Westmoreland Palon
Consulate General of Malaysia in Melbourne, Australia

By Karina Foo 

The name, Westmoreland is a rather unusual one for Sarawakian born Westmoreland Palon, the consulate general of Malaysia in Melbourne.

But it was his father who named him after the formidable commanding officer of the US Army during the Vietnam war, William Charles Westmoreland.

Palon chuckles whenever someone jokingly asks him if Charles Westmoreland was his own father or grandfather. “I was born in 1969 in the height of the Vietnam war and my dad was in the public sector so I guess the name resonates well with him,” said Palon who is a Bidayuh, a descendent of one of the many indigenous races from Kuching.

Palon took on his current role in Melbourne just three months ago, after his last post as the director for the ASEAN Political-Security Community (Malaysia National Secretariat) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before that, he had come from a distinguished diplomatic career spanning almost 20 years including stints in Chile, Singapore and the United Nations.

“I came to Melbourne only recently and I love this place because it’s a very beautiful city and there are so many Malaysians here too,” he said, noting that this is his fourth posting.

But working for the government was not what he had in mind when he graduated as a young architect. Palon worked in an architectural firm for the first two years of his career.

“At that time, the buildings and construction industry in Malaysia wasn’t doing well and someone suggested that I join the government service where I could put my knowledge of buildings and infrastructure to good use.”

But there was a twist in his aspirations as he was instead, appointed to the foreign department where he had to learn about global relationships from the ground up.

“I like to think about it as building linkages and relationships between people. But it was a steep learning curve as I had no background, yet I managed to rise to the challenge. I had a lot of good bosses, senior colleagues who were my mentors,”
he reminisced.

His first posting in Singapore in 2000 was particularly the most challenging because he recalled that the relationship between Singapore and Malaysia was tense making the job hectic, stressful but nevertheless, exciting.

“I had to learn about different culture systems and ways of doing things in every country I was working in. So every role was different and gave me many opportunities to learn. ”

“Managing relationships, values and ideas with conflicting interests is probably one of the hardest jobs. But at the same time, it opens your eyes to value these differences of opinions as it teaches you how to communicate, negotiate and help people to understand each other.”

After such experiences, Melbourne poses a different challenge, but something that Palon is more than ready to take on.

“There are a lot of Malaysians and businesses here who are starting a new life and new ventures.

My job is to build more linkages between Australia and Malaysia, although we’re already quite well known in Australia especially with our food!

“We are constantly looking at what’s on offer in Melbourne and to show Melbournians what we have in Malaysia in hopes to boost the tourism industry back home.”

Likewise, he hopes to engage more with Malaysians visitors, new students and migrants.

He noted that Malaysian businesses including big companies are already involved in major developments here (established corporations like MRCB and SP Setia).

“Meanwhile there are smaller companies who are looking into investing their interest in other parts of the world, including Melbourne. We want to engage with them to make this possible.”

With a highly demanding job, this father of five believes that one should just be happy in life. “When it comes to people, I always assume the best and positive in them. My family brings out the positive side in me as I have become selfless. I live for my kids and try to make the best for them.”

Westmoreland听起来相当不寻常的名字，这位马来西亚驻墨尔本总领事-砂拉越出生的Westmoreland Palon，他的父亲是基于崇敬越战期间美国军队的强大指挥官 William Charles Westmoreland，而以此为之命名。

他笑着说，常有人开玩笑地问，WilliamCharles Westmoreland如果为其父亲或祖父。“我生于1969年，那是越南战争最激烈时刻，父亲是公务员，所以我想这个名字是他的共鸣点。” Westmoreland Palon是比达友族，砂拉越古晋众土著种族之一的后裔。

他担任墨尔本总领事职务仅3个月，前职是外交部属下的东盟政治安全共同体(马来西亚国家秘书处)总监。在此之前，跨越近20年，他拥有一个杰出的外交成绩单，包括曾派驻前往智利、新加坡和联合国。

“我最近才来到墨尔本，非常喜欢这个地方，一个相当美丽的城市，也有许多马来西亚人在这里。”这也是他第4次受委派。

可是，作为政府公务人员不是他的首选，当他毕业时是作为一个年轻建筑师，并曾在一家建筑公司展开两年职业生涯。

“当时，建筑行业在马来西亚的景气萎靡，有人建议我进入政府公务部门，更有效发挥我的建筑与基础设施知识。”但事与愿违，因为受任为外交部门，逼迫他必须从基础底层了解全球关系。”

“处理人际关系，价值观和理念与利益冲突发生的可能性是最困难的工作之一。但同时，它会让你大开眼界，教会你如何沟通与洽谈，协助人们理解另一方的差异。”

“我喜欢把它视为与人之间建立联系桥梁。这是一个陡峭的学习曲线，我没具备相关背景，但我尽力迎接挑战，我遇上很多好上司，资深同事，他们都是我的导师。”

他在2000年被派驻到新加坡是最具挑战性的，他回忆说，那时因为新加坡与马来西亚之间的关系紧张而导致工作繁忙，尽管如此，却令人振奋。

“我必须了解不同的文化体系，适应每个国家的工作与处理方式。所以角色的迥异，给了我很多学习的机会。”

在积淀经验后，面临墨尔本不一样的挑战，但他已经做好更全面的准备。

“有很多马来西亚人和这里的企业都在开展新生活与商业合资。我的工作是推动和维系澳大利亚与马来西亚之间的关系，而我们的美食目前在澳大利亚也相当闻名。”

他说，目前试图接触墨尔本并向墨尔本人民展示家乡马来西亚，以提振国内的旅游业。”同样，他希望吸引更多游客、学生和新移民到马来西亚。

他指出，马来西亚有积极驻扎澳大利亚的企业，包括已参与当地重大发展工程的大型公司(如MRCB与SP Setia)。

“同时也有规模较小的公司在世界其他地区找寻投资伙伴，其中也有墨尔本,我们希望与他们接触以促成事实。”

纵然在工作领域拥有高度要求，这名育有5名孩子的父亲认为,快乐的生活才是重点。

“待人时，我总是呈现最佳与正面的态度。我的家庭激发我积极的一面，我变得更无私,我为孩子们活得更好，并尝试给予他们最好的一切。”