2011/08/25
by Chuah Bee Kim
FILA wanted to wear a pair of high-heeled red sandals when she grew up. Her hairdresser was a Chinese woman and she was smitten by Hello Kitty.
Seven hours at the Indonesian Consulate in Jalan Taat, Johor Baru, had given me ample time to cultivate patience. I was glad I got to know Fila, who complained of the heat in spite of the air-conditioning in the room.
Everyone was perspiring. It was stuffy because there were just too many people in the room.
Thank God for the entertaining little girl. The wait would have been a long, tedious one without her.
A hilarious incident eased the restlessness. A woman called to the counter found the photo attached to her application form to be that of a man.
The consulate was clearly understaffed and brimming over with disarray and confusion.
With Hari Raya just around the corner and the deadline for the legalisation and amnesty of illegal immigrants codenamed "6P" looming, Indonesians were packing the consulate for new passports.
My maid was there to get her passport renewed.
The overwhelming number of applications notwithstanding, a more systematic approach would have prevented nerves from getting frayed and tempers from boiling.
At first, all who had filled out the forms and obtained numbers were allowed into the air-conditioned room, where they would have their photographs taken for their passports.
As everyone could enter, the room soon became overcrowded. Some were ordered to leave by the guard.
It is normal to wait for hours when applying for passports. It happens at our Johor Immigration counters as well.
What irked me was the attitude of some of the staff. They did not bother to apologise even when they had clearly made a mistake. To the visitors already frustrated by the interminable wait, that added insult to injury.
I, along with several others who were also employers, were told to wait inside the air-conditioned room. The passports of our housemaids would be handed to us there when they were ready.
Outside was for those applying for a passport for the first time and those working at construction sites and factories.
But when we went to make enquiries, we found out that the passports had been sent outside. While we were waiting for the passports inside, the counter staff outside were looking for the owners of the passports.
When my maid went to collect her new passport, she was asked rather rudely why she had not come forward when her name was called out three times.
My feisty maid told the person that some staff had instructed us to wait inside.
It turned out that the person who told us to wait inside was right, and that the passport was mistakenly sent outside. But the person behind the counter, scowled and refused to apologise. Another staff member began to ask my maid about her salary and her employer.
While asking the questions, he held onto the passport in a taunting manner.
He probably meant well as he said it was his job to find out if Indonesian workers here were ill-treated or underpaid, but it was simply not the right time to be asking such questions.
The 6P programme, which covers registration, legalisation, amnesty, supervision, enforcement and deportation, will last until Dec 31, starting with two weeks for the registration process.
Malaysia has an estimated two million legal foreign workers but has no figures for the number of illegal immigrants.
The authorities have promised the illegal immigrants that no action would be taken against them if they registered under the 6P programme for legalisation and amnesty within the timeframe. These include foreign nationals who have entered the country illegally and are now working and living here, foreign nationals who have overstayed and foreign nationals who have abused their entry permits or have falsified passes or travel documents, and those who have violated their permits.
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