Twentytwo13

Disappointment when appointments don’t matter

I find myself ranting more and more during MCO. This week it’s the same.

From those who don’t follow the rules, to inconsiderate drivers, there is always something to spoil the mood.

Like most government services, the National Registration Department requests we make an appointment to avoid overcrowding. My ‘home minister’ was told no walk-in customers would be entertained.

We were told to be at the office before 11.50am yesterday and duly arrived about an hour early. We registered, showing the staff the appointment letter and were given a number.

At 12.15pm, some staff started asking people to leave and come back at 2.45pm.

The ‘home minister’ then asked what’s the point of having an appointment, only to be told, “if you have an appointment, there is no need to take a number.”

Luckily, a female staff volunteered to process our documents (bless her) … but we would have to come back after lunch to collect them.

The good thing was it only took 10 minutes after lunch to conclude our business, but what if the ‘home minister’ had just kept quiet? That would have meant us waiting for another hour or so after lunch before being served and perhaps another hour more before we could leave the office.

With Covid-19 still lurking, hanging out at crowded places is the last thing we want … and the office was quite crowded.

Why were walk-ins entertained? If that was the case, we could have just gone to the office much earlier. Hopefully, not many others suffer the same treatment, especially the elderly.

Anyway, today is the 158th day of MCO, and this is the 10th weekly edition of ‘The MCO Diaries’.

ANOTHER 100 CASES

Over the past week, there have been 100 new infections which take the number of local cases to 9,249. The good news is for the third week running, there are no new fatalities so that remains at 125.

A new isolated Covid-19 cluster was identified on a ship in Bintulu, Sarawak, involving four people.

Worldwide, the number of cases has surpassed 23 million with over 800,000 deaths.

SALSA AND PIZZA

Here’s an interesting story from Reuters. I wonder if he uses salsa sauce for his pizza?

CAVERN CLUB’S ‘LONG AND WINDING ROAD’ FOR SURVIVAL

Liverpool’s Cavern Club could close forever due to Covid-19.

One of the club directors, Bill Heckle said the Cavern Club has been losing £30,000 (RM164,723) a week since the beginning of the pandemic, and that the venue recently let go of 20 employees with more layoffs expected.

Famous for launching The Beatles’ career, the Cavern Club has been one of Liverpool’s main tourist attractions.

EMOTIONAL RIDE

Speaking of Liverpool, here’s an interesting hour-long interview with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp as he narrates how the club won its 19th league title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCwFx-xP-Pw&feature=youtu.be

CHEAP BUT GOOD

I love mooncakes, but they can be expensive. However, I found this in Subang and is close to what I used to eat when growing up.

This mooncake is cheap, yet tasty.
This mooncake is cheap, yet tasty.

And it only costs RM8.90 (although a friend told me it is only RM7.50 at Tesco).

SEE-THROUGH TOILETS

Ever dread entering a portable toilet for fear of its condition? (Come to think of it, most public toilets are dirty and smelly).

To cure the public’s phobia, the non-profit Nippon Foundation launched “The Tokyo Toilet Project.”

The most talked-about design is by Shigeru Ban, whose transparent restrooms popped up this month in Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park and the Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park.

The design relies on a new smart glass technology that turns the walls opaque when the door is locked.

Interesting.

TORO MATA (THE BULL KILLS)

We sign off this week with this salsa number from Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco. Billboard.com rated Toro Mata among the ‘15 best salsa songs ever’. Enjoy.