It was during the Cambodian Civil war in the 1970s, that a young boy’s life got completely changed. He was Sujiro Seam, the outgoing Ambassador of the European Union for the Pacific.
Cambodia was no longer a safe place to be and without a second thought his family had to flee to safety and arrived in France when he was only two years old.
France was a new world but a safe one, where his mother singlehandedly raised him and his sister.
They lost their father after they had left Cambodia. Young Sujiro’s childhood was spent travelling from one city to another, but mostly in the South of Paris, in a countryside town 100km away from the capital.
Paris was known to have the best of everything, schools included, and at the age of 16 he moved to attend the finest high school in the country.
It was quite a young age to start living alone but a change that had to be made. After completing high school, he went to study at the Paris Graduate School of Management, one of the top business schools in France.
In his 20s, he didn’t have a clear notion of what he wanted to pursue as a profession and after doing internships in finance and marketing, he realised the corporate world wasn’t the place for him.
Joining the civil service
But after an internship with the French Military, he found the public sector ticked all the boxes and was where he wanted to be.
So, after completing studies at the business school, he went on to the French Institute of Political Sciences which he explained was a prepatory platform for the National School of Administration, which at the time was recruiting and training the highest-ranking civil servants for French ministries.
“That’s the French system, quite different from the way civil servants are recruited here in Fiji,” Mr Seam said.
“In France its true that from WWII to a few years ago there was one school which was established to recruit civil servants in the French civil service.
“There are several ways to become a diplomat in France and graduating from the National School of Administration is one.”
Mr Seam said not all students ended up becoming a diplomat. In his year there were six to seven positions offered for the diplomatic service, for a class that had around 110 students.
“There is a ranking, and you have to rank high enough to be able to be chosen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Mr Seam counted himself lucky to be one of those high-ranking individuals. In 1998, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris and first served at the Directorate of Legal Affairs.
“I had the responsibilities of a lawyer, to provide legal advice to the ministry, to the government at large and to represent the French government and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in international disputes.”
It was during this period that he met his wife Jane Ren Seam at the UN General Assembly of 1998.
At the time she was working for the United Nations.
Overseas assignment
Three years later, Mr Seam took his first overseas assignment in 2001 and went to Brussels where he was an Expert at the European Commission, in the Trade Dispute Settlement Unit, and then was made the counsellor in charge of fisheries, regional policy, maritime policy, outermost regions and overseas countries and territories.
After eight years in Brussels, he returned to Paris and got his first management position with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he served as deputy assistant secretary for food security and economic development and then as the deputy director, covering all sustainable development issues.
In 2013, he was appointed Consul General of France in Houston, USA, with jurisdiction over Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Four years later, he was appointed Ambassador of France to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
“Diplomatic career is extremely interesting because we never do twice the same job, its different from one country to another,” Mr Seam told The Sunday Times.
“But then the system sometimes sends you to places which you have not thought about and that’s what happened in the case of Fiji.”
It wasn’t long before his appointment as the ambassador for the European Union for the Pacific in 2019. His nomination was one of 43 worldwide.
“That’s what you try to do in your career, you try to do something different, if possible, also climb up the ladder to positions as they become available.”
He said the work of an ambassador was extensive and required dedication, covering everything from office matters, delegating assignments, and attending meetings to sending emails, compiling reports and participating in official engagements.
Martial arts and travelling
When Mr Seam got the time for himself, he started taking part in karate in Fiji and trained with the National Federation of Karate.
On Mondays and Wednesday from five to seven pm, when time was on his side, he would be seen training at Yat Sen Secondly School. Before coming to Fiji, he practised aikido and judo, traditional Japanese martial arts.
“I started judo when I was in primary school, but I didn’t continue. Then I started karate when I was in high school and then Aikido in 1983 which is some 30 years ago.
“But changing postings and countries doesn’t make it very easy to continue.
“To be good at martial arts you need to be fit physically, but this is something you can continue up until the end of your life. The fact that you can continue regardless of your physical capacity is something which I like about martial arts.”
The Seams enjoy travelling to natural wonders and large cities.
While in Fiji they were able to travel during border closures to various places, along the coral coast, the western side of Rakiraki, Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Kadavu and Lau.
He said Rotuma was one place they wished they could visit but did not. Luckily, one of their sons got to visit the island.
“The people of Fiji are extremely friendly, they’re always smiling.
“You can never say I had enough of these wonderful Pacific Island tropical landscapes that we can find here in Fiji. Mr Seam speaks English, French, Russian and a bit of Chinese but mostly uses the first two languages.
Mrs Jane Seam’s experience
For Mrs Seam, her experiences of being the spouse of a diplomat has been overwhelming but one that she has grown to love.
While being careful of the way she conducts herself and the opinions she shares, she ensures she’s always responsible and supportive of her husband.
“I have made important friendships, with Fijian contemporary artists, staff members, expats, and with the many Fijian people I have come across,” she said.
“I can paint and sing and sometimes dance. I even learned during my years here in Fiji, some kathak dance at the Indian Cultural Center, which for me is very poetic and expressive.”
She said her diplomatic journey with Mr Seam has helped develop her childhood passion for the arts and she has used this passion beautifully by supporting the local art community in whatever way that she could.
“I did not focus on areas like science, research, or oceanic protection because this are areas that I do not really have knowledge in so I put more emphasis on what I am good at, which is creativity.”
“I got to know more about local artists whom I thought needed some sort of international promotion and since I had worked in a gallery before as an independent curator, I decided to help them a bit.”
Mrs Seam did three major exhibitions and philanthropic work with the Fiji Society for the Blind to help children with visual impairments.
Taking with her to their next posting is an assortment of personal art collections, several of which are different styles of Fijian contemporary artworks which she plans to share later on with an international audience.
