Come home to roost

Politics, especially international politics is a very complicated affair. People like us who are not diplomats wouldn't know how anything works. I look at foreign politics and foreign relations similar to knitting. I use knitting as an example because from mere yarns it turns into something else. No cloth, no nothing. Just knitting. But unravelling just one wrong thread will unravel everything. And everything will just fall apart.

Similarly, one action that we take, or a misplaced word can unravel years and centuries of relations. Many wars are caused by just a misplaced word, misunderstood and misinterpreted. Sometimes, it's just a word uttered and repeated in the heat of the moment and that will be enough to insult a nation especially an absolute monarchy.

I remember a small situation. I wanted to stop Malaysia's fish from crossing the border into Thailand. How difficult is it? Just enforce the law and stop the transportation of fish. And everything will be fine.

WRONG!

To do that they need to consult multiple parties, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Import and Export Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and the negotiation team from Ministry of International Trade and Industries. They may also need to consult with the Primary Industries Ministry, units from the Prime Minister's Department and the Economic Planning Unit. Then rope in Royal Malaysian Customs and the Inland Revenue.

WHY?

Because simply by stopping the export or movement of fish into Thailand could be a violation of treaties signed under AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) and the WTO (World Trade Organisation), and most likely many other treaties that I may not even be aware of. Years of negotiations went in for an entire range of items and one foolhardy action can impact simply everything.

This analogy is of course in relation to recent events, and not so recent events that criticised and overturned decisions made by PM6. Believable or not that's how that royal household work. And it is not in their veins to explain any of their actions. Putting them second? That's a big no no.

I have never been in the Prime Minister's Office; however, I have been involved on many occasions planning for PM's movements, events and so forth. It is actually like ballet. Everything need to be in cohesion and well balanced. That's how I see such planning. Every nut and bolt need to be in place. Everything means everything. Everything will be carefully choreographed, almost nothing is left to chance.

We have even planned how traffic works, the time it takes, who goes in first or second. Therefore, when it comes to an overseas trip that involves a supreme sovereign (sovereign also means supreme ruler, I'm just trying to create an emphasis here), There is no way that a nation would ask for a foreign dignitary to extend anything nor would a foreign dignitary that plans to meet a sovereign, fails to do so, unless he/she is severe ill, contagious or dead. But in any instance in such situations, the dignitary will pay a visit and convey their wishes in any way possible. There may not be any negotiations but paying their respects is part of diplomacy.

There is nothing wrong not meeting, it happens all the time, but for God's sake plan ahead and communicate effectively. Even if there are contingency plans, moving from Scenario A to Scenario B or C will be smooth and seamless with the PM not aware of anything orchestrated.

Case in point, I planned for PM6's trip to Iskandar Malaysia. At all times, the plan was to use his official helicopter to view from the air. But at the last possible minute they decided to use private helicopters instead. It was not decided by PM, just by someone else and yet he knew nothing of these changes. At the most just a brief explanation before he goes up on the helicopter.

Similarly, originally there wasn't any plan for PM to have lunch, so we just served finger food for him to partake while chatting with the media. The media junket went a little longer than usual so he decided to stay on for lunch. The moment we saw it approaching a particular milestone, PMO and I decided to get lunch ready, we quickly ran to the chef and enquired what he can serve in that short time. He said since PM seems to enjoy the finger food, he can serve more of the same with larger portions and maybe just a little something. Earlier, we cannot tell the future but we requested the chef to be prepared for a higher number of heads, so that was what he used to prepare for lunch.

What does this show? Every step of the way everything is planned to ensure everything is meticulously prepared. How prepared? Wherever the PM goes, there is a medical team on standby, there' s Civil Defence team on standby and there's even a Fire and Rescue Unit hidden away poised for trouble. This explains why I compared it to ballet. Meticulously planned, prepared and fairly well balanced. Almost nothing out of place. I won't say it is impossible, but we try our best to eliminate all impossibilities.

So, figure it out for yourself what it all meant and what actually happened from my various analogies and anecdotes.