What can I expect from my embassy?

Today I tried to get consular assistance from the Australian High Commission (AHC) in Kuala Lumpur so I could join the repatriation flight from Jakarta to Brisbane. Here is what happened.

12:10 – Called the AHC, explained my situation and requested assistance so we could board the flight to Jakarta and join the repatriation flight from Jakarta to Brisbane. The consular section personnel told me to call the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

12:42 – Called the Australian embassy in Jakarta. The call went unanswered.

12: 45 – Tried to call the Australian embassy in Jakarta on their second number. The call went unanswered.

I thought I should give it a break as they might have gone to lunch early. Called my Indonesian (Indo) friend, who gave the best advice though perhaps not the most legal one. Hire an escort service at the airport and this person will make sure you skip all the red tape. Fee is around 1 to 2 million rupiah.

Thought a little bit more and decided that we need to do this the right way. So back to calling embassies. This time I decided to call the Indo embassy to find out more about their current travel restriction.

15:16 – Called the KBRI (Indo Embassy) in Kuala Lumpur. It rang and no one answered.

15:22 – Found and called a different number for KBRI. It rang, went through the options, and no one answered.

15:25 – Called the first number again and the same thing happened.

18:50 – Called the Australian embassy in Jakarta. This time it went through. Someone answered my call outside of their office hours. The person who answered my call said his name is Aldy and asked how he could help me. Told him my situation and asked if the embassy would be able to help us join the flight in Jakarta. Aldy asked what my nationality is, my Indonesian visa status and whether or not I have an Indonesian passport. Afterwards, he asked why I called the embassy in Jakarta and not the one in Malaysia as I am residing in KL. I told that the AHC here told me that it is not their jurisdiction to help. Aldy said the same thing as well.

The embassy has no power to help as repatriation flights are often organised by private companies. So that means I will have to contact the agent who organised the flight and perhaps pay an airport escort to that I can do my transit in peace. Though the immediate problem is whether or not we can board the Garuda flight to Indonesia.

After emailing our organiser, they now have asked for our Garuda tickets. They will apply for the visa and hire an escort to make sure we will be able to pass custom and immigration hassle free.

I have lived in China and Indonesia. Both are quite corrupt and I do like it. China… we can play the dumb foreigner card though not all the time. In Indonesia the corruption benefits both sides and I am glad to be one of those sides in this very case.

My government has disappointed me today. Seems like no one wanted to take the responsibility and make sure they always give you a solution. Whether the solution is useful or not depends on how you make of it.

I guess the saying I have been hearing is true after all.

UPDATE

So the AHCKL called me a day or two after I posted this and again today. They wanted to make sure that I have everything prepared for the repatriation flights. We told them that CapaJet and Trips Exotica would be arranging our transit visa and escort service to make sure things go well in Jakarta. Though having said that, these two companies are actually very slow in getting back to us whenever we have questions.

Update: it seems that everything is going ahead, we are packing tonight and will set off tomorrow, small part of us still expecting to be sent back but we will see.

Conclusion? All government bodies can work together to help citizens living abroad. AHCKL called us because they received information from the embassy in Jakarta. Regardless what, when, where and how, I feel that embassies have the power to get the information from the local government more than we can. Instead the first action they took was passing me around from one embassy to the next.

A letter from the heart

Dear Readers,

This is Feb. She is not OK. She is on a never ending roller coaster ride, ranging from a tame one to a crazy one that has a vertical drop. Feb and her husband can’t return home. Both are in Malaysia​​ without a valid visa since September. They were told by the Australian High Consulate in KL to get a special pass. Feb spoke to an immigration lawyer and was advised not to get one. She found out special passes have more limitation than accepting the grace offered by the Malaysian government, which overstaying visas without penalty until 31 December 2020.

Feb and her husband have had their tickets cancelled and watched how a one way ticket price has gone three to four times the amount of a normal economy class ticket after the cap was introduced. Feb and her husband have also seen last minute tickets being sold for close to half of the original price. They had very little option on which airline they can book tickets with and where in Australia they can fly into.

