An efficient Govt dept!!!!

Yep, believe it or not, there IS one!

I took my Sis-in-laws advise, and Husband and I drove to Melaka on 23rd Aug to do my passport renewal on 24th Aug (Yes, Sunday... Yes, they are open in Melaka). Anyway, first of all, we had the pleasure of taking our 2 gorgeous nieces and extremely tall and handsome nephew out for dinner on the 23rd. Went to an Italian restaurant in one of the main hotels in Melaka. The food was VERY good (the bread was FRESH and EXCELLENT).. but BOY was the service SLOW!! We had to remind them several times to get us the bread, and it still did not turn up until Husband got hold of the manager. The warm water that I asked for tasted like vegetables had been washed in it, and it took forever to get the drinks we ordered - AND it took forever to place our order. BUT, when the food did come, it was truly excellent, and silence reigned supreme while we enjoyed every bite. Nieces #1 and #2 decided to have dessert and ordered the house speciality - the Tiramisu. And, suffice to say, if YOU ever order that Tiramisu at that restaurant, then make sure it is your FIRST course, not your last one - as it comes in a martini glass the size of a bucket - and I am NOT kidding you!

Sunday 24th Aug morning, my brother took me to the passport division. Got there at 8.30am, and it took till 9.30am to get a form, fill it up, wait for my number to be called to submit the form, then wait for my number to be called again to pay for the passport. Then they told me I could get my new passport at 10.30am! Phew! Anyway, headed home first - had breakfast, read the papers. Bro and Sis-in-law went to the hospital to do their rounds, etc, and then around 10.30am Husband and I went back to the passport office. Got there just before 11am, and lo and behold, my passport was ready and it took all of 1 minute to hand in the receipt, get my passport, sign for it, and head out. I am STILL impressed by the speed of delivery. So... if they can be so efficient, what on earth is stopping all other govt departments in Malaysia from being equally efficient? Is there a different breed of people staffing the passport division? What? Whatever it is - KUDOS to the passport division!!

We stayed for lunch at Melaka, as it was nephew's birthday (16 already! Man, time flies past!), and then headed back to Singapore, where we had the pleasant surprise of getting through Singapore immigration in "only" 25 minutes. It is kinda ironic that Singaporeans used to complain about how slow Malaysian immigration is at the Checkpoint and 2nd Link, but now Malaysian immigration is super fast, and Singapore immigration is incredibly slow. I wonder why as well - as it is NOT like Singapore to have ANY govt department that is not super-efficient.

Well folks, that is it for now. Till next time... have a great life.