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Draft:Ramanathan Vengadesan

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  • Comment: There has been a lot more sources added since the last submission. But I’m not seeing in-depth coverage (instead of just passing mentions) of the person from sources that are not published by or affiliated with the subject. 94rain Talk 11:36, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
  • Comment: See WP:BLP. All statements need to be sourced or removed. Greenman (talk) 09:35, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

Ramanathan Vengadesan is a retired Malaysian diplomat who notably was Malaysia's Ambassador to Italy from 1997 to 2000.[1]

In 35 years with the Malaysian Foreign Service, he also served as Ambassador to Mali and Senegal, as well as High Commissioner to the Namibia.[2]

He was born on June 25, 1945, in Banting, Selangor, he is the fourth child of S. Ramanathan Iyer and S. Gomathi Iyer.[3] The couple were members of Malaysia's small Brahmin community.[4]

He was educated at Victoria Institution and studied English at the University of Malaya.[5]

After a year in Telecoms, he joined the Foreign Ministry in 1969. He was awarded a citation for bravery by the Malaysian government for bringing aid to stricken areas after the deadly 13 May incident.[2]

Vengadesan served as a junior officer in the USSR (1972 to 1974), Japan (1974 to 1977) and Laos (1977-1979).[6]

Ambassador Ramanathan Vengadesan and his wife Christie Gonzales with then prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad and his wife Siti Hasmah Ali in 1993.

He was also the deputy ambassador in Brussels (1983 to 1988) and Bangkok (1988 to 1990) before taking on his first ambassadorial role in Bamako, Mali.[2]

While in Mali, protestors threatened to burn down the ambassador's residence which belonged to an associate of dictator Moussa Traore. He responded by flying the Malaysian flag and calling on the Malian Foreign Ministry to provide soldiers to guard the residence during this period.[2]

Vengadesan then shifted the West African base to Dakar, Senegal, becoming Malaysia's first resident ambassador there.[2] In addition, he served in the Ministry as Undersecretary for the Americas from 1993 to 1997.[2]

Malaysian ambassador to Italy Ramanathan Vengadesan meeting Pope John Paul II in 1997.

He was Malaysia's Ambassador to Italy from 1997 to 2000.[7] During that time he led Malaysia’s delegation to a United Nations diplomatic conference on the establishing an International Criminal Court.[8]

He subsequently served as High Commissioner to Namibia from 2000 to 2004.[2]

He was awarded the Kesatria Mangku Negara in 1985 and the Dato’ Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (DSSA) in 1999, giving him the title of Datuk.[9]

After his retirement from the Foreign Ministry, he was Governor for Malaysia to the Asia-Europe Foundation. Vengadesan was also elected vice-chairman of the Asia-Europe Foundation at its 26th Board of Governors meeting in Luang Prabang in 2010.[10]

Married to Christie Gonzales, he is the brother-in-law of former Olympic field hockey player Arumugam Sabapathy and academic Joseph Victor Gonzales.[3]

He is the father of three children, including Malaysiakini associate editor Martin Vengadesan, and grandfather to six.[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. RAMANATHAN VENGADESAN, AMBASSADOR OF MALAYSIA TO ITALY". 18 June 1998 – via www.legal-tools.org.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Nadia, Alena (2022-06-25). "Memoirs of a Malaysian diplomat". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  3. ^ a b "In tandem with the nation". Archived from the original on 2011-05-21.
  4. ^ "Veteran professor launches book on Malaysia's Brahmin community". Malaysiakini. 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  5. ^ "Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad Investor Relations".
  6. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (December 12, 2019). "Lessons from Laos". Malaysiakini.
  7. ^ "Ramanathan Vengadesan, nuovo ambasciatore della Federazione della Malaysia: presentazione lettere credenziali - Foto dei Presidenti della Repubblica - Portale storico della Presidenza della Repubblica".
  8. ^ https://legal.un.org/diplomaticconferences/1998_icc/docs/english/vol_2/delegations.pdf
  9. ^ "Laman Web Rasmi Darjah Kebesaran Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan".
  10. ^ Asia-Europe Foundation. (2010). 2010 Annual Report: So much to share. https://www.asef.org/images/stories/annualreports/documents/ASEF_Annual_Report_2010.pdf
  11. ^ "Martin Vengadesan". MarshallCavendish.com.