I'm a full-time mummy

Do you know that every Malaysians now, regardless how old or how young need to have their own passport? I remembered I had my first passport when I was around pre-teen age and it was tagged onto my late mum's passport. Meaning, if you opened up her passport, you will see her picture and mine in the passport. But gone are those days... now, like I mentioned earlier, everybody needs to have their own passport.

Just in case you are not familiar with the procedures, I'll just copy paste some quick notes and tips for your reference here:

Applying For A Malaysian Passport For Your Baby

• What to bring along: Your child's Original Birth Certificate (and 1 photocopy), Mother/ Father’s Original IC (and 1 photocopy), RM100 (Validity 5 years)

• Tips: There are certain Immigration centres that has special lanes (for pregnant women, old folks, special needs or handicapped individuals as well as women with infants) I personally opt for the Immigration Department of Malaysia @ Sri Hartamas.

Process to apply for your child's new passport:

•  Get ready all the documents, go straight to the Immigration Department and look for the 1 special counter to get your queue number.
  

• The immigration officer will ask you for your documents and he/she will help you slot and arrange your documents and forms accordingly before passing you a queue number ticket.
  

• If possible, get ready your child's height measurement (there are some height chart around the department where you can use to check your child's height)
  

• Once your number is called, you will pass your documents to the officer in-charge (he/she will also ask for your queue number ticket)
  

• Then get ready your child for passport photo taking right at the counter you are in. If your child is not able to sit up, you will need to prop them up so that their picture can be taken. Make sure facial features are easily seen.
  

• Once done, wait for a while for your number to be called again for you to pay for the passport. You will get back your original IC and child's original birth cert after payment is made.
  

• From that point onwards, you will wait approximately 1 hour to get your child's passport. The officer at Kaunter Serahan might ask for your original IC and child's birth cert for reference again.
  

Now, wait wait wait... I'm NOT done yet! Yes, congrats for your child's new passport!

But wait a minute, do you know that you need to update their passport photo around 2 years?? (or earlier or later depending on their facial features changes)? Do you know or not!!!!????!!!

We found out about this when we brought our 4th kiddo to make his new passport and was told about this passport photo replacement for 2 years down the road. Yikes! We totally were not prepared at all for this, so back at home I checked back our older 3 kiddos' passports and sure enough, our girls face changed already! No more the cute chubby cheeks! And soooooo, we had to go to the Immigration Department again few days later (busy busy busy!!!)

Replacement of Malaysian Passport Photo For Your Baby

• What to bring along: Your child's Original Birth Certificate (and 1 photocopy), Mother/ Father’s Original IC (and 1 photocopy), your child's passport.
  

• Tips: There are certain Immigration centres that has special lanes (for pregnant women, old folks, special needs or handicapped individuals as well as women with infants) I personally opt for the Immigration Department of Malaysia @ Sri Hartamas.

Process to replace your child's passport photo:

• Once you have arrived at the Immigration Department, go look for the Passport Photo kiosk. Your child needs to take his/her passport photo at this kiosk. We paid RM17 each for 4 copies of our girls' passport photos. (meaning for each girl we paid RM17)
  

• Get ready all the documents, go straight to the Immigration Department and look for the 1 special counter to get your queue number.
  

• The immigration officer will ask you for your documents and 2 copies of passport photos and he/she will help you slot and arrange your documents and forms accordingly before passing you a queue number ticket and a form to fill up.
  

• If possible, get ready your child's height measurement (there are some height chart around the department where you can use to check your child's height)
  

• Once your number is called, you will pass your documents to the officer in-charge (he/she will also ask for your queue number ticket)
  

• The immigration officer will help fill up some fields in the form and your child will need to have their right thumb print on the form. Father/mother (the person filling up the form) will also need to have their right thumb print stamped next to their signature.
  

• Wait for a while as the officer pass your documents and form for approval and then you will get back your original IC and child's original birth cert after that. There is NO payment required for this at all.
  

• From that point onwards, you will wait approximately half hour to get your child's passport. The officer at Kaunter Serahan might ask for your original IC and child's birth cert for reference again.

