Due to the very unhealthy habit of procrastinating the more boring things in life, Weng Lum and I have finally gotten around to settling our national service issues. The both of us completed two months of national service and had to leave early because our universities were starting already. Unfortunately, the both of us were given deferment. So on Thursday, we decided to go down to the head quarters to make some noise.
But first up, Putrajaya! I had to go collect my MyKad.
I thought I was all big shot what with being able to go down to Putrajaya just by looking at the signboards. Mana tau go to Putrajaya like a freaking monkey rounding the place. We were looking out for big ass buildings because that’s where the important government buildings were. The buildings there are seriously BIG ASS. A monstrosity of a certain kind. An unfairness to the rest of Malaysia’s infrastructures.
So what if you woke up in the middle of the night(read: 9am) to go down to Putrajaya to collect your MyKad on a FRIDAY?? You’ll still have to wait for more than a couple of hours for the officers to be done with their Friday prayers and long long long lunch. It’s good that Weng Lum was hanging out with me throughout the entire day or else I would’ve been bored shitless.
We asked the IC department’s officers if we could settle our National Service issues in Putrajaya itself. They directed us to the Jabatan Perdana Menteri(The Prime Minister’s Ministry or however they call it). And mannn..that place is big ass. BIG ASS. The little pondok to ask for information?? There was a friggin security check thingie going on. You know like the conveyor belt that you put your bags on in the airport? They have that there as well. And the officers were sitting in this glass case. I bet it’s bullet proof.
Weng Lum and I got bored so we stood by the gates(which was about many hundreds of meters away from the main building) and shouted, “Badawi! Yooohoo! Badawi!!! Hey Badawi!! We’re your biggest fans!! Badawi!! WOOHOo!”
Then we quickly drove away. Wahhahaha.
Oh! We camwhored with Jabatan Big Ass too.
You have to be there to feel the hugeness of it all.
After getting directions to go to Alamanda to while away the time, we went back to the national registration department to *hopefully* collect my MyKad.
It’s always the scene. It’s always filled with people and procrastinators alike.
See?
And Weng Lum accidentally stepped on my flip flops and I tripped forward and the straps snapped. I rummaged in my handbag for a live saver of any kind..and AHA, my scrunchy can be used for other things too!
Showing you how bored we were.
And finally. FINALLY.
I got lost again finding my way out of Putrajaya. Then I got lost again heading to KL. But we did manage to go to Menara TH Selborn to kau tim our national service stuff. But it was in vain.
They said there was no such thing as an exemption for cases like ours’. We were questioning the rationality of making us repeat THREE whole months again as exemption is only given to those who leave AFTER Sept 11 2005.
We left on the 30th and 31st of August 2005. Does that make sense to you?
Just a little bit more than a week and they can’t let us go just like that?
I mean we’ve already done TWO months. That’s better than nothing right?
The officers there told us that no matter what we’ll have to defer. We must have sounded pretty defensive because the conversation carried on for a while more. Then this stupid lowly officer who looked like he was heading towards his kap chai started to talk cocky with us.
“Ah, itu pengecualian tak ada. You mau complain kat MCA you complain itu pun tak boleh buat apa-apa punya.”
We were like, WTF? Name dropping MCA *just because* we’re chinese and are able to speak our mind? (though Weng Lum may beg to differ because he was there, first hand, to listen to my horrible stuttering BM)
But bottom line is, don’t make us sound like we’re pissed when we were STILL talking to you decently.
They kept saying that the National Service Act stated ‘clearly’. Oh, whatever. Put us through to your big guy if you can’t give us what we want. Let us explain our situation. We did hand a letter to the officer to explain our situation.
But I’ve got a couple of insiders to assist me in my quest.
My camp commandant is currently based with the national service head quarters. I called him and he said that those who had to go for matriculation and form6 were given an early exemption and they only completed one month’s worth of national service training and they were given their allowance accordingly. So he said I should raise my issue with the National Service chairman and to the director as well.
Then my dad’s got a friend who knows a guy who’s in the National Service committee. That day, we attended the chinese new year lunch just so we could have a little chat with him. He asked me to hand him my letters explaining my situation.
That’s three letters to the national service department via three different routes.
Hope one gets me what I want!:)
Yes, National service was fun. But it’s not fun when you have to join 18 year olds when you’re a wrinkly old 20s-something.
This was one angry boy..
We got lost again looking for Weng Lum’s dad’s office. Then I got lost looking for the highway. But it’s the whole getting lost in KL thing that one should do to get used to the roads. Try it! It’s fun!
Ah.. a beautiful sunset after the NPE toll.