Is it not ironic that one of Malaysia's biggest embarrassments of this era is the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore. Twenty years have passed and I have personally seen it and experienced it and to date nothing has changed. Excuse me, is this not the year 2010?

Why has there not been a change with all the latest technology available, all the big and bold talk about ‘produktiviti’ and ‘Malaysia Boleh’. Maybe someone forgot to inform all the people at the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore that it is the 21 ^st century. The high commission is a representation of the people for the people. Or am I wrong or have I been on the moon for the past decade?

What is prevailing is their pre-historic work ethics and attitudes. This is the main reason we have a system that can never improve because the people in the driver’s seat are enforcing poor work ethics in anything they do. They don't care, plain and simple. Still the same tidak apa attitude. I ask every Malaysian, are we not so tired of this? When are we going to see some change and not just talk? How long more do twe olerate this before something is done? Another 20 years?

What is the use of having a high commission filled with lazy people? The same people who are the first to respond to any criticism with either a denial or a different version of what happened a which we all know is untrue.

People who just cant be bothered and who will give you any and every possible excuse to cover for their poor performance and lack of responsibility. Makes me sick to the stomach.

To what, you may ask, is my immediate frustration? I went to the high commission yesterday at 10am as I needed to renew my passport. Two security guards were comfortably sitting in their office chatting away. Yes, after 10am our high commission security staff are paid to sit in their office and talk about football and the latest scores.

‘What you want’ was the first thing they said to me. No ‘good morning’, ‘how may I assist you’ or even the slightest gesture of courtesy. My response was that I would like to renew my passport. Without a blink of an eye they both started laughing as if I was asking where in Malaysia Elvis was residing.

‘No more number’ they said adding ‘next time come earlier’. They then slid the glass panel shut and continued with their conversation. At this point, I felt, well, I'd just try again tomorrow.

This morning I was there at 7.30 am and again I approached the same security guards. They did not recognise me and again I asked them for a queue number to renew my passport. This time the laughing was a little more sarcastic and they both blatantly told me, ‘Halo, better you come at 4am and line up. Maybe when we give out numbers at 7.10 am you can get a ticket. We only issue 150 tickets a day. You don't get, not our problem. We cannot do anything. Embassy rules’.

Hence this letter to all my fellow Malaysians. It is time to speak up to stop this incorrigible attitude. So am I to believe that the entire Malaysian High Commission is only able to process up to 150 applicantions or renewals per day? And we are blatantly told we have to line up at 4am or literally drop dead?

I asked around that morning and the response from many people was the same. One auntie was there since 8 am; she must have been about 65 years old. Did the high commission staff even bother? I would like to ask, would they let their own mother stand in the hot sun for half a day just to get her passport renewed?

They don't care and they have the attitude that if we don't come even before the chickens awake in Malaysia it is not their problem. I called the high commission, asking to speak to an officer pertaining to this. A rude lady answered, ‘Yes what you want.’

I replied I would like to speak to an officer pertaining to the difficulty of renewing a Malaysian passport. She blatantly responded ‘You want to complain? Go ahead, you think you are the first person who want to complain?’ and hung up the phone.

I do hope there is a glimmer of hope left in our system. I hope that there is a possibility of change. Let’s be realistic, 20 years on and nothing has changed. It is a major embarrassment for the country.

I have had better productivity from an embassy in a Third World country where they transport your papers via land on horseback and across seas by boat - and it is done in a few hours.

Or is the fact that the 150 documents received at the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore are put in a sampan and rowed along the Strait of Malacca to Port Klang where they are transferred in a kereta lembu before reaching the immigration office in Kuala Lumpur for the appropriate signatures? Malaysia, it is time to speak up. The truth is undeniable.