AN EVENING WITH THE USA AMBASSADOR – HIS EXCELLENCY MR JAMES R. KEITH

The USA Ambassador, Mr James R. Keith was on his official visit to our state on the 19 May 2009. His Excellency was sworn in as ambassador on July 24, 2007. He served numerous tours of duty in Washington working on Asian Affairs and has also served at the US Embassies in Beijing, Jakarta and Seoul. He was also a member of the National Security Council under the President Bush in the early 1990s and President Clinton in the late 1990s. He also studied Mandarin, Chinese, Korean, Malaysian and Indonesian. He is married to the former Jan Carter and have six children.

This was his first visit in Terengganu. He was accompanied by Mr. Jeremy Nathan, the Deputy Political Counselor and Mr Ravindran Manickam, Senior Associate Political Section. The Terengganu Bar Committee was represented by Mr Chairman, Encik Amirruddin bin Abu Bakar, Secretary, Puan Salwa binti Mansor, Tuan Haji A. Zamani bin Mohamad, Tuan Haji Asmadi bin Awang dan Cik Hajjah Faridah binti Yusoff.

He had graciously invited the Terengganu Bar Committee and hosted an informal dinner at Ri-Yaz Heritage Resort & Spa. The evening went well where His Excellency highlighted the current policy of the US administration under the new President, Barack Obama. He also responded to the question raise by the committee with regard to the Palestine-Israel conflict and the USA stand on the Iran nuclear policy. He also queried on the Malaysian current affair politically, economically and socially. We hope His Excellency’s visit to our beloved state shall be memorable and bilateral ties between us will be further strengthened.

Salwa Mansor

Terengganu Bar Secretary 2009/2010.