Zubair Qureshi
Saying goodbye to a friend is always a difficult thing and it becomes all the more difficult and heavier when that friend is the one you meet almost every other day and enjoy his company.
Charge d’Affaires of Malaysia Deddy Faisal faced the same dilemma Monday evening while bidding farewell to his friend and a diplomat colleague, Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) of the Embassy of Jordan Dr Maen Khareasat.
Deddy Faisal and Emilia Deddy had organized the farewell party in his honour at their residence. A good number of notable persons of the town, ambassadors, diplomats and parliamentarians attended the party.
The farewell party was also in the honour of two colleagues of the Malaysian High Commission namely, Mr Hamdan Abdullah and Madam Syafiqah Nuru Mohamad who are departing shortly for their next assignments.
Maen Khareasat is the man Deddy Faisal met on the first day of his arrival in Pakistan. It was August 2019. That meeting turned out to be the beginning of a friendship and mutual respect. In his speech, Deddy mentioned good time flies by and it seemed as if it were yesterday but years have passed by and now it is time to bid farewell to a good friend.
Former Prime Minister Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani, Senator Walid Iqbal, Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov, Ambassador of Jordan Ibrahim Almadani, Ambassador of Thailand, Charge d’Affaires of Philippines, Deputy Heads of Missions of Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, diplomats from the Arab countries, Vice President of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industries (RCCI) Tallat Mahmood Awan, well known businessman of Islamabad Zafar Bakhtawari and others also attended the event.
Deddy Faisal said one good thing about being a diplomat was that you make friends wherever you go. Pakistan and Malaysia he said enjoyed deep, cordial, friendly bilateral relations and the people here have always been generous, hospitable and friendly. We always enjoyed good relations with our Pakistani friends, he said.
He wished Dr Maen Khareasat a bright spectacular career ahead. At the end of his speech, he said, “I will not say goodbye to you dear friend but as we diplomats say at the time of departure, ‘till we meet again.’”
While expressing gratitude to Deddy Faisal, Dr Maen Khareasat agreed good times passed quickly. He said he was honoured to have a friend like Deddy Faisal. We shared many good things together and explored the beauty of Islamabad. I treasure the Pakistani people’s love and affection and will continue to cherish my time spent here, he said. At the end of the party, guests were served with traditional Malaysian, Pakistani and continental food.
