I renewed my passport for the fourth time in the last 20 years this August ... Well, as it should 'coz I applied my first passport the minute I turned 18 ... It so happened I worked part-time as a clerk at the Immigrations Department right after I sat for my SPM, so I had some leeway, heheheh, when I applied for my passport 'coz technically I had not turned 18 at the time ... Anyway, this was the time when they had yet to introduce biometric security measures for international travel documents in this country ...
The second time I applied for my passport was prior to my study in Japan ... I think biometrics were already introduced at this time ... Now, that was in 2003, so I could not really remember whether I had any problems in applying for one at the time ...
You see, my fingerprints can't be read ... Really ... My thumbs, my indexes, you name it ... The calluses on my fingertips are so bad that any biometric reading machine fail to read them ... Why are the calluses on my fingertips so bad, you ask? Well, it is due to being exposed to harsh chemicals as I was the designated dishwasher since a very young age, and I never bothered wearing gloves until a few years ago when I realised that the issue is affecting my banking transactions ... Every time I want to do a certain transaction, the bank's reader fails to read my thumbprints, on both sides ... But I guess wearing the gloves did not do much to resolve the situation ... The calluses have left a deep impression through every single whorl, every single ridge ...
When I was very young, the whole of my palms were covered with these large pustules of water sacs at one time ... I could not hold a spoon or do much with my hands for about two weeks I think .. Until today I am not sure why my hands had such a breakout, but I vaguely recall the doctor saying that it was because my hands were too sensitive ... My mom never told me to wear gloves (though if I say this to her now she most probably will deny it vehemently by saying that she told me so multiple times) ... I hated wearing them anyway, but this is the sort of thing you only realise until too late that you should have worn those gloves when doing those dishes so long ago ...
Anyway, what does this have to do with my passport application this time ... Well, this time, it became such a major issue that I was the last person to leave the Immigrations office last Friday ... Seriously, everybody left already, even some of the staff, while some officers tried to work out why the reader failed every single time they put in my passport ... My theory is that the officer who received my application did such a crummy job when I put my thumbs on the reader that she could not be bothered to do a thorough job ...
Before I went to the Immigrations office that afternoon, I had first gone to the Registry office next door, informing them of this issue ... Their reader could not read my right thumb, but did not have any issues with my left ... Or is it the way around? ... In the end, they issued a formal document stating that the bearer of my ID is the one and same person ...
... Anyway, whatever it was, when I handed my passport application, the reader at the Immigrations office could not read my LEFT thumbprint and had no issues with my right ... So, how is it possible that two different readers at the Registry office and the Immigrations office could not read OPPOSING thumbprints? Or is it because my fingerprints are so unique that no biometric reading machine could capture them? Now, this is the stuff of dreams for master criminals, but really, I'm not going down that road ... I'm going back to my theory of the Immigrations officer doing such a crummy job ... You see, she did not ask me to put my thumb several times on the reader as what the other officers had done ... She only did it once, so I am kind of miffed about that ... Wouldn't you? I mean, you're applying for an important document here and some stupid officer couldn't be bothered to do a thorough job just because it was already coming to the end of the day ... I applied around three something on a Friday ... My mistake, but all the same, should I be blamed for somebody else's lousy job? ...
Anyway, I think what they did in the end is to disable my passport's chip, 'coz obviously the reader fails to read both thumbs every single time I put either of them on the reader ... Which means that every time I leave or re-enter Malaysia, I have to go through the normal Immigrations procedure ... As long as I manage to leave and re-enter, that's fine I guess ... I'll keep you updated on this as I'm planning to visit a friend up North in November, and may cross the border to visit some cheap Thai markets .. If I'm held up at the border because of this stupid issue, hell will have no fury like a Brainjuice scorned ...
Btw, when I reached home and told my mom about my problematic thumbprints, my mother, who likes to steal my thunder, tells me she also has the same issue ... Great, just when I was beginning to think that my case is a special one ... Anyway, my nephew, who is my first brother's second son, has very, very rough hands ... Mind you, this kid does not really like to do housework, so it's not so much because he exposes his hands to harsh chemicals, but because he really does have extra-sensitive skin ... Like me, his family also had problems when they applied for a passport for him ... So, I'm thinking, it's a skin genetic disorder that runs in the family ...
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