Two weeks has passed by since I last saw the officer on Monday. I did obediently as instructed by the goverment officer, came to the goverment office for a follow-up. Dragged my father along just in case the officer requires any written/oral verification. Turns out, I just need to fill in a 10 page form. I completed a 8 page form 4 months back when I first sent in my application. The lengthy 10 page form seems to look rather similar to the one I filled in previously. “Paperless government” I thought to myself. Irony.

“Cik, boleh call besok untuk buat temujanji lawatan selanjutnya”, with that he left the table. I called consecutively for 2 weeks everyday. The officer is not to be seen or heard. “Dia keluar, call back lepas rehat”. Agony.

My father was not pleased with all these nonsense. He grumbled daily and reminded me to call the officer at every opportunity. I managed to locate the officer at 8:30 am on Tuesday morning. He shrugged and excused himself with a lame subject. We finally came to a concensus that I’ll call after raya. Hope.

This experiece has allowed me to view my father’s perception on equality in race. Why, you may ponder? The daily grumble details the better treatment, speedy processing time, in this case of point, for a Malay folk. Despite numerous occasions, I’ve heard from friends that the government service agents treat Malays better as compared to the Chinese and Indian ethnics, I refused to bend with the winds on that statement. Faith.