time and place for everything

4.05pm

i have a question for you - have you ever seen a family out for dinner or a meal, and whilst at the table waiting for the food to arrive, they are all on their smartphones or gadgets like ipad, ipod/touch etc? you know what irritates me the most is when i look at these people, they dont realize that what they are doing is socially wrong! im sure you guys reading this would disagree with me totally but hey, its my opinion ok and im entitled to it, so there!

hey what ever happened to discussions and chatter around the table? why isnt there any communication going between the parents and kids? everyone is so busy staring into their gadgets that they dont see what is going on around them. and mind you, life would just pass these people by!

i saw on facebook couple months back, somebody sent this video about how life passes by when you are perpetually glued to your portable gadgets. in a nutshell, they gave 2 different scenarios -

1) a guy walking down the street, holding a piece of paper trying to locate a house and then comes along a nice looking girl and he stops her to ask for the direction and the girl kindly shows it to him and then fast forward to see them dating, then getting married, having kids etc.

2)a guy walking down the street, holding his phone trying to locate a house and then comes along this nice looking girl who just walks by him without noticing him and vice versa. why? because he's just too busy checking his phone to even look up to see what is going on around him or who had just walked by.

so yes, what does this tell you? and then very recently, one of my best friends put up on facebook saying that her husband has banned her and the kids too i think, to stop using the ipad after 11pm!! to me i say hear hear! bravo. 

i honestly think that these gadgets are being taken for granted and to the point where its being "abused". do you know what im trying to get across here? its really not cool. when you are at the dining table, put away your stupid gadgets, have a nice meal and do chat with your parents or spouse or kids. god gave us mouth to talk so damn it, talk! 

and you know what else, i would like to share one more story with you here. my husband came home one day and told me that one of his colleagues daughter was so damn lazy that whilst at home in her room, she whatsapped the maid (who was downstairs), to bring her a drink! oh my god! and nevermind that, if she didnt whatsapp, she would ring her own house phone! and one day her dad answered the phone(obviously this girl didnt know her dad was at home as she was busy with her gadget im assuming!) and was very surprised that his own kid who was at home, was calling the house phone! she actually wanted a glass of water to be brought up to her. and so thats how her dad found out about how utterly lazy his daughter was! of course he later gave her a severe warning and told her never to do that again and instructed the maid not to ever bring anything up to her room unless she comes down and get it herself!

so you see where im getting at? people, please for goodness sake, theres a place and time for everything!! would you die without your phone or ipad for a few minutes? would the world end if you just stopped what you were doing? im telling you, one day when your spouse/parents/kids are no longer around and you want somebody to talk to, thats when you know its too late! no more real conversation.

i know i sometimes fall into this bad habit too but when im back at my parents house, we dont bring our phones to the table. we sit down to eat and have a proper conversation like most adults do or any other human being for that matter. i mean come on, that should be the way, isnt it? i dont understand why parents these days allow this nonsense to even happen. from father to mother to kids all holding something in their hands and no one is talking. for realz ok! i have seen this many times when im out dining with my husband. and whatsmore, toddlers are given ipads to occupy themselves! OMFG! this too much if you asked me! 

tell me whats the purpose that people want to that? to show off to others around them? are they that shallow and superficial?or keeping up with the joneses perhaps? is it monkey see monkey do? why not learn the good things instead of the bad? social etiquette is very important and somehow somewhere along the way, it got lost. people behave the way they do which to me is quite sad. they think its so cool and the right thing to do. hey go ask any etiquette expert and see what they tell you. but having said that, these people dont realize that what they are doing is not right at all. there is a time and place for everything!! 


ttfn


4.43pm

renewal of malaysian passport in singapore

1.33pm

yes i know its been a while since my blog. thats coz nothing much has been happening or anything exciting to share with you guys. i dont know if you heard about another nasty incident that happened in seoul, korea recently, whereby 2 subway trains collided into each other. i think that there were around 200 people on board those trains. im not quite sure but from what i've been reading online thankfully nobody died in this accident just lots of casualties. very very sad #prayforsouthkorea. you can check more details online if you google it. 

anyways, moving along, today i decided to renew my passport as it needs 6 months validity in order to travel. it was my first time renewing it here in singapore as most of the time, i usually do it when i go back to kuala lumpur for my holidays. i did some research online and here's my very brief and straight forward version on how to go about doing it. 

that's the high comm of malaysia in singapore

right so first things first. just so you know, you dont have to make an appointment to go and do your passport. just go as early as possible if you can. i will give you guys more details as we go along. now, what you need to get in order before you go to the embassy/high commission of malaysia in singapore are -

