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I refer to Leong Chin Heng's letter Malaysian way, room for improvement .

In the name of fairness I would like to address his criticism of the Malaysian High Commission staff in the passport section.

Firstly, some administrative staff are in fact not Malaysians. These non-Malaysians are local residents who were originally from the Philippines, Cambodia, and other non-English speaking countries. They don't speak English quite like Edward Fox or Hugh Grant, but their standard of English is adequate for the day-to-day administration or in dealing with Malaysians requiring passport services. Perhaps one of these staff members may be the one that Leong spoke to.

I have conversed with the Malaysian officers there and am encouraged not only by their command of English but also by their general courtesy. In fact they are very friendly and helpful.

If one resides in Canberra, a passport may be processed within a few hours. Fridays and Mondays are reserved for those who live inter-state, and wish to proceed to Canberra on a weekend-holiday-cum-passport-renewal exercise. I think this is a very thoughtful arrangement.

Unless there are document complications, passports may be renewed or re-issued within a few hours with a minimum of fuss. I have no doubt that any fair-minded Malaysian who have required passport services in Australia can testify to this level of excellent service.

Passport services may also be transacted by post, but as this process depends on the Australian postal system, some degree of transit time would invariably be involved. Again, unless some documents were missing or not satisfactorily filled in, the process takes a couple of weeks, or at most three weeks, bearing in mind the postal element.

While I have no reason to disbelieve Leong when he quoted a period of three months from his experience, I would think this to be an exception to the rule.

As for the RM0.50 per form, please compare this rather insignificant cost to what one has to pay for one of the Australian immigration forms.

No, I am not a High Commission staff member or a government official, and as I mentioned in an earlier letter, I am a Chinese Malaysian residing in Australia. I have been very disappointed with the acute acrimony, bitterness and hostility towards the Malaysian government or public service or all things Malaysian expressed by some fellow or former Malaysians in Australia.

Maybe they feel frustrated, disappointed and angry at the inequity and discrimination experienced in Malaysia. Well, I can say that I have been there, felt that too. We can criticise the bad elements of the system, but let us do it in a constructive manner.

I appeal to Leong and friends to uplift themselves emotionally and look instead at the benefits they derived from Malaysia, no matter how few these may be. If we allow our anger and bitterness to overwhelm and destroy us, we have only ourselves to blame. Let's call the glass half full rather than half empty.