Ask Lord Bobo: The Curious Case of the State Secretary

From the Selangor Times Issue 8, 14-16 January 2011. Ask Lord Bobo is a weekly column by LoyarBurok where all your profound, abstruse, erudite, hermetic, recondite, sagacious, and other thesaurus-described queries are answered! You can view the entire paper at the end of this post, and download a pdf of the entire paper here.

This week, Ask Lord Bobo answers questions on the Selangor state secretary, the difference between being and living, and how Malaysians students who are overseas can vote in the General Elections.

Dear Lord Bobo, what are the issues and underlying problems with this appointment of Khusrin as Selangor state secretary mess? Merah Kuning, via email

Well dear friend, if you have been following the ONLY blawg you would know the answer by now. LoyarBurok.com was the first to bring you the accurate legal analysis of this crazy civil service appointment. No political rhetoric, no mess, no fuss. That’s why you should become a LoyarBurokker and help Lord Bobo dominate the world.

Basically, there are three views:

1. The Federal Government, the Public Services Commission (PSC) and the Sultan of Selangor think that the PSC (i.e. federal level) is empowered to appoint the State Secretary (SS) and impose him on the State of Selangor. They say that in 1993 the power to appoint was taken away from the Sultan on the advice of the Menteri Besar and given to an “appropriate Service Commission”. They take this Service Commission to mean the PSC.
2. The Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) and his Executive Council disagree. They think that while PSC may appoint (or for a more technical term although PSC does not say it, “second”) the appointment is only valid if it is approved by the MB or at least after consultation with him. The MB now wants to amend the Selangor State Constitution (SSC) to restore the power of appointment to the Sultan on the advice of the MB.
3. On LoyarBurok, you will notice posts (if you have not read them, shame on you — stop here, read these posts before continuing) that have excavated the SSC and the Federal Constitution to say that for Selangor, the PSC has no power to appoint the SS. Both the Constitutions read together say that it is the Selangor State Service Commission (State Commission) which is to appoint the SS. Since the State Commission has not appointed the SS, an appointment ought to be made. Khusrin is therefore a “trespasser” or “pretender SS” as termed by the People’s Judge, NH Chan.

If the third view is correct (which it obviously is, because it is published by LoyarBurok), then Khusrin has no right to enter the office of the State Secretariat. He should be stopped, like how the Pakatan Rakyat Perak ADUNs were stopped from entering the Perak State Assembly at the height of the Perak Crisis? Or have you forgotten? It’s alright if you have — go and get LoyarBaca’s “Perak: A State Of Crisis” at GerakBudaya, MPH, Times, Popular and Borders.

As for the “underlying problems”? Well. You wake up everyday and read biased, inaccurate and sensational news about the issue. You see politicians and the palace become excitable because the media shines on them.

But life in your kampung, school, pasar malam and restaurant goes on as if nothing has happened. Are you affected? Do you ask why Teoh Beng Hock died? That’s probably more important. The chances of you being arrested by law enforcement officials are higher than bumping into any work of any State Government’s SS.

Dear Lord Bobo, is there a difference between living and being? What do you live for, immortal one? @plgan, via Twitter

Living and being are two different sides of the coin.

Being is mere existence, brought upon us unwillingly and by sheer chance that our two parents had met and copulated, giving rise to a creation of a new entity which is our very unique DNA, and eventual psychological identity. One eats, one desires, one licks popsicles, one poops, one sleeps. One exists not of our choosing, but from random chance. We exist, breathing, aware, and with the ability to react to the stimulus from our surroundings, be it sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

Living, on the other hand is the pleasure in existing awareness. It is a higher level of exploration of the existence we were born with. With the further application of what is in our brains, we choose how we live. We choose what to think. We choose how to behave. We choose to pursue activities which bring us much pleasure. Those who love what they do work not a day in their life, and such is the pleasure in living!

Lord Bobo likes to scratch our itchy butt crevice and head, baffled by the stimulus generated by the political, judicial and administrative authorities in the nation. Unlike other simians, His Supreme Eminenceness chooses to spread the luuuuuuuuurve movement far and wide to share our joy and delight in things we are “forbidden” to discuss and engage.

You want to learn how to live — to truly live? Become a LoyarBurokker. Your life will never be the same again.

I am a Malaysian studying overseas. Can I vote in the next General Elections? If so, how? Make It Count, via email

Any Malaysian student overseas who is over 21 is entitled to register as an “absent voter”, which means that he or she will automatically be sent a postal ballot at the next General Election. The same also applies to Sabah/Sarawak students in the Peninsula, and vice versa, as well as the spouse of any eligible student. Be aware that because of the registration timetable, any students registered now may only be able to vote provided that the General Election is after the first quarter of 2011.

According to the Election Commission, Malaysians students overseas should contact the local Malaysian embassy or high commission to register. However, when you contact the embassy, be prepared to be told to go away and contact the Election Commission because the embassy is unable to register you.

In particular, the High Commissions in London and Canberra have claimed that they have been asking the Election Commission for registration forms (in the case of Canberra, since before the 2008 elections), but have received nothing. Some students have reported that they have been able to register if they brought their own forms, which can currently only be obtained from Malaysia.

If you face this problem, please contact the Registration section of the Election Commission at [email protected] to complain. We would appreciate it if you could describe your experiences to MyOverseasVote ([email protected]) for the benefit of other Malaysian students. In addition to encouraging Malaysians students overseas to register to vote, MyOverseasVote is also planning to take the Election Commission to court to fight for the right of Malaysians working overseas to vote from abroad. Contact them for more information, or if you wish to support the campaign.

Although Lord Bobo already knows your question before you even knew you had a question, as a practical display of your true desire to have your query answered, His Supreme Eminenceness has graciously allowed you to communicate your questions by —

• emailing [email protected], stating your full name, and a pseudonym if you wish the question to be published anonymously (and a good reason for anonymity).
• tweeting your questions by mentioning @LoyarBurok and using the hashtag #asklordbobo.

The first 100 questions published will receive LoyarBurok’s ONLY merchandise you ever need (worth a lot for humankind) courtesy of Selangor Times. Now, what the hell are you waiting for? Hear This and Tremblingly Obey (although trembling is optional if you are somewhere very warm)! Liberavi Animam Meam! I Have Freed My Spirit!