Drove back to the Jalan Duta immigration office on Monday morning. Found parking pretty quickly along the same stretch as last time - yay!
Back to the passport department to get another wait number (just show them your receipt) specially to collect. The guy ahead of me looked (and dressed) like the Malay Ryan Gosling in the movie, Drive, which I guessed was his intent. Was a little dismayed at first when I saw (on the slip) that my number was 3101 and that they were currently serving number 3002. Then I realised that it was in the 3080-range and I was a little happier. Giggled like a crazy person when Ryan Gosling Melayu finally got up to collect his passport. I can't explain it.
Only two out of the 6 counters were open for collection, so I thought I was going to be in for a long wait. My number was finally called and all I had to do was verify with my right thumb, check the details inside, and sign both the form (that you received it) and in the passport itself (which you might want to practice the signature beforehand if you don't). I had already accepted my ugly ass mugshot in there and hope that I look better than that when I travel. The whole process probably took 30 minutes, tops.
At least for RM300, you now get a 48 page (great, more empty pages than the previous 32 for yours truly never to fill up in 5 years) passport filled with all these security features to prevent tampering and forgery (speaking of forgery, who in their right mind would pay so much for a black market Malaysian passport when it's easier to travel with a US/UK/Australian/Singaporean passport?) like the laminated, hologram-laden detail page, ghost imaging, etc.
Only good news out of this whole thing was that my 5 month balance was added on to the new passport. (They carry forward/add on remaining months if you have about 6 months or less left on your current/old passport and opted for the 5-year passport).
Does anyone still have their old, voided passports? I still have mine, even my first passport as a tot (still goofy looking, even then)! I was looking through them and was amazed at the evolution of the Malaysian passport.
I swear - this will be my last post about passports (until next time)...!
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