It was a beautiful Sunday on 15th June 2008. I was in a shopping mall shopping for stuffs that are required for my trip to Sabah. It was around 4p.m. when I passed by the tiny post office in the mall. To my unbelieving eyes, there were no people outside the post office! No long queues, no impatient humans hammering on the glass doors, no complaining mortals shouting at the top of their voices… not even a sign of living near can be found near the post office.
Of course, it was possible for the post office to be closed by then. I, myself did not know what time the post office closes in the mall, but I do know that it is open on Sundays. So, in my curiosity, I walked towards the post office. You have to understand that the post office is not located at a place where you can walk by when you do your usual shopping. There is a small path leading away from the main shopping path. Thus, I think that is one of the main reasons for me to find the post office to be void of life! Okay, so I was exaggerating a little bit. There were only four people queuing in the post office! Immediately, I went into the post office. I kept on thinking of the reasons for such a strange sight. Maybe the post office ran out of money? Maybe the server is down? Maybe this branch does not handle any petrol rebates? All of my reasoning was proven wrong as I was met with a thick stack of blank forms placed neatly on a desk for me to pick up.
Numbly, I picked up the form and I was still skeptical. Of course, I could have asked the person queuing in the line, but you see, I am a very shy guy… and besides, I love to play detective. The form was actually a money order form… I don’t know if it is the same form as the normal ones, but it did not mention anything about petrol rebate at all. However, further inspection shows freshly placed chops on the forms. I was supposed to fill in my car number. So, this 99% proves that this is the form for petrol rebate. Why else would a money order form be asking for your car plate number? Why did I put 99%? Well, I never put any absolutes in my findings. There is always room for mistakes, and this shows that I am a flexible person. :P
Anyway, I immediately pick up the form and started filling it. There were quite a lot of columns, so I was a little bit confused. Glancing around, I saw a sample on how to fill the form neatly stuck to the counter window. So, I took the pen, went on the queue and refer to the sample on how to fill up the form. I really cannot believe how simple it is. All you have to do is to write your phone number, your name twice (or was it once?), your address, you car plate number twice, IC number and the amount that you are claiming (RM625 for cars below 2000cc). When I reached the counter, the clerk would place my finger print on the right hand side of the form. All I need to give her is the form and my IC. Yup, that’s it. Then, she will repeat the car plate and check the system. If the car number is in the system, she will read out the owner’s name (that’s supposed to be you) and you just have to say yes. Then, she’ll place some chops on the form and will pass to you a stack of money clipped by a stapler. And no, you will not be getting any receipts from them. Also, if you want to count the money, please do so at an empty counter or at least move aside for the next person to process their transaction. If the money amount is wrong (and you’ll have to be terribly unlucky), you can always shove back into the counter window.
A side note however, there are still some hiccups for some people. There was this one uncle who was two places away from me. Obviously, he is a very rich guy because he was claiming money for three cars! (You know, I think the government should allow only claims for one car per person). Anyway, apparently two of his car numbers are not in the system, and he was rambling on how impossible it was, which was really annoying. The clerk patiently explained to him that it is possible for cars with road tax renewed during the end of May to be not in the system yet and asked him to come again another day. “Come again? What? You think I don’t need to work is it?” came the reply and by now, the clerk was already losing her patience. Of course she did not lash out at the uncle; instead she just insists that she can do nothing if the car number is not in the system even if he provided her with receipts, road tax and everything. By now, all the others remaining in the line was giving him the death stares already. Realizing that, the uncle immediately moved to his third car. I think he did it on purpose just to prove that he is not afraid of our death stares; he actually had to say his car number three times before he got it right. Seems like he really did own too many cars if he can’t even remember his own car number.
After that, this woman in front of me was next. This time, the woman attempted to get her claims even though she renewed her road tax in June! Of course she was immediately informed that her car number was not in the system and this woman blurted out that she renewed it in June. I really don’t know what to say. First, I figured that she was trying her luck and that maybe, miraculously her car number would be in the system mentioning she renewed her road tax in May even though she did it in June. But she must realize that the government had specifically told the people that those who renewed their road tax in June can only get their petrol rebates in July. Thus, I don’t understand why would she blurt out that she renewed her road tax in June. If you want to lie, please lie properly. You are a disgrace to the Liars Society! She could have muttered a little like the uncle before her, but instead, she chose to speak out the truth at the final moments. I really don’t understand humans.
Anyhow, a word of advice, please do not go to the post office and queue up at 7am in the morning. It is not worth it my dears. Of course, some said that they are afraid that the government would abolish the petrol rebates after a while. It is possible, though highly unlikely. Even if they do, they would ensure that the remaining people would be compensated more than the previous system or they would have to face the wrath of all the Malaysians. So, don’t you worry about that. RM625 is not a small amount (well, at least to me it isn’t) but it is still not worth the long queues, high tension and time wasting. For those who had renewed their road tax in April and May, calm down, you still have several more weeks before the June people join into the fray. For those who renewed their road tax June onwards, you have the whole year and the government did not place any deadline for these claims, except for perhaps you should claim the petrol rebate within one year of your road tax renewal… I think. So, don’t worry, be happy!
