To prove that I am good

If you are thinking of applying to go grassy land, one of thing you need to do is to apply for a “Certificate of Good Conduct” from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Traditionally, the form requires the usual details such as name, identification number, address, pas employment, education history and you seal it up with a declaration that you are not convicted of any crime and do not possess any criminal record. However, one additional requirement was incorporated there-in commencing (based on the final page of the form) 3 March 2008. The form is so new that it is not in the ministry website yet.

Point 21 of the latest form states:

“Permohonan oleh warganegara Malaysia untuk Sijil Kelakuan Baik hendaklah disokong oleh mana-mana pegawai dari kategori pegawai yang disenaraikan di bawah:”

The “pegawai” is supposed to give a comment to support that I am a person of good conduct and of course, subsequently provide his/her name, IC number, occupation and address. Do note… there is no signatory requirement indicated here. Based on my previous experience dealing with newly introduced prescribed forms, I have a feeling the “tandatangan” requirement has been erroneously omitted.

But the most intriguing part is the ‘kategori pegawai’ who can give a comment on my behaviour. They are:

Pegawai Kerajaan dalam kumpulan perkhidmatan pengurusan dan professional (Kumpulan A) ----- First, I have no idea who are these people. Secondly, how do they know I have good conduct or otherwise? And if you are saying that they are to comment on civil servants working in that field, are they facilitating civil servants to get one? Whatever it is, this category is out for me.

Jaksa Pendamai ----- Can someone please tell me who or what is this???

Ketua kampung atau Penghulu ----- I supposed they expect the village chief to know of everyone’s conduct? Or they expect most people applying for such cert coming from the kampung?

Ahli-ahli Parlimen atau ADUN ----- So they did cater for urban folks after all. But then again, how are the MPs and state assemblymen know of the conduct of the relevant applicant? My mom-in-law said she knew a MP and called him today. I asked if he was the MP for the previous term, the answer was yes. As such, my fear was confirmed… he is MP no more for this term. On hindsight, maybe I should ask Tony Pua to give me a comment or two since he took a few articles from my blog before.

Guru Besar / Pengetua Sekolah atau Maktab Awam ----- This is by far my last bet. But then again, my Pengetua has long left for grassy land himself so I have to approach my school’s current Pengetua, whom I am sure have no idea how I behaved in school. As a matter of fact, I rather him not know that. Hey…! My school leaving cert states that I am a brilliant kid ok! I was just being humble.

In my opinion, I don’t know what is the relevance of this additional requirement. Is this a desperate measure to stop or at least slow down the brain drain problem? Whatever it is, it is just going to make people feel frustrated and more determined to get it done. I mean, how would these people know of my conduct as a person? And God knows what some of these people would ask for return if the applicant is desperate.

So if you are one going to embark on a mission to grassy land… don’t tell me I didn’t give you a head up………