Francisco Kennedy
KOTA KINABALU: Two Sabahans were among the 19 new mission heads of Malaysia who received their letters of credence from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Tuesday.
Kennedy Mayong Onon, 48 from Tuaran, was appointed Ambassador-designate of Malaysia to Croatia and Francisco Munis, 50, from Papar, as Ambassador-designate of Malaysia to Hungary.
Kennedy joined the Malaysian Public Service in 1997. He is now the Under-Secretary of the Multilateral Security Division, Wisma Putra. Previously he had served in Phnom Penh, Helsinki, Hanoi and New York
while Francisco joined the Malaysian Public Service in 1998. He is the current Deputy Chief of Protocol, Wisma Putra. Previously he was posted to Mexico City, Guangzhou and Moscow.
Among the other new heads of mission are: Datuk Nadzirah Osman (Netherlands); Datuk Ahmad Rozian (Belgium); Zakri Jaafar (United Kingdom); Datuk Zamruni Khalid (France); Datuk Dr. Azfar Mohamad (Singapore); Datuk Roslan Abdul Rahman (Australia); Ikram Mohd Ibrahim (Austria); Datuk Raja Reza (Brunei); Siti Hajjar Adnin (Canada); Zamani Ismail (Egypt); Shaiful Anuar (Oman); Datuk Tengku Sirajuzzaman (Romania); Faizal Razali (Algeria); Shazryll Zahiran (Bahrain); Raja Shaiful (Bosnia); Azri Mat Yacob (Lebanon); and Nur Azman (Argentina).
Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara, Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, said the King had given his consent for the instruments of appointment to be mailed to the respective envoys due to the implementation of the movement control order 3.0 to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Previously, the presentation ceremony was usually held at Istana Negara.
“His Majesty takes this opportunity to congratulate the appointed envoys and they are reminded to carry out the tasks entrusted to them well.
“They must always protect the country’s good name and raise Malaysia’s profile on the international stage,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.