Special envoy of the prime minister of Malaysia

Special envoys of the prime minister (Malay: Duta Khas Perdana Menteri Malaysia; Chinese: 馬來西亞首相特使; Tamil: மலேசியாவின் பிரதமரின் சிறப்பு தூதர்) are individuals, usually politicians, appointed with specific assignments to enhance the relationship between Malaysia with particular states or regions where Malaysia has considerable economic interests and cultural similarities.[4] A contrast to that of ambassadorial appointments, Malaysian special envoys are not appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) as head of state, but rather direct appointees of the head of government, the prime minister of Malaysia.[5] They are often appointed with the rank equivalent to a minister.[6] Special envoys are often accorded a team consisting between four to eight personnel, usually including a senior private secretary, special officer, two special assistants and some with a police escort.[4][7][8]

Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Malaysia Duta Khas Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Incumbent Abdul Hadi Awang Tiong King Sing Richard Riot Jaem since 2 April 2020 20 April 2020 16 May 2020
Style	Yang Berhormat Tuan Duta Khas dan Ahli Parlimen
Reports to	Prime Minister of Malaysia
Appointer	Prime Minister of Malaysia
Term length	Two years[1][2]
Formation	1 January 2011
First holder	Samy Vellu Sangalimuthu
Salary	RM27,227.20 per month[3]

Although most special envoys have been appointed with ministerial rank, the salaries drawn have varied depending on portfolio. Known individuals who have served in this capacity without drawing any salary include Ong Ka Ting and Tiong King Sing during Tiong's first posting to East Asia.[7][8] Nevertheless, Ong was listed as receiving a monthly salary of RM20,000 during his earlier terms as special envoy.[4]

List of Special Envoys of the Prime Ministers of Malaysia

Colour key (for political coalition/parties):

Coalition	Member party	Appointee(s)
Barisan Nasional (BN)	Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)	1
	Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
	Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP)
	United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
Pakatan Harapan (PH)	Democratic Action Party (DAP)
Gagasan Sejahtera (GS)	Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)
Muafakat Nasional (MN)
Perikatan Nasional (PN)
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)	Progressive Democratic Party (PDP)
	Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP)

*	Appointment with ministerial rank

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency (if any)	Political coalition		Political party		Appointment	Areas and portfolios		Took office	Left office	Time in office	Prime Minister
	Tun Datuk Seri Utama Samy Vellu Sangalimuthu SSM SUMW SSAP PNBS SPMP 8 March 1936 (age 84)		Barisan Nasional (BN)		Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)	Special Envoy of Infrastructure to India and South Asia [9][10]		Republic of India	1 January 2011	30 June 2018	7 years, 6 months	Najib Razak
								People's Republic of Bangladesh
								Kingdom of Bhutan
								Republic of Maldives
								Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
								Islamic Republic of Pakistan
								Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
	Tan Sri Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting PMN DPMS SPMP DPMP 15 November 1956 (age 64)				Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)	Special Envoy to China [11][1]		People's Republic of China	1 November 2011	31 December 2017	6 years, 2 months
	Tan Sri Dato' Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis PSM SPMP SSAP SJMK SIMP DIMP 25 May 1951 – 4 April 2015 (aged 63) MP for Rompin				United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)	Special Envoy to the United States [12][13]		United States of America	1 March 2012	4 April 2015	3 years, 1 month
	Dato Sri Tiong King Sing PNBS SSAP PJN DPMK SSSA DSSA 3 September 1961 (age 59) MP for Bintulu				Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP)	Special Envoy to East Asia [14][15]		Japan	3 January 2014	30 June 2018	4 years, 5 months
								Republic of Korea
								Republic of China
	Tan Sri Dato' Seri Khalid Abu Bakar PMN PSM SPDK SPTS SSTM SSIS SJMK SSAP DCSM DHMS DPMS DIMP 5 September 1957 (age 63)		–		–	Special Envoy of Combating Terrorism, Extremism and Human Trafficking [16][17]	–	–	5 September 2017		9 months
	Tuan Tan Kok Wai 7 October 1957 (age 63) MP for Cheras		Pakatan Harapan (PH)		Democratic Action Party (DAP)	Special Envoy to China [18][19]		People's Republic of China	25 July 2018	1 March 2020	1 year, 7 months	Mahathir Mohamad
	Dato' Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang SSMT 20 October 1947 (age 73) MP for Marang		Gagasan Sejahtera (GS)		Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)	Special Envoy to the Middle East [20][21]		Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	2 April 2020	Incumbent	10 months	Muhyiddin Yassin
								Kingdom of Bahrain
								Arab Republic of Egypt
			Muafakat Nasional (MN)					Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
								State of Kuwait
								Lebanese Republic
			Perikatan Nasional (PN)					Sultanate of Oman
								Syrian Arab Republic
								United Arab Emirates
	Dato Sri Tiong King Sing PNBS SSAP PJN DPMK SSSA DSSA 3 September 1961 (age 59) MP for Bintulu		Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)		Progressive Democratic Party (PDP)	Special Envoy to People's Republic of China [22][23]		People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macao	20 April 2020		9 months
	Dato Sri Richard Riot Jaem PNBS SSAP PJN KMN 1 December 1951 (age 69) MP for Serian				Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP)	Special Envoy to East Asia [24][25]		Japan	16 May 2020		8 months
								Republic of Korea
								Republic of China

