Those Stupid, Stupid People

Of which I am one of. Unfortunately.

Those who keep abreast of local news, or more specifically, local Chinese daily newspapers might have caught a whiff of the rumour that the price of renewing passports will jump to RM500 come September 1. According to the rumour mongers, the Prime Minister will announce the price increase in his Budget 06/07 address on that day. As RM500 is almost twice the current price of RM300, it was certainly cause for concern. If it were true.

For better or for worse, the rumour spread faster than an STD in a jail cell. Soon the Immigration Office in Penang was swamped by frantic people who wanted to renew their passport under the old price. The rumour floated mainly among the Chinese community, and so Penang was the only state experiencing this as we have a Chinese majority.

I am ashamed to say that I am one of those stupid people.

But wait! Before you throw me to the crocs and forsake my blog, I have a valid reason. My passport is going to expire this November, and since I need at least 6 months of validity to travel internationally, it was high time to renew anyway. Not that I planned to go out of the country. But at least I had a better reason than the other 300-odd people who turned up last Tuesday.

The usual process for making a passport before all this great stampede was: queue an hour to get a number, wait for your turn, submit all the relevant documents and thumb prints, and collect your travel document by late afternoon.

However, when I went on Tuesday the rumour has spread far and wide. I arrived at 7.30am to find a queue that stretched several buildings. I took my place and waited for the doors to open at 8am. To cut a long story short, the queue moved at a snail's pace. I waited FIVE HOURS just to get a number, and not just any number. My turn was not in 3 hours, but next week. Yes, they had to start giving out numbers in advance to appease those of us who have waited half a day.

So, I'll be going back tomorrow at 11am to finish what I started. I'm glad that I'm doing this before I actually start work. Taking time off from work even before you have really started is so uncool, ok? Just a note to everyone else - queueing in line for 5 hours ain't no fun. Don't try it if you can help it.