This is how your child's passport looks like after completing the photo replacement process. Your child's passport remains the same (as long as still not expired of course), passport number remains unchanged, just that one of the pages in the passport will have a printed page with a copy of your child's latest passport photo glued, stamped and sealed marked on it to show that there is a recent photograph of the passport bearer which is effective from so and so date.

I hope the above info can help you understand the process better and be more well prepared. Honestly, it is hard for me to find any info on this passport photo replacement for children. Which is why I decided to blog this down so that I can remember what to do next time with our 4th kiddo hahahah...

For other info, you may check out http://www.kln.gov.my/web/ita_rome/passport_renewal

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost every day) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

I saw this article and yes, I agree with it. As parents, we are judged in whatever things we do.

"To the mom who's breastfeeding: Way to go! It really is an amazing gift to give your baby, for any amount of time that you can manage! You're a good mom.

To the mom who's formula feeding: Isn't science amazing? To think there was a time when a baby with a mother who couldn't produce enough would suffer, but now? Better living through chemistry! You're a good mom.

To the cloth diapering mom: Fluffy bums are the cutest, and so friendly on the bank account. You're a good mom.

To the disposable diapering mom: Wow those things hold a lot, and it's excellent to not worry about leakage and laundry! You're a good mom.

To the mom who stays home: I can imagine it isn't easy doing what you do, but to spend those precious years with your babies must be amazing. You're a good mom.

To the mom who works: It's wonderful that you're sticking to your career, you're a positive role model for your children in so many ways, it's fantastic. You're a good mom.

To the mom who had to feed her kids from the drive thru all week because you're too worn out to cook or go grocery shopping: You're feeding your kids, and hey, I bet they aren't complaining! Sometimes sanity can indeed be found in a white bag with a big red chick on it. You're a good mom.

To the mom who gave her kids a homecooked breakfast lunch and dinner for the past week: Excellent! Good nutrition is important, and they're learning to enjoy healthy foods at an early age, a boon for the rest of their lives. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the kids who are sitting quietly and using their manners in the fancy restaurant: Kudos, it takes a lot to maintain order with children in a place where they can't run around. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle: they always seem to pick the most embarrassing places to lose their minds don't they? We've all been through it. You're a good mom.

To the moms who judge other moms for ANY of the above?

Glass houses, friend. Glass houses."

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost every day) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

We recently went to the Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Memorial and had an enjoyable experience there. We were first greeted with the sight of 2 antique cars. Picture below was one of the cars. A black Cadillac if I'm correct.

The entry was free of charge, however there were only a few staff working on the Saturday we were there. The building were cleanly kept and nicely maintained. Only our family of 6 were there throughout most of our time there, which was nice as we get to slowly read and enjoy the exhibits. Here are some of the pictures I snapped during our visit there...

This is the ceremonial attire worn by Tunku for the Merdeka ceremony in 1957. This unique ‘Muscat Dress’ consists of a black taffeta silk open-jacket with epaulettes, a white shirt, pants and headgear. I personally felt that it is like a mixture of tuxedo with our local Malay costume.

Imagine the exhilaration of reading the newspapers announcing your very own country has achieved her independence!

There are pictures and exhibits where you can read out more about Tunku's personal life, his family members, his involvement in the political scene, his passions, his foray into the movie scenes and lots more.

You can also check out his residence and office which was built in 1956 in Jalan Brockman (now known as Jalan Dato Onn). The office building was shifted here - very cool as we thought it was a replica of his office building. A staff was very helpful to explain to us as we walked down the aisle and peeped through to see how the administration would have been like in the past.

Below is the visiting hours for your easier reference. You can also find out more info at http://www.arkib.gov.my/en/web/guest/memorial-tunku-abdul-rahman-putra2.

In summary, it was an enjoyable visit where we get to explain and expose our kiddos to the history of our beloved country, hopefully they will cherish and appreciate the hardwork and sacrifices made by our fellow countrymen towards achieving independence status for our country.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost every day) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.