Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Too Young for Age Issue?


I was at the Imigration Office today, I had to do my passport. I am super excited I finally own a passport of my own & am more excited now 'cus frens, the fish here no longer need to worry about waiting at the customs and no more admiring at all the jumbo jap cuisine photos @ Escapade that I saw everywhere else but my blog !!! Okay anyway, that wasn't my point !!! Something happened while I was trying to get things done with my passport application.

Well, I was pretty lucky the queue this afternoon, it wasn't really long so am expecting to finish everything early and go hunt for some nice jeans. And after waiting for some time, it's my turn to get my application reviewed by one of the officers at the application counter. With all the excitement I've gathered through the many years waiting for this very moment, I walked up to the officer, broad smile on my face, and proudly passed him all my documents. Of all the preparation done, still there always ought to be something missing !!! And there comes, the highly unfavourable sentence 。。。


Officer : Girl, did you bring along the original copy of your offer letter?

Me : Oh no, everything but that. Can you just accept this photocopied one?

Officer : Not really, girl. We need approval from the head & we need the original.

Me : But then, it's all the way back home & down here again ... (argh)

Officer : Well without the original, the student rate won't apply.

Me : How much exactly, is the student rate?

Officer : RM 150.

Me :
And the normal rate?

Officer : RM 300

Me : Alright wait me !!!

It's a friggin' 50% off, okay !!! Talking about gals & discount !!!
I made a call back home to see if dad is coming down town & I was lucky he almost started on his car engine dy. He decided to fetch the original offer letter for me and send it over to the office. Thank god, he didn't scold me for the recklessness !!! I waited, and waited and waited under the heat of the scorching sun. I just wish I could get everything done and settled with soon, real soon.

Finally 30 minutes later, dad finally dropped by with the document & I quickly rushed back up to proceed with the rest of the procedures. The officer was nice enough to let me cut queue. He was keying in my data, when another least-anticipated scenario happened 。。。


Officer : Oh akai !!! Tak dapat, girl !!! Tak dapat !!!

Me :
Har what ?? Apa tak dapat ??

Officer :
Your age tak dapat dah !!! Dah 21 !!!

Me :
21 years old tak dapat apply passport??

Officer :
Bukan, 21 tak dapat use student rate, girl !!!

Me :
(pissed) What's the problem with me being 21? Am still a student right?

Officer : Yaya, masih student, tapi dah 21. Jadi, tak dapat.

Me : Huh ... where got this kind of condition one ??

Officer : Sayanglar girl !!! Jadi masih need to pay Rm 300 loh.

Me : U shud've told me earlier. Save me all the trouble fetching a piece of paper.

Officer : Hahaha ... Mana saya tau ?? Muka kau tak macam 21 pun !!!

Me : ... (thanks and no thanks)

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Tell me honestly, should I be happy because someone told me I didn't look as old as 21 or bekchek because, in fact, am too old a student to get a student rate ???
_____________________________________________________________________________________

G
osh you noe, the one true thing about government policies is that, there is never one 'reasonable' reason behind every laid-out terms. The only way to deal with all the frustrations is to accept them with an open heart !!! From now on, I'll have to start re-adjusting my perception that a 'student rate' does not apply with all 'students' - not when you are 21 and still a student.

Exactly where's the logic behind all these anyway ??


3 seashells:

triShie said...

yknow what, then it shouldn't even be called student rate!! should be explained just as it is: below 21 is rm150, above rm300. simple as that!! apalah student rate! you can be 60yrs old and still go to university as a student!!!!!

(_.·´¯`·×» candies said...

woah....

GILA KA PA??? why you didnt argue?? they think student rich kah??

Anonymous said...

LOL!