Thursday, September 27, 2007

PLASTIC CARDS AND SMART CHIPS

There's this piece of document we all lug around and hold on to for dear life. Although we can very well say that we are so and so (insert name here) but if the document doesn't say so, then we might as well dig a hole and bury ourselves in it. This so called document is none other than a normal sized card that fits snugly into some wallets which goes by the name MyKad.
I was watching the local news last night (surprisingly there was no hailstorm that followed - not in this part of the world anyway) on channel no 7 which ceased making us feel good with their self righteous, moral police wannabe ways. They had a poll seeking the opinion of the general public about the new rate for replacing MyKad. I'm taking the liberty to make assumptions as I could not obtain the full story - I seriously lack the time to do proper research.
All I know, is there might be an increase. And it makes you wonder if the people in charge of suggesting this idea actually think that people lose their MyKads on purpose. Hence the need to replace it.
"Oh, this photograph is so bloody ugly. Maybe I'll just throw this MyKad out of the window. Then I can get a new one. Woo hoo!"

or

"Sheesh, they locked me out, those gits. Hmmm... I think I'll use my MyKad to perform some McGyver like maneouver"

5 minutes later

"Oops! It's broken"

Yeah, that's what most probably crosses the minds of the people who are in charge. Undeniably, almost everyone's photo on their respective MyKads have an uncanny resemblance to a jaundiced, stretched out version of themselves. But no one in their right mind would toss it out just because...
The fact is I had two of my previous ICs (the older version of MyKad and stands for Identity Card - photo equally ugly) stolen by *pick pockets within 3 years and it was not exactly my fault. And yet i had to report about it at the police station, and apply for a new IC and on top of that pay a fine. Did anyone catch the culprit? No... it (gender unknown) is most probably still moving around doing greater pick pocketing - maybe on a rich Datin or something.
As for the missing IC, of course I missed it. It was with me from 12 until a few days short of my 19th birthday. But I think my then roomate and another friend missed it even more because it used to serve as a depressive mood relieving thingy - something to do with the photo :)
Yeah, so those people at NRD should think like about a few more hundred times before they decide to increase the fee. Maybe they can do it after they've nabbed about like say 1000 pick pockets in about 3 months?
*a very general term. the first case had the person actually coming into our dorm room in the dead of the night and taking whatever was in reach. In the second case, my backpack - which was on my back was opened without me realising. very slick, indeed.

5 comments:

  1. sounds totally annoying. I had my wallet stolen a few years back in Barcelona and the sheer inconvenience of it is mindboggling. I still haven't replaced my RSI card, which has my "social security no" on it... luckily I had it written down somewhere.

    So far our government have not issued ID cards. There's still a strong anarchic streak in people here, which will probably relax more the further we move away from the time the start of our political independence. Anyway recent court cases have shown that they're quite well able to keep track of everyone's movements by tracking their mobile phones... So if I've learned anything recently it's that if you're going to commit a crime leave your mobile at home!

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  2. It gets stolen and you have to pay a fee to get a new one? That's outrageous! I can understand if you just lose it, but not if it gets stolen.

    Geeez.

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  3. aunty: mobile phone trackking? That sound pretty high tech. I agree with the inconvenience caused by losing important stuff like that. But I suppose the worst part is you're actually expected to carry the original card around, otherwise, you can be fined if the police suddenly decide to stop you especially when road offences are made

    travis: yeah, that's the case so far. Of course the amount incurred so far does not inconvenience you monetarily, but then again, you're upset because if your wallet gets stolen, you lose everything else too, like money, atm cards, credit cards, drivers license, etc, and naturally you'll be upset - so the fine imposed will be a big bother

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  4. I once had an ATM swallow my card. It took the card in. came up with an error message and just didnt return the card.

    And then the Bank, wait for it, CHARGED ME FOR A NEW ONE!

    I mean for crying out loud!!

    On other news, Hello :) Miss me?

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  5. Trust those crazy corporate giants to do what they want... very insensitive, because they know that we need their facilities.

    :) yeah... read about your 'hiatus' from blogging. Hope to see you around soon

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