Controversy

The appointment of special envoys during the National Front (BN) tenure was met with repeated accusations of unnecessary government expenditure due to the high salaries of these appointees.[26][27][7] Concerns were also raised regarding the overlap in responsibilities and functions with respective ambassadors already in office(s).[28] When the Alliance of Hope (PH) coalition came to power, all previously appointed special envoys had their tenures cut short.[6] Nonetheless, the PH eventually appointed a single special envoy, albeit without ministerial rank,[5] when Tan Kok Wai was announced as special envoy to the People's Republic of China and concurrently as chairperson of the Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC) in August 2018.[29] The then-Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Saifuddin Abdullah, commented that the role of the special envoy would be to "complement" that of the ambassador in specialised areas.[30]

Following the 2020 Malaysian constitutional crisis, further controversy erupted when newly-appointed prime minister, Muhyiddin Muhammad Yassin, was accused of appointing individuals as special envoys to secure his position.[31][32]

See also

• List of Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Malaysia
• List of diplomatic missions of Malaysia
• Foreign relations of Malaysia

References

1. "Ong bows out of special envoy role". The Star (Malaysia). 12 January 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
2. 陈, 城周 (4 March 2020). "陈国伟：准备接"大信封"·"不主动辞对华特使"" (in Chinese). Sin Chew Daily. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
3. Anand, Ram (18 November 2015). "Why is Putrajaya paying special advisers higher than PM, asks DAP". The Edge (Malaysia). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
4. "Ministerial status opens doors for special envoys, says Nazri". The Edge (Malaysia). 27 September 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
5. Raj, Reena (14 August 2018). "Special envoy not on par with Cabinet members, says law minister". Malay Mail. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
6. Ong, Justin (2 July 2018). "Report: Putrajaya axing special envoys, advisers". Malay Mail. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
7. Liew, Chin Tong (25 November 2015). "Penasihat-penasihat kepada Perdana Menteri adalah "menteri pintu belakang" yang tidak diperlukan" (in Malay). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
8. Gomez, Jennifer (25 November 2015). "PM's advisers akin to back-door ministers with high pay, says DAP". The Edge (Malaysia). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
9. "Samy Vellu begins special envoy duties". The Star (Malaysia). Bernama. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
10. "Samy Vellu appointed as special envoy to India". Deccan Herald. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
11. "PM Umum Pelantikan Ong Ka Ting Sebagai Duta Khas Ke China" (in Malay). The Star (Malaysia). 22 October 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
12. Gabriel, Paul (27 February 2012). "Othman Dilantik Duta Ke AS" (in Malay). The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
13. "Jamaluddin Jarjis, the prime mover behind Malaysia-US ties". Malay Mail. Bernama. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
14. Papau, Dukau (7 January 2014). "Sarawak DAP pours scorn on Tiong's appointment". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
15. Koya (5 January 2014). "Tiong appointed special envoy to Far East". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
16. "Khalid appointed Prasarana Chairman and Special Envoy". New Straits Times. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
17. "Khalid appointed Prasarana chairman, special envoy". Free Malaysia Today. Bernama. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
18. Ruban, A. (31 August 2018). "Report: Tan Kok Wai says Dr M appointed him special envoy to China". Malay Mail. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
19. "Tan Kok Wai confirmed as Special Envoy to China". The Star (Malaysia). 31 August 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
20. Povera, Adib (2 April 2020). "Hadi appointed special envoy to Middle East". New Straits Times. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
21. Nik Anis, Mazwin (2 April 2020). "Hadi appointed as PM's special envoy to Middle East". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
22. "PMO: Tiong King Sing appointed as PM's minister-level special envoy to China". Malay Mail. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
23. Koya, Zakiah (20 April 2020). "PDP chief Tiong is now PM's special envoy to China". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
24. Sibon, Peter (13 May 2020). "Riot appointed Prime Minister's special envoy to East Asia". Dayak Daily. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
25. Koya, Zakiah (20 April 2020). "PDP chief Tiong is now PM's special envoy to China". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
26. "Samy, several others not needed anymore". Daily Express (Malaysia). 24 August 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
27. Fernandez, Joe (14 January 2016). "Shahbudin: Special Advisors, Special Envoys should go now". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
28. "Special envoy's role to complement ambassador's, says Saifuddin". The Star (Malaysia). 2 September 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
29. Ibrahim, Mohd. Iskandar (31 August 2018). "Confirmed: Tan Kok Wai is special envoy to China". New Straits Times. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
30. "DAP man as special envoy to China won't disrupt ambassador Zainuddin, says minister". Free Malaysia Today. Bernama. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
31. Abdullah, Mohsin (6 April 2020). "What's so special with the Special One?". Retrieved 15 May 2020.
32. "PAS denies Abdul Hadi's appointment as special envoy to Middle East to appease party members". Malay Mail. Bernama. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.