This week, the both of them booked tickets to Cairns, Queensland. This is an independent flight organised by an Australian stranded in Laos. This flight will pick up vulnerable and stranded Australian in Laos, then off to KL and Singapore to pick up more Australians before landing in Cairns. The organiser has secured landing permit for all countries, including Australia. However, the government believes that they have had lapse in judgement and decided that the plane can’t land in Cairns. They did provide a solution, if not, they wouldn’t be state leaders, would they?

Feb and her husband are emotionally tired of going through the cycle of booking, feeling excited, disappointed by each cancellation and waiting for refund so they can book and pay for another ticket. Feb wonders if this is the pandemic version of stages of grief.

Feb is grateful and praying that the Prime Minister and his families won’t have to go through this. Feb is glad knowing that the minister is safe in the comfort of his home, or office, surrounded by his family.

Don’t be like Feb, be like the Australian PM. Don’t think twice about not doing the right thing. Don’t be too considerate and ALWAYS put yourself first above others, regardless what the situation is.

Feb has learnt that when a pandemic hits, people who are far away can be easily forgotten. Those who are watching from the safety and comfort of their home, are quick to throw blame as this would place them above others. Especially if none of their family members and friends are affected by the flight cap (also known as a policy that is tougher than the premium quality bullet proof vest).

Children, when your history teachers tells you that it is important to learn about the past, it is because there is one lesson to remember. Many humans often forget their humanity traits when there is an opportunity to be the better leader. It is important to be ruthless when the situation calls for it. However, it is also important to show kindness, especially as the world is can sometimes be full of negativity. Everyone can use a little more good in life. Whoever they may be.

A nation divided

Australian abroad and at home are at war against each other and the government. There is no end in sight and with talks about travel bubbles with New Zealand, many Australians abroad feel like they have been truly ignored and abandoned by their government.

If you are a member of Facebook groups for Australians, you must have noticed the petitions that have been shared by the members about human rights, increasing cap on arriving passengers, as well as bringing stranded and at risk Australians home. Often these petitions came back because an article back home reported how non Australians have gained entry into the country while its citizens are struggling to come home.

The words stranded is not often used in conversations. However, it has become more popular since the start of the pandemic. What does stranded mean? According to Cambridge online dictionary, it means unable to leave somewhere because of a problem, such as not having any transport or money. Based on this definition, Australians abroad are stranded because there is limited numbers of flights to take them home. With the different rules that every countries have placed on air travel, it places tight restrictions on which airlines are allowed to transit at an airport. I am sure that stranded Australians who are not at risk (financial, health and general welfare) have the money to pay for their tickets home. However, with many cancellations due the cap placed on international arrival, going home is similar to playing the lottery.

Many Australians at home, including the government are criticizing the choices taken by Australian abroad. I would have returned home had Malaysia not gone into a complete lock down. There were people who managed to leave during the first lock down. They thought that the situation would calm down in the next few weeks and they would be able to return to their life in Malaysia. How wrong we all were. I wonder if any seers or soothsayers knew that a pandemic that would rival a zombie apocalypse was coming our way…

So, why am I writing about this? I want to share what made me choose to stay put while many rushed home. For me, we had a stable job, an apartment and a pet.

We had a crazy woman (Ms Tan) who has threatened us that if any of the expat staff was caught by the police for breaking the lock down rule, she would not help us at all. Knowing that Ms Tan meant every single word, we knew that if we decided to leave, she would not pay our salary plus the completion bonus. Even if we continued to do our work online. Now, you may say that money is not everything. True… but think about it. We would be losing 5 months pay, shipping fee, return flights, completion bonus (2 months pay) for my husband and I. Plus, Ms Tan could say that we owed money for taxes, which happened after we filed our last tax return. We were still in Malaysia at that time, so we could go to the tax office to correct it.

It takes time to pack and leave the country. It’s not like packing for a sleep over at a friends’ house. If we were to leave, we would be leaving within 48 hours after hearing the mandate coming from ScoMo. Malaysia was in a lock down before ScoMo did his announcement. Following the local rules, our land lord won’t be able to come and inspect the apartment until the government has eased the restriction. We won’t be able to give the apartment keys to our landlord either. We could leave them with the management, but if anything went wrong, we would be going into a “he says, she says” situation. Also, if we got pulled over, after we managed to get a grab to take us to the airport, we would need to show the police a copy of our tickets, passports, marriage certificate, and PR visa approval for my husband. Good if we own a printer, but we don’t and the High Consulate here said that these document needs to be printed and presented when asked. Soft copy won’t do.

