Renunciation of 'Malaysian citizenship'

After waiting for close to 2 months, its finally time for my appointment date with the Malaysian high commission to hand in my documents for the renunciation of Malaysian citizenship. I sat there waiting for 2.5 hours, due to the bureaucratic inefficiency of the organisation. Someone told me to count and remember the total number of states in the whole of Malaysia to pass time when I complained bout having to wait for so long and apparently Malaysia has 13 states. It was quite funny and I nearly burst out laughing when I read that message.

But no, I didn’t actually go and recall all 13 states of Malaysia which I actually did learn in social studies. I ended up accidentally eavesdropping on conversations between the officers and the people who were there cos I was sitting in the front row closest to the counter. There was this rather interesting situation. This underage couple had a baby borned out of wedlock. However, they were not married and the state somehow does not recognise the relationship between the father and the baby. I think marriage legitimises a relationship, a relationship between a man and woman which would otherwise be frowned upon. That’s the main point of marriage to society. And this point was reflected in today’s situation. And so the baby’s passport or some other official document did not reflect the father’s name as it was deemed unnecessary by the officer. And I think its unfair, for the guy, even if I am a girl, for he is the biological father of his baby son. And just because the mother gave birth to the baby, she was automatically linked to the baby while the father had to be linked by marriage, first to his wife, then through his wife, to his baby. Its quite sad for the couple. They were wondering whether they could change the document when they got married next year.

I was rather stressed today, stressed out more by my parents than the inefficiency I encountered there. My father kept recounting his previous experiences which was quite negative and apparently quite a nightmare to go down there and in doing so, re-created that nightmare for me without me having to personally experience it. To tell the truth, I am more amused than annoyed that I have to waste so much time there. I think that’s the problem with Singaporeans including me, we tend to take Singapore’s efficiency for granted. But like what a gp teacher in tjc said, perhaps, Singapore isn’t the norm, we are the exception in this world.

Efficiency or inefficiency, I am glad that the whole thing is nearly over. I need to go over to ICA in two weeks time to complete this citizenship process thing. The website says that I can take the ‘vow of allegiance, loyalty and renunciation’ within a day and I certainly hope so.