Meet The Ambassador

Farewell Reception for Deputy Chief of Mission, John Medeiros: Remarks by Ambassador Lavin
July 15, 2004

Distinguished guests, members of the diplomatic community, embassy colleagues, and friends, thank you for coming tonight to join me in saying farewell to John Medeiros. It is my great honor to say a few words on his behalf, although I cannot fully say it is a pleasure to do so because I will sorely miss his advice and his friendship. Still, John, it is a measure of the respect in which you are held that we have such an enthusiastic turnout to this event.

As you know, John's departure from Singapore will not be to take up another assignment - at least not in the Foreign Service. John will shortly be retiring from the Foreign Service, and applying his boundless energy and intelligence to a new career.

So it is appropriate we spend a bit of time honoring John not just for the job he has done in Singapore, but recalling his 28 years of service to the United States. We also want to honor his wife Amy, and his daughter Sarah, who have accompanied him on this long journey.

John first met Amy in graduate school, at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. It is equally plausible that John was able to devote his time to these extra curricular activities because either he had mastered the demanding curriculum of Fletcher - or because he had no hope of mastering it. Amy has cleared up this mystery by telling us that her entrance into his life rescued him, not from the Fletcher library, but from the backgammon table. Still, one can debate whether the fundamental truths of international relations are better learned in the classroom, or in backgammon.

John had worked a bit on a newspaper before joining the Foreign Service in 1976, so it was perhaps only natural that his first job at the State Department was as in the Public Affairs Bureau, as an assistant to the Assistant Secretary - at the time, Hodding Carter. Reporters about to file a story at 2 AM would think nothing of ringing John for comment - perhaps one reason why John became notorious for sometimes falling asleep under coffee tables. We have tried, with only partial success, to cure him of this habit.

Amy and John were married three weeks before John began his second assignment -- in the embassy's economic section in Rome. John might say this was the culmination of years of romancing and courtship, and Amy might say it was clear-eyed recognition of a married officer's tax and housing benefits. Whatever the basis - John and Amy celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary two weeks ago.

After Rome, John began his second great love affair - his love affair with Asia. John had his first post in Asia in 1983, as the Chief of the Economic Unit at our Consulate General in Hong Kong. John's role in bilateral trade negotiations and macro-economic reporting at a turbulent time in Hong Kong was very important, but the Macao Government assumed John had taken up a somewhat loftier post. On John's office wall hangs the formal credentials from November 1984 recognizing him as the new U.S. Consul General to Macao - something he never revealed to the real Consul General.

At the age of 34, John became Director of the State Department's Office of International Commodities. While his performance there ensured his entry into the Senior Foreign Service, John likely will tell you that his most significant accomplishment during this assignment was the birth of his daughter Sarah - quite international, but hardly a commodity. More precious, I would say.

Moving to Bangkok as Economic Counselor in 1990, John met two women who have shared his house and catered to him ever since. Those of you who have enjoyed sumptuous Thai meals at John's residence know I'm referring to his incomparable household staff, Kim Nai and Aroon.

By now, you are starting to see a pattern: top assignments in highly sought after posts, where John was picked from among many other contenders as the best in the Foreign Service.

Continuing his strategy of serving only in the great cities of the world, John next went to Paris as Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs, where he served under Ambassador Pamela Harriman. In 1998, John moved to Hong Kong as the Deputy Principal Officer, dealing with the challenges of a large post with many U.S. Government agencies in the wake of reversion to Chinese sovereignty.

John arrived in Singapore days before I did. On September 10, 2001, he accompanied me as I went to present my credentials to President Nathan. The next day, our world changed. John has played a key role as the United States and Singapore worked closely together to meet new challenges.

I have been deeply honored to work with John as a partner and friend, and to take advantage of his wide experience. Many non-diplomats don't understand the term "Deputy Chief of Mission," so John's Singapore CV parenthetically notes this is equivalent to "Chief Operating Officer." But even that business terminology does not do full justice to John's role in the embassy.

For the last three years, I have had the good fortune to have John supervising the "business" of the Embassy, even as I have relied on him for his wise counsel and insights on policy. Those of you in this room have observed John firsthand as he has worked with drive and skill on a diverse set of issues. When I was trying to sort through tactics on the FTA, John did a fabulous job of helping us understand the trade-offs of various approaches. When I have grappled with a thorny directive from Washington, John would take the lead in thinking through how the initiative might best be applied in Singapore. When I asked John in my diplomatic immunity would protect me if I had certain embassy personnel done away with, John advised me that such actions might adversely affect staff morale.

And John's contributions go far beyond his official responsibilities, for he also spent the last three years on the Board of the Singapore American School. With over three thousand students, this proud institution is the most prominent pillar of the American community in Singapore.

At the same time, when you ring the embassy and hear that John has "taken a hike," it's been literally true. He has hiked everywhere from Hong Kong, Borneo and the Cameron Highlands to France. John plays as hard as he works.

Against this background, this is not so much a farewell event as the celebration of another successful chapter in John's professional life. If I am lucky - if all of us here are lucky --our paths will cross with John's as he is reborn in his new career.

I ask you all to join me in saluting John and Amy, not just for three years of outstanding service representing their country in Singapore, but also for the quarter century of service prior to that.