Our dog ‘Whisky’… we are living in a Muslim country. There is a limited number of apartments that allow dogs. So forget about leaving her with someone we trust. We could put her in boarding facility tied to our pet relocator, but would they be able to come and get her before we fly out?

No, we don’t have kids so that means one less to think about. Unfortunately for those who do have kids, they would have to inform the school as they would be absent for a few days, online learning, stroller, diapers, formula, and other things you pack when traveling with kids.

Aussies at home who strongly believe that we ignored the government, we didn’t. Moving across the ocean isn’t any easier as moving across the road or suburb. Both require planning and many factors to consider. Why? To make sure that you are doing the right thing and will not regret it later on. For some of us, going home when the government advised us to was a no brainer and that’s good for them. However the rest of us, who probably have more to lose, chose to wait it out because we believed that the situation would improve.

Sadly none of us were given the gifts to see into the future. Had we known that the government would do something that no other countries are doing, more of us would have returned home. And think, what impact would the stampede have on the job market, health industry and housing?

If we didn’t have a dog…

Whisky made it. She got picked up at 12:30PM today to go to the cargo area of KLIA. She was happy to get in the van, not knowing that she won’t be coming back.

We are happy that she has started the first leg of her journey back to Australia. It hasn’t been easy, from the start to today and it won’t get any easier when she gets to Melbourne, Australia.

She was scheduled to leave KL to Brunei around August. PetAir submitted all her document but got rejected because Royal Brunei wasn’t sure of her breed. PetAir tried again for first week of September flight with Malaysian Air, but the flight got cancelled. Finally, we heard some good news. Royal Brunei accepted her paperwork and approved her travel plan.

We were neither happy or sad because we knew that nothing is certain until she has boarded the cargo plane to Brunei. We even thought that it might be better for Whisky to stay here with us a bit longer. Fortunately, PetAir helped us to see beyond our emotion. The number of new cases in Malaysia is rising and there is a possibility of the country going into its second lockdown. Sabah or East Malaysia is going into a second lockdown tomorrow. Our agent reminded us that if Malaysia were to go into lockdown again, nothing can come in or out. It is better to do it now while we can. If things were to go as planned, Whisky would exit the quarantine in Melbourne just before the centre closed for Christmas. So, we went ahead.

The next day, Whisky got the runs. The worst we have ever seen. She had to go to the toilet every couple of hours. Her stomach looked bloated and yes, you could probably imagine what I could write next. We made sure she drank enough water throughout the evening and checked on her stool to make sure that there was no blood. It continued until today, though her stool was looking a lot better. She even managed to eat some unsweetened cooked oats. Her energy level was still the same like any other day and she even asked to go for longer walks during her toilet breaks.

Anyways, we told the vet at PetAir about her condition. The agent and vet said that we can go ahead and they will inform the quarantine centre in Brunei to keep an eye on her. She was given some medication to help her at the airport. Last we heard, she is calm but not looking happy in her cage.

Since we had her, there were times where we wondered what life would have been like if we didn’t have her or gave her away when we left China? Would we have taken more holidays? Maybe. Where would we be now? Probably Australia. Would we have enjoyed the extra time we have? No.

Like I have shared in the previous article… We have adjusted our lives to make sure she is cared for. Whisky has occupied so much of our space and left footprints all over our apartment. That dog doesn’t do much. She would sit or lay down near us and paw us when she needs some attention. Now that she isn’t around, the place feels empty. Our home is no longer the same. No warm welcome when we come home, no cuddles with her in the morning and before bed time, no stares when we eat her favourite human food, and no more of her smell that we are so used to.

We are sure that Whisky will be okay on the way to Brunei. She will be okay during her quarantine. We are not sure if Whisky is going to be okay being away from us for a very long time. I hope Whisky knows that she is not abandoned. We do love her and can’t wait to see her again when we are all in Australia.

Safe travel Whisky. Be a good strong dog. We will see each other again.