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Pinoy Abroad

New British envoy: 'Di ko gustong sumasakit ang puso ng mga Pinoy'

By VERONICA PULUMBARIT

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New British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad has endeared himself to Filipinos for his effort to speak and even tweet in Filipino, a language he started to learn about five months ago.
 
In an interview with GMA News Online, Ahmad, who speaks seven languages, said Filipino was the only language he learned through formal lessons. Aside from English and Filipino, he speaks Bengali, Urdu, Kutchi, Farsi and French.
 
Ahmad said he studied the Filipino language to prepare for his ambassadorship in the Philippines, a post he assumed in July this year. He succeeded former British Ambassador Stephen Lillie, whose tour ran from August 2009 to July 2, 2013.
 
“I spent five months before coming here trying to pick up the local language, the context of the Philippines,” Ahmad said:

On his Twitter account, Ahmad said:
 


This prompted one of his followers to ask if he meant “nagkasakit siya (she is sick).”
 
Often injecting humor into his tweets, Ahmad said the teacher became sick because he was difficult to teach, adding:
 

Many of his followers find the ambassador’s attempt to speak and tweet in the vernacular very endearing:
 

 The ambassador responded, “super cute ang mga follower ko rin.”
 
However, the ambassador admitted that he had a long way to go when it comes to learning Filipino. On Twitter, he told presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda that during the speech of President Benigno Aquino III, delivered in Filipino, the only phrase he understood was “magandang umaga (good morning).”
 
“Kasi nang ako ay nanood ng pangunang talumpati ni Pangulo Aquino naintihindan ako 'magandang umaga' lang,” Ahmad said.
 
He asked Lacierda for patience, saying speaking in Filipino was something new for him.
 

 Not all fun and games
 
Even though Ahmad always shows his funny side on Twitter, he takes his job as ambassador very seriously.
 
British Ambassador Asif Ahmad recently participated in the Red Card to Child Labour campaign of the International Labour Oganisation. Photo from British Embassy.
 During the interview, he mentioned the three areas of concern he wants to focus on during the initial stages of his ambassadorship: welfare of British nationals residing in the Philippines, international security, and improving trade relations between the Philippines and the United Kingdom.
 
“As British Ambassador, I have similar responsibilities to my colleague, Ricky Manalo, who is the [Philippine] Ambassador to London,” Ahmad said.
 
Just as Manalo is concerned over the welfare of Filipinos in the UK, Ahmad said he also has to look after the welfare of Britons in the Philippines.
 
“We have 15,000 British who live here. Many of them are working, and then tourists. We can actually see the number of tourists rising, around 120,000,” Ahmad said.
 
He lamented how natural calamities like floods and earthquakes in the Philippines affect both Filipinos and foreigners. He also raised concern about the health and finances of the Britons who have chosen to retire in the Philippines.
 
“When you make retirement plans you make them when you're about 55 to 60. You’re health profile and finance is different when you reach 80,” Ahmad said.
 
Ahmad said most of the British retirees are in Metro Manila, Davao, and Cebu, “but people tell me that they're all over the place, literally.”
 
Best-kept secret
 
Despite the frequent typhoons and other calamities, Ahmad said many Britons residing in the country consider the Philippines as one of the world’s best kept secrets as living here is relatively comfortable.
 
“When I talk to British community over here they just say the Philippines is the best kept secret,” he said. “I don't think anybody here has a long list of issues that they worry about.”
 
However, Ahmad said some British people “would like to own property outright.”
 
“The only way to do it is to have it through a condominium but they don't like to live in Makati, they like to live where they can feel the soil and that's tricky,” he explained.
 
He also noted how there was no major problem in Philippine-UK relations. “Well, we’re not trying to fix anything that isn't broken. We get along well.”
 
Brokering peace
 
On the security side, Ahmad mentioned “classic foreign policy which is what we call international security and is regional: threat of terrorism and climate and energy security.”
 
He also mentioned the role of the British government in helping the Philippines arrange a peace deal with Moro rebels.
 
“We want to make sure that ASEAN works, the region is at peace and that terrorism is dealt with like in Mindanao we are actually engaged in helping that process,” he said.
 
He said the UK government has been “involved in the peace talks right from day one and even to this day, we are going back and forth in Kuala Lumpur for the 40th session.”
 
Private-public partnership
 
Meanwhile, on the business side, Ahmad said the UK is looking at public-private partnership, especially when it comes to railways, schools, airports, or medicines.
 
He lamented that “there's a serious underinvestment in this country's railways. Urban railways is one of the city links.”
 
“You try to solve these problems but it's a big challenge. We believe rail offers a huge alternative. Airports can be developed, I think there's a role to play there,” he added.
 
Ahmad also noted how businessmen of both countries get along well.
 
“We find in the Philippines that if you introduce a British businessman to a Filipino businessperson they get along well,” Asif said. “They talk the same language, they understand the same business ethics and they can get to the deal very quickly.”
 
Advice to Filipinos
 
Asked about his advice to about 250,000 Filipinos residing in the UK, Asif said they should aim to be the best in whatever field they are in.
 
“My challenge to the Filipinos in the UK particularly those who have British nationality is to say they're living in a country where sky is the limit. They can be politicians, they can be doctors, they can be bankers, they can be teachers,” Ahmad said.
 
“They should not think that somehow because they are Filipino they can only do Filipino type job. They are like me. Why can't be the Filipino be the next British Ambassador to Thailand?” he asked.
 
He urged Filipinos to “join the foreign office, join the local office, and participate in the election” and show the world the best they can offer.
 
Born in same hospital as British royalty
 
Ahmad was born in London on January 21, 1956. He said he was born “in the same hospital where Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince George were born: Saint Mary's Hospital in Paddington.”
 
“I paved the way to royalty by being born in that hospital,” he chuckled.
 
“My father and mother met when they were working for the BBC World Service so I'm a product of the media,” he said.
 
Although Asif's early years were spent in London, his father's career gave him the opportunity to live in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, China, Poland and the former Soviet Union.
 
He later studied in Carlisle, Cumbria in 1973 and went on to study Economics at Durham University.
 
“I joined banking, did that for 18 years, and was a business consultant for SMEs (small and medium enterprises),” Ahmad said.
 
“Then I saw an ad one Sunday the foreign office is looking for mid-career people; 600 people applied, six of us succeeded in getting through and since then I haven't looked back,” he said. “This is my second ambassadorship. I got a job that is my hobby.”
 
Ahmad and his wife Zubeda have children who are all adults and are residing in the UK. The newest addition to their family is grandson Raees.
 
He is a passionate supporter of Liverpool FC as well as the England cricket and football teams. He said while he is in the Philippines, he hopes to learn how to dive and play golf.
 
Mabuhay po kayo, Mr. Ambassador! — KBK, GMA News
Tags: asifahmad
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