diplomatic negotiations!
Vengadesan’s early career started during the now-forgotten Cold War when he served as a junior officer in Russia from 1972 to 1974. He later served in Japan (1974 to 1977) and Laos (1977-1979).
He was present during historic moments such as the first visit of then UK prime minister Edward Heath to Malaysia in 1971, and the UN conference on the Cambodian war.
He also had a family of three children and they served their longest spell in the Malaysian mission in Brussels, which doubled as a European Union posting.
Vengadesan spent the vast majority of his career overseas, and that might be one reason why he is not such a high-profile public figure.
He served under many distinguished diplomatic leaders such as Tengku Ngah Muhammad, Zainal Sulong and Zakaria Ali, and also was contemporaries with names like Fuzi Razak and Hasmy Agam.
Published by Gerakbudaya, this is a slim volume, partly because the author chooses to be discreet, and it is noticeable that Vengadesan strives to be diplomatic at all times.
Yet he does a great job of setting the scene of how a boy from Banting got to travel to over 70 countries around the world.
He also faced down violent threats during a coup in Mali in 1991. This was because protesters targeted the ambassador’s residence which was rented from an unpopular member of the dictatorial government.
While posted to Rome, he led Malaysia’s delegation to a United Nations diplomatic conference on the establishment of an International Criminal Court.
Vengadesan also tells how he has had to overcome tragedies including the deaths of his father and brother Ramani, as well as his cousin’s daughter who was killed in a high-profile murder case in India. Saddest of all was the loss of his young granddaughter I-shan.
Ultimately, his tale is that of an unbowed patriot who was glad to have served his country during more turbulent times. He urges us to be grateful for what we have, and appreciate the journey we took together to make it this far.