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Few young Singaporeans have ever seen a riot,
let alone experienced a major national crisis.
Ms Stacey Foo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MFA) was in East Timor when riots broke out
in December 2002. She was also based in New York
in 2001 when the September 11 attacks took place.
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I
had never in my life seen something quite
like that,” said the Foreign Service
Officer, recounting her experience in East
Timor. “People
were throwing stones at our hotel. We saw
burning buildings and when we walked into
a restaurant,
there was nobody there. It was quite an eye-opener for us.”
At that time, Stacey was on a needs assessment trip to the newly independent
state. She works in MFA’s Technical Cooperation Directorate, which manages
the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). The SCP was established to manage
the manpower training programmes offered by Singapore to developing countries
in the region and further afield.
Stacey coordinates training programmes and short-term study visits for officials
from developing countries like East Timor and Indonesia. She works closely
with many public and private organisations to plan and run them. The fields
covered are diverse. For example, East Timor officials have received training
in healthcare, civil aviation, port management, public governance and the English
language.
Crisis in New York
Before her current posting, Stacey was based in the New York Consulate as Vice
Consul for three years. Her main role was to provide consular assistance to
Singaporeans in distress overseas. That included issuing documents of identity
for those who had lost their passports, and ensuring that Singaporeans who
run into trouble with the law are entitled to legal recourse.
One of her most memorable experiences was handling the September 11 crisis.
“There was so much uncertainty due to initial speculations on what was
happening and what could happen. For a moment, the uncertainty of everything
really hit
me as I myself didn’t know if I was going to survive past that day,” she
said.
“It was an experience observing and learning from how the Americans coped
with a national crisis. More importantly, it brought the officers in our Mission
closer together.”
Stacey said that although Singaporeans did not suffer any casualities then,
she had to deal with a series of consular cases, for example, Singaporeans
whose flights had been re-routed, and those who needed assistance getting on
flights out of New York.”
Working under pressure
Few experiences apart from on-the-job training can prepare one adequately to
handle such challenges. So Stacey is glad to have been exposed to many areas
of work during her seven years at MFA.
She spent her first year at the International Organisations Directorate during
which she accompanied her director to several international conferences. They
included a conference on human rights held in Amman, Jordan, and a conference
on economic and social issues held in Shanghai.
“Basically we were there to defend Singapore’s position on various
issues,” she
said. “It was really an eye-opener to the world of diplomacy.”
Stacey also did a stint at the Protocol Directorate, which prepared her to
handle Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s visit to New York to attend the
UN Millennium Summit in 2000.
“It was an enjoyable experience serving the PM and that was definitely
one of the highlights of my career. It also stressed me to the utmost because
planning
logistics for the PM is certainly no easy task,” she said.
‘Send me to New Delhi’
A love for travelling was one reason why Stacey decided on a career in MFA.
She also wanted to “experience different living conditions and more importantly
to serve my country’s interests abroad”. Seven years later, she
remains enthusiastic about her work.
Looking forward to her next overseas posting, she said, “I want a posting
in a developing country, perhaps Delhi or Jakarta. It would be very different
from what I am used to in Singapore and will be part and
parcel of life’s learning
experiences."
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