Anecdotes from Protocol Duties at the UN General Assembly

PM Abhisit of Thailand showed up bright and early. He still looked boyish although not as trim as when I last met him in 2003. He was modest, unassuming and polite. He said he was up since 4am and just came from an interviewed with Fox TV.

The Dutch [correction: Crown Prince] was friendly and full of bonhomie like a politician. There were a lot of other world leaders who I do not know - neither by sight or by name - mainly from Central Asia, Former Soviet/Yugoslav Republics and from Africa. For them, I just showed them into the holding room while trying hard to read their name tag without looking too obvious.

The Egyptian minister was friendly and stuck his hands out to shaking everybody's hands. The [correction: President of Iraq] bounded into the main hall despite my best attempts to steer him to the reception area for leaders. The Foreign Minister of Germany needed no attention, he was just happy doing his own thing.

I met Penny Wong the Chinese-Australian Minister for Climate Change the way to the reception. She was accompanied by a pretty young Asian aide. Then they changed their minds and decided to wait for their PM. PM Kevin Rudd arrived with a sense of seriousness and substance that tend to accompany Australian PMs - as did PM Harper of Canada.

The new Japanese PM Hotayama was everywhere. I saw him three times. He looked intelligent, trim and intensely-collected. He reminds me a lot of a samurai or feudal lord of the olden days.

President Hu Jin Tao arrived with a HUGE delegation*. I tried to take care of Vice-Premier Wang Qi Shan but he already had someone with him. Vice PM Wang looked energetic and robust. He has a nice color about his face. Foreign Minister Yang Jie Chi followed looking somewhat ignored. (*Many of them I was not sure what their roles were; during the day they lingered about sitting on seats belonging to other delegations - I feel a bit embarassed for these tendencies to be the "Ugly Chinese")

Then there was a rush and President Obama and his entourage swept through. He was tall and graceful in his strides. But he seemed very preoccupied. His mind and his energies seemed to the elsewhere and his face looked a tad puffy as if he had a bad night's sleep. Quite ironically, he came across as someone more at home as an earnest intellectual rather than one seeking popularity or attention. Alone among the leaders who spoke, he acknowledged and shook hands with other people on the podium. It was no surprise as he was to have a first meeting with the Isrealis and Palestinians later that morning and with President Hu in the afternoon. Something was definately on Obama's mind. Hillary Clinton followed close by moving about professionally.

Later I also saw Al Gore who has a sparkle in his eyes - not the robot I last saw in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 - I guess his shoulder is light without officialdom (wu guan yi shen qing) and newly wealthy from his technology venture funds. I also escorted Professor Jeffrey Sachs who looked really happy to be there.

The President of Bolivia moved about with a tight energy - much like someone who is ready to beat someone up - and he loved the press heading to the ropeline when everyone else avoided the calling journalists.

President Sarkozy came late(r). I smiled at him and he smiled back. He was surrounded by a large entourage of well-dressed aides and he looked comfortable with power. Someone told me he was rude when (later) he was asked to take a picture and complained about what the shambles the whole meeting was.

I met British PM Gordon Brown in the afternoon. He looked tired and had a lazy eye. He did not have a big entourage. I nodded at him and he said a sonorous "hello" to me.

All eyes (especially from the ladies) were on Prince Albert of Monaco. Being the natural sportsman he is, he skipped down a few steps of the stairs. Later he hung around the lobby making a phone call. I wonder who he was calling? Could it be a certain South African ex-swimmer lady-friend?

The President of Korea walked by stone-faced as did most other leaders like President Hortas of Timor Leste, President Yuchenko of Ukraine, President of Slovenia, President of Rwanda, President of Slovakia, PM Klaus of Czech Republic etc etc. Others were in deep conversation (or pretend to be) with one of their ministers like President Arias of Costa Rica, Javier Solanas the EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Rasmussen the NATO Secretary General and ex-PM of Denmark.

On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of Mexico - resplendent in his beard was happy to go around with a plastic bag. Others just look a bit lost like the boyish new President of Madagascar and the Prime Minister of Greneda who was actually lost. I took him in the elevator to his lunch.