*checklist given by the high comm of malaysia

a) your old passport
b) photocopy of your malaysian identification card(to photocopy back to back or on a single sheet, not on separate sheets)
c) photocopy of your singapore identification card(to photocopy back to back or on single sheet, not on separate sheets)
(note - if you forgot to make copies, you can do so at the embassy. there's a photocopier next to the instant photo booth and there'll be helpers there to do the photostating for you. each copy cost S$0.40 for photostating of IC)
d)your renewal form (which you can download online and to print out on a single page, back to back, not on separate sheets).

as you can see, this is how the form looks like, front and back on a single sheet of paper. just fill in the necessary bits. im afraid its all written in bahasa malaysia. if you are unsure of where/how to fill it in, dont fret, just check at the enquiry counter (there's one there).

e)exact amount of S$124.00 for a 48 page passport (i asked the lady at the counter if people have to give exact change and she said yes, no questions asked. makes me wonder why and i cant believe that they are that lazy to even give back change to people).
f) 2 current photographs with white background (35mm x 50mm). now for those of you who want to take your passport photo at the embassy, you can do so at the instant photo booth for S$7.00 and you'll get 4 photos. please keep some small change as the booth only accepts S$10, S$5 and S$2 notes. dont worry, if you are unsure of how to go about taking your photo, there'll be people there to assist you. oh yes before i forget, since its white background, please try not to wear white. try to wear a darker color so you wont "fade" into the background. a not very flattering black or dark blue jacket is provided for those who wear sleeveless or if you happen to wear white. but if you arent a germaphobe, by all means put the jacket on. hahaha. and since i wore glasses, the man told me to remove them. you have to try to make yourself as neat as possible, no hairs blocking your forehead or ears. 
g)lastly, please bring along all these documents and your originals as well for verification purpose. 

so basically thats all you need to do. thats your homework. once you've got that sorted out, you're good to go. other than that, here's a bit more information that i would like to share with you. for your info, we are only given 48 pages for the passport which is standard. kids and senior citizens above 60 years old are charged S$62.00 (all depends on the exchange rate as what i saw on the notice pasted at the counters). 

so, once you get to the high comm, make your way to the guard house to exchange your drivers license for an entry pass into the building. after you've done that, find your way into the building. then line up for your queue number (again, please make sure you have everything in order otherwise you are not given any number). once you've gotten your number, you just have to sit and wait for a while till your number is called and then you go and submit your documents (you have to surrender your old passport) and pay the person at the counter. from what i saw, there's 2 counters for taking queue numbers and there's 7 counters for passport and lastly 1 counter each for enquiry/submission/collection/visa and visa/cashier. rest is very straight forward like doing your thumb print of both thumbs, the payment. then once that's done, you'll be given a queue number and timing of when to collect your passport. 

for example, here's my queue number to pick up my passport the next day and the time to collect it. dont forget to bring this slip along with you for the collection of your passport. 


here's some helpful links for you to look into before you go off and do your passport. 

http://www.kln.gov.my/web/sgp_singapore/passport_renewal
(official website of the malaysian high commission in singapore)

http://www.transitlink.com.sg/eservice/eguide/service_idx.php
(in case you need to take the bus). i almost forgot, if you are driving or taking the bus, just go along river valley road and look out for landmarks either SPC or ESSO petrol stations. thats where jervois road is located. if you are taking the bus, please get off at the valley point bus stop. (sigh, we used to live at valley park condo at river valley road back in 2006). 

ok folks thats about it. if you need to check with me on anything, just feel free to ask. i'll try my best to answer your questions. 


ttfn

3.53pm

p/s 

i collected my new passport this afternoon. process was quite fast. here's how it went down. basically, when you get to the guard house, the security guard will ask you "what is your purpose" and you inform them that you're there to collect your passport and then  he'll give you a tag/pass with a Q number on it.(mine was 027) and you'll have to give him one of your identification cards (be it your ID or drivers license, which you'll be getting back later). then you go into the building and wait for 2.30pm when the doors will be opened for the public. (by the way, it was bloody hot coz we had to wait in the heat!) now, once they opened the doors, a guard will call out the Q numbers starting from 1 and you just wait your turn. as i said earlier, my number was 027 so i waited till the guard called out my number (just like BINGO!) and you go and line up in the queue and collect your passport. oh yes, when its your turn, you'll have to give the person at the counter your receipt (the small tiny slip of paper where a number and timing/date was printed on) coz thats how they can locate your passport in that sequence. and once that's been done, you go and return your tag/pass and get back your ID. voila!