The Foreign Ministry of any country is seen as an ivory tower. The ministry's work, unlike those of other ministries, does not directly touch the lives of people whom they serve.
This is not a complaint. It is a fact of life for many in the foreign service.
This Aidiladha, however, saw the realisation of a novel concept. Successive governments had tried to rope the ministry into their roadshows, but with limited success.
When Wisma Putra opened a booth at previous roadshows, the responses from people ranged from uninterested to extremely funny.
There was general disinterest because even if you live, study or travel abroad, the likelihood of coming into contact with our embassies is rare.
The embassies are neither travel agents nor moneylenders, and the only time they seem to help to arrange your travel home is when there is a war, pandemic or you are already embalmed.
Wisma Putra has participated in the National Blue Ocean Strategy events, Kerajaan Prihatin events and Keluarga Malaysia events.
The most popular booth at these shows is always the discounted summonses booths, not ours.
And the invariable question from those who do visit the ministry's booth is: "What does Wisma Putra actually do?"
This year's Aidiladha provided the ministry with an opportunity to get closer to the people.
For the first time in the ministry's 68-year history, it took its qurban event outside of Putrajaya and teamed up with the villagers of Kampung Kanchong in Rembau, Negri Sembilan.
The event, which marked the beginning of the ministry's Kampung Angkat Madani (adopted village) had officers and villagers working side by side felling cows and distributing the meat.
Camaraderie was forged as they cut up the qurban, quarrelled good-naturedly over the best way to cook the meat, and then sat down to eat it.
Names, titles and posts meant nothing on that second day of Aidiladha as they laughed and sweated together, and shouted instructions at each other.
Passers-by would have been forgiven for thinking that this was one very loud but united village.
It was not all merriment, though, that day.
As we congregated around the community hall for the launch of Kampung Angkat Madani, Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan delivered a powerful speech.
It was powerful because it reminded people that the qurban event is also a time for giving thanks for the bounty with which we are blessed, for the peaceful nation that we live in, and for the life that we enjoy.
Our hardships and sacrifices are little compared with the sacrifices and hardships others endure in Gaza, in the West Bank, in famine-stricken South Sudan, and in pockets of the world where food is a luxury and lives are lost daily.
The speech was powerful. This was the man who had appeared before the International Court of Justice to champion the downtrodden, the person to whom all important reports from our eyes and ears abroad were sent.
This was the boy from their own village who had heard and seen for himself how mismanaged countries fell.
As Tok Mat recounted the long discussions that he had had abroad, I could see that it was finally dawning on many at that hall what it was that the ministry did.
With nary a script before him, the message of why Wisma Putra exists was heard loud and clear.
As for the event itself, the success of adopting a village lies in the people-to-people connections and bonds that were made.
So, all in all, it was a very good way to spend Aidiladha.
* The writer is a foreign service officer who has served in bilateral and multilateral posts
