NRIC re-registration

My old identity card has been rendered invalid, with just a tiny hole punched through it by the immigration centre woman who was trying to be a little too chatty. I was trying to refrain from furtively taking a snapshot of the card with my camera phone - for memory's sake - when the woman handed it back to me. Boy, was I glad to keep it. The face staring back at me was charcoal-black, from months of sailing under the hot sun in my first year at junior college. It was a face that I wanted to remember. Maybe because she looked so young.

At the same time, I was pleased with my new identity card, which I got done with MUCH fuss. First, my photo was rejected because they said, get this, there were "shadows behind my ears". I mean like hallo, you didn't specify in the letter that the background had to be shadowless. So like after paying $10 for a bunch of 8 passport-sized photos, you're telling me to retake? No way. 

On the suggestion of a friend, I decided to use my camera phone to shoot a picture of the now-useless faceshot, and email it to the immigration department with a stern note stating how upset I was. This was after I had a useless conversation with one of the underlings who didn't really know how to handle my problem. I think if they read in between the lines, they probably knew I was going to See My MP if they didn't do something about it. It worked. The very next day, I got a call saying that they had fixed the shadows with Photoshop and everything would be ok. Yay.

I was even more pleased when my wait at the centre for the IC was no more than 10 minutes. These people are super efficient now. During the short wait, I looked around to see who, like me, had turned 30 and were waiting for their new IC. I think even more than that, I was trying to see how many were unmarried. It was something that I couldn't stop myself from doing, and comparing. What to do? I'm still human. :)