Of course, it was possible for the post office to be closed by then. I, myself did not know what time the post office closes in the mall, but I do know that it is open on Sundays. So, in my curiosity, I walked towards the post office. You have to understand that the post office is not located at a place where you can walk by when you do your usual shopping. There is a small path leading away from the main shopping path. Thus, I think that is one of the main reasons for me to find the post office to be void of life! Okay, so I was exaggerating a little bit. There were only four people queuing in the post office! Immediately, I went into the post office. I kept on thinking of the reasons for such a strange sight. Maybe the post office ran out of money? Maybe the server is down? Maybe this branch does not handle any petrol rebates? All of my reasoning was proven wrong as I was met with a thick stack of blank forms placed neatly on a desk for me to pick up.
Numbly, I picked up the form and I was still skeptical. Of course, I could have asked the person queuing in the line, but you see, I am a very shy guy… and besides, I love to play detective. The form was actually a money order form… I don’t know if it is the same form as the normal ones, but it did not mention anything about petrol rebate at all. However, further inspection shows freshly placed chops on the forms. I was supposed to fill in my car number. So, this 99% proves that this is the form for petrol rebate. Why else would a money order form be asking for your car plate number? Why did I put 99%? Well, I never put any absolutes in my findings. There is always room for mistakes, and this shows that I am a flexible person. :P
Anyway, I immediately pick up the form and started filling it. There were quite a lot of columns, so I was a little bit confused. Glancing around, I saw a sample on how to fill the form neatly stuck to the counter window. So, I took the pen, went on the queue and refer to the sample on how to fill up the form. I really cannot believe how simple it is. All you have to do is to write your phone number, your name twice (or was it once?), your address, you car plate number twice, IC number and the amount that you are claiming (RM625 for cars below 2000cc). When I reached the counter, the clerk would place my finger print on the right hand side of the form. All I need to give her is the form and my IC. Yup, that’s it. Then, she will repeat the car plate and check the system. If the car number is in the system, she will read out the owner’s name (that’s supposed to be you) and you just have to say yes. Then, she’ll place some chops on the form and will pass to you a stack of money clipped by a stapler. And no, you will not be getting any receipts from them. Also, if you want to count the money, please do so at an empty counter or at least move aside for the next person to process their transaction. If the money amount is wrong (and you’ll have to be terribly unlucky), you can always shove back into the counter window.
A side note however, there are still some hiccups for some people. There was this one uncle who was two places away from me. Obviously, he is a very rich guy because he was claiming money for three cars! (You know, I think the government should allow only claims for one car per person). Anyway, apparently two of his car numbers are not in the system, and he was rambling on how impossible it was, which was really annoying. The clerk patiently explained to him that it is possible for cars with road tax renewed during the end of May to be not in the system yet and asked him to come again another day. “Come again? What? You think I don’t need to work is it?” came the reply and by now, the clerk was already losing her patience. Of course she did not lash out at the uncle; instead she just insists that she can do nothing if the car number is not in the system even if he provided her with receipts, road tax and everything. By now, all the others remaining in the line was giving him the death stares already. Realizing that, the uncle immediately moved to his third car. I think he did it on purpose just to prove that he is not afraid of our death stares; he actually had to say his car number three times before he got it right. Seems like he really did own too many cars if he can’t even remember his own car number.
After that, this woman in front of me was next. This time, the woman attempted to get her claims even though she renewed her road tax in June! Of course she was immediately informed that her car number was not in the system and this woman blurted out that she renewed it in June. I really don’t know what to say. First, I figured that she was trying her luck and that maybe, miraculously her car number would be in the system mentioning she renewed her road tax in May even though she did it in June. But she must realize that the government had specifically told the people that those who renewed their road tax in June can only get their petrol rebates in July. Thus, I don’t understand why would she blurt out that she renewed her road tax in June. If you want to lie, please lie properly. You are a disgrace to the Liars Society! She could have muttered a little like the uncle before her, but instead, she chose to speak out the truth at the final moments. I really don’t understand humans.
Anyhow, a word of advice, please do not go to the post office and queue up at 7am in the morning. It is not worth it my dears. Of course, some said that they are afraid that the government would abolish the petrol rebates after a while. It is possible, though highly unlikely. Even if they do, they would ensure that the remaining people would be compensated more than the previous system or they would have to face the wrath of all the Malaysians. So, don’t you worry about that. RM625 is not a small amount (well, at least to me it isn’t) but it is still not worth the long queues, high tension and time wasting. For those who had renewed their road tax in April and May, calm down, you still have several more weeks before the June people join into the fray. For those who renewed their road tax June onwards, you have the whole year and the government did not place any deadline for these claims, except for perhaps you should claim the petrol rebate within one year of your road tax renewal… I think. So, don’t worry, be happy!
2 comments:
I certainly didn't realise there was a petrol rebate thing going on..
Thanks for the enlightenment.
meifong: you're welcome, but hey, it does not have anything to do with you mah... unless you have a car registered in Malaysia
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