As a significant contributor to public diplomacy, the consular office assumes an important role in current-day diplomacy but when Malaysians work in tandem with them, the end-product benefits not only themselves but also their country – and not all those who wander are lost.

British Council director Peter Clack who left the country last month for a new posting, talks fondly of local food and the role he played in Malaysia’s quest to be an education hub.

The Australian government is to post on YouTube images of so-called boatpeople being turned away and sent to Malaysia, in an effort to deter asylum seekers. The video will show arrivals at Australia's offshore detention centre on Christmas Island being expelled and boarding aircraft. Asylum seekers remain a politically sensitive issue in Australia.

SINGAPORE --- “Just turn on the faucet.”

That’s the answer most Americans and others in the developed world would give if asked how to get plenty of clean water. But for about two billion people, such a response is meaningless. These people – almost a third of the world’s population – do not have access to water that can be drunk without adverse health effects. An even greater number lack access to adequate sanitation, which is a principal reason that more than two million children die of diarrheal diseases each year.

With Malaysia making its mark as an affordable and sophisticated healthcare hub, the Health Ministry is aiming to attract more than 437,000 tourists to experience what the local healthcare industry has to offer, by bringing in significant players to galvanize its efforts.

The Tourism Ministry will spend RM1.8mil on social media branding to woo young tourists. Its Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the move was part of the ministry’s transformation programme and would mark the first time that social media was used as a branding tool.

The government is launching a new initiative to bring Malaysian TV and film projects to the world. As local productions have increased and the country has become a prominent location double for other Asian countries, it is investing in efforts to increase Malaysia’s international presence.

It's familiar, unmistakable. The melody echoing through the auditorium at Rangsit University is from Days of Wine and Roses, that Hollywood drama from the early 1960s whose theme music, composed by Henry Mancini, won an Academy Award. The odd thing is that the tune is being played by a group of Asian students who couldn't possibly have been born when that film was released.