Veteran diplomat Tony Kemal Siddique died on Friday night of a heart attack. He was 80, and was most recently Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community. He previously served as Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs, and was Singapore’s ambassador to a host of European countries, including Finland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Greece. After retiring from the civil service in 1996, he went into the private sector and founded a strategic advisory firm, where he was executive director.

Mr Siddique was also generous with younger diplomats, showing them the ropes on how to write political briefs and interact with their foreign counterparts, said Ambassador-at-Large Ong Keng Yong. “He taught us how there will always be private chit-chat and deal making on the sidelines, and we must always stay alert to counter those moves,” said Mr Ong.