AUGUST 13 — I welcomed Malaysia’s 10-year passport when it was introduced on July 1. It was a good policy meant to make life easier for Malaysians. But a vision is only as good as its execution.
The Immigration Department has revealed that about 38,000 10-year passports were issued, with 26,000 carrying validity beyond 10 years because unused validity from old passports was added. Several holders later faced check-in problems with certain airlines overseas. Immigration has since stopped the practice and is offering affected holders free replacements.
Government cannot experiment with Malaysians’ passports and then dismiss the problem as a technical issue. This is a serious failure of planning and testing.
The Immigration Department’s Director-General says passports exceeding 10 years do not breach International Civil Aviation Organisation standards. That may be technically correct, but it completely misses the point. A passport is not a test product. It must work smoothly when Malaysians travel.
His defence also raises an obvious question. If passports exceeding 10 years were perfectly acceptable, why did the Immigration abruptly stop the practice and offer free replacements? A government agency does not suspend a program and absorb extra costs unless a massive mistake was made.
The Immigration Department itself admits that some airline systems only accept passport validity of up to 10 years. Why was this not discovered before 26,000 passports were issued?
Singapore avoided this problem. Its adult passports are capped at 10 years, while unused validity is carried forward only for five-year passports. Australia also does not carry unused validity into renewed passports. Under EU entry rules, non-EU travellers must use passports issued within the previous 10 years.
This blunder inflicts real financial losses on our country. Giving out free replacements means taxpayers are paying twice for wasted passport booklets, microchips, and administrative overhead. Innocent citizens must now take leave and queue up at immigration counters to fix a mistake they did not commit.
The Home Ministry must order an immediate independent audit to establish who proposed, tested and approved this policy, and disclose the full cost of replacing the affected passports.
If the audit finds negligence or serious incompetence, those responsible must be shipped out immediately.
Twenty-six thousand passports were issued before the problem was corrected. Find out who approved it. Reveal the cost. Hold them accountable. Those responsible cannot hide behind technical explanations.
No excuses, no passing the buck and no protection for incompetence.
* Lim Lip Eng is the MP for Kepong.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
