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International Duty gan when he was a child. “Being a Consul General more of-
ten than not is troubleshooting.
The 45-year-old diplomat served “As a kid, I always watched tele- When issues arise, find the best
as the First Secretary at the Malay- vision with my father. It was the solution. Everyday is a different
sian Embassy in Prague from 2008 news stories about foreign diplo- scenario. It drives me and gives me
to 2011. mats visiting Malaysia that caught motivation,” the diplomat says.
my eye. Seeing officials receiving
Markam has fond memories of dignitaries at Kuala Lumpur Inter- Post-Pandemic
Prague. He thinks the city’s value national Airport and ceremonies
lies in its architecture and culture. With travel restrictions in Hong
held for them made me want to be
Throughout his 20 years of expe- one of them,” he shares. Kong and Macau lifted, promot-
ing Malaysian trade and tourism
rience in diplomacy, Markam says Despite his passion for diplomacy is a major part of his work. Agen-
his previous postings cannot com- at such a young age, he failed to cies such as Tourism Malaysia and
pare to Hong Kong.
land the programme he wanted to Malaysia External Trade Develop-
“Prague is rich in architecture study at university. ment Corporation (MATRADE)
and culture. Guangzhou has its “My degree and masters are actu- are his working partners.
strengths, it is the manufacturing ally in accountancy. I had original- China and Hong Kong, account-
hub of China, but while both are ly applied to study international ing for 23.11% of Malaysia’s total
fantastic, Hong Kong offers some- relations but unfortunately I did exports in 2020, are among Ma-
thing more. Being an international not get in,” the Xiamen university laysia’s largest trading partners,
city as well as a financial centre and graduate laughed when recalling according to the World Integrated
hub of services, the dynamics here his university days. Trade Solution by the World Bank.
make the job very interesting,” he
says. Markam says his passion for his In 2021, Tourism Malaysia report-
job has never wavered even though ed that China was Malaysia’s third
Markam’s love for diplomacy be-
he faces challenges at work. largest tourist market.
Markam and his consulate hosted
a series of seminars, networking
meetings and a gala dinner pro-
moting Malaysian tourism when a
delegation was sent to Hong Kong
by Tourism Malaysia last year.
Though the diplomat welcomes
the opening of borders, he shares
that the impact of the pandemic
still lingers around.
“The biggest challenge for us [in
the post-COVID period] is to get
airlines to increase the number of
direct flights between Hong Kong
and Malaysia,” he says.
Muzambli Markam was having a meeting with Macau’s Chief Execu- Markam points out the situation at
tive Ho Iat-seng. (Photo courtesy of Muzambli Markam) the Hong Kong International Air-
port is still constrained due to the