Speeches

Shanghai Night: 10th Annual Embassy Dinner and Dance

October 4, 2003

(while wearing a qing dynasty robe) I have to confess this is not my usual garb. When I saw the theme of tonight’s dinner, I did not want to pass up the chance to ham it up a bit, so I ran out to a costume shop. But in fact, an Ambassador who views himself as an emperor will not successful in his job. An Ambassador is a manager and a leader. He must always take his mission seriously, but need not always take himself so seriously. A sense of humor helps.

I am here this evening for a simple reason, to pay respect to the foreign service nationals who work at the embassy and to thank them and their families for their good work.

I also want to thank the FSN Association for its good work. This year is the first year the association has had programming with the American Association at the embassy, in the jointly sponsored field trip. The FSN association has also sponsored the soccer team on the Padang and the field trip to K.L. I remember well when we hosted the victory
reception for the games at the residence and I look forward to hosting another such reception the next time.

It should be no surprise that the FSN association is so strong because the FSNs are so strong. In my view, the Foreign Service Nationals are the backbone of the embassy. You are over half the work force. In some sections of the embassy, you are almost the entire work force. You provide the continuity and the local knowledge that helps us get the job done. It is no surprise to me that some 80% of our training budget goes – not to the American staff – but to the non-American staff. We invest in our people. We send FSNs to the U.S. for training and conferences, we do it in the region, and we do it in Singapore as well.

The point is this: regardless of our role, there are no emperors at the embassy, except perhaps in the eyes of our children. We each have our tasks, but as individuals, no one is better or worse than anyone else. We work hard to ensure that no one is a second-class employee and everyone is a part of the team.

Thank you for inviting Ann and me here tonight to share the evening with you.