The Accidental Diplomat ― The Autobiography of Maurice Baker

"Maurice Baker is an academic and one of Singapore's pioneer diplomats. After graduating with honors in English from King's College, London in 1948, he returned to Singapore and taught at two secondary schools before becoming a university lecturer and head of the Department of Extra-mural Studies in the University of Singapore. In 1967, Baker was invited to be Singapore's first high commissioner to India. That invitation marked his venture into the world of diplomacy. Following the May 13 1969 racial riots in Malaysia, Baker was asked by then Singapore's Foreign Minister, S. Rajaratnam to be the ambassador to Malaysia because Tun Abdul Razak, then Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, was a good friend of Baker's both at Raffles College and in England when they were students. Two years later, he returned to Singapore to head the Department of English in the University of Singapore before being recalled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1977 to be an ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines. Baker returned to Malaysia as high commissioner in 1980 and he held that position for more than seven years. In 1989, he was appointed as Pro-Chancellor of the National University of Singapore and he remained in this position until his retirement in 2002. This book tells the story of Baker's experience as an accidental diplomat, his encounters with eminent individuals in the countries in which he served, his recollections of their conversations with him and, most importantly, how he successfully became a diplomat"--