If there’s one thing many Malaysians look forward to its to travel overseas. Truth be told, its been a while since many of us managed to go overseas due to the pandemic and its now about time for us to enjoy our life and go on an adventure!
But first, we need to renew our passport and we all know the hassle of renewing it recently as lines are very long and at some places such as the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) experienced poor service.
Ok guys aku berjaya renew passport dkt Kelana Jaya.Jumaat 27 may aku apply thru online and payment pun thru online then print receipt. Ahad 29 may Terima email cap jari x sah so kne buat dkt pejabat immigration nanti.isnin 30 may aku sampai pejabat KJ 6.45pm line Sudah panjang pic.twitter.com/b4Iz0JKDNb
— pija 🇵🇸🇲🇾 (@fyzamohdyaacob) May 30, 2022
Memang patut lah orang marah. Pergi UTC nak buat passport anak anak sebab 1st time so tak boleh buat online, escalator rosak. Line panjang nak mampos untuk ambil no giliran. Belum lagi tunggu pergi kaunter. Hauk betul sistem Malaysia ni
— Tashaaa 💐 (@faranatashaaa) June 7, 2022
If there’s one thing, we always want to look good when we get our photos taken so people can identify us better and clearly for our passport photos.
Yeah… not happening if you’re going to UTC
Recently, ex-SGAG influencer Maddy Breteche-Lo had gone to renew her passport and she had shared us her experience. Let’s just say it wasn’t the best of experiences…
To begin with, Maddy had gone to renew her passport and had put on a minimalist make up look as a precaution in case the officers say that heavy makeup is not allowed. To her shock, the officer at UTC had told her to remove her eyelash extensions to renew her Malaysian passport.
Maddy then explains that she is aware of how fussy and somewhat “strange” the Malaysian customs officers can be when it comes to people who wear makeup when taking their passport photos. So, why not pick on her eyelashes? Well, the officer on duty had informed her that her eyelash extensions were just too long.
“They took one look at my face and they’re like your eyelash extensions are too long,” she said.
Given two options: Cut or come back again another day
She was then handed a pair of scissors and the officer on duty informed her to either cut her eyelashes and continue the renewal process or come back another day.
Since she mentioned she was leaving the country the very next day, she was then given no choice but to cut her eyelashes on the spot. After cutting her lashes, she had returned to the officer to verify if her now “butchered” extensions could pass for the passport image. She even said “tak boleh gunting lagi” (can’t cut anymore) to the officer.
More issues came her way
Now that her “butchered” extensions were given the green light, she then encountered another issue with the officer and this time its about her contact lenses.
In her video, she says that the officer had requested her to take them off but she refused to do so due to her 1,200-degree myopia. She even had to proof to the officer that her lens was clear and sticked her finger in her eye to show it. The officer then responded with a mere “ok lah”.
In the end, Maddy says that this is unheard of and was very surprised after the ordeal. But how long did she take to renew her passport you may ask? It only took under 30 minutes to do so which shows that UTC has definitely improved their system or at least that’s UTC Kuching, we can’t definitely say much about the other UTC around the country.
Many netizens share their experience with UTC and other funny stories
Just when you thought Maddy had a bad experience, oh boy, you’re in for a rollercoaster ride as others too had similar if not worse experiences with UTC.
Here’s some of the comments:
Now while everybody was distracted at the fact Maddy had to cut her lashes, TikTok user Kewiwi89 was more surprised that the whole process including her cutting her lashes was done within 30 minutes. User downabi was also shocked that she mentioned her flight is the very next day.
When you think of it, we should be pretty thankful that nowadays most of these centres can renew our passports within 30 minutes to an hour. Unlike other countries, the process of renewing your documentation can take up to a day at times which is pretty inefficient.
Do you think the officer was a little too extra when it come to cutting off her lashes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
*Sources: Visual and Reference Credits to Social Media, TikTok & various cross references for context.
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