I love Malaysia.
Nobody can beat Malaysia when it comes to red tape.
If there is a record for having the most red tape in world, I believe Malaysia will win hands down, undisputed.
It’s difficult not to use red tape when we need permit to do everything.
Religious permit
You need a permit to speak in a mosque. Nevermind if you are an ex mufti. As long JAIS says you are unqualified, means you are unqualified. It does not matter if you are well versed with the Koran, as long they think you tak bertauliah, you memang tak bertauliah. It also does not matter if you can speak and read Arabic well because JAIS is always right, although some of them don’t speak Arabic.
Gathering Permit
You need a police permit to hold an assembly, because according to the law, the assembly of more than 5 people are considered illegal. In order to make it legal, you need a police permit. When I am getting married next time, I will ask my married friend whether they applied for a police permit because almost 1000 people attended his wedding dinner! That makes his event extremely illegal. But since the peeps from UTK and Special Branch did not storm into the dinner hall with balaclavas or ski masks on that night, I assumed he was granted a police permit.
Burial Permit
Land is still abundant in our country, but there’ll be a time we might run out of land some day due to our excellent birthrate. When the time comes, rakyat will no longer have the option to get themselves buried when they die. They will have to apply for a permit in order to get themselves buried. And that’s not it. Burial plot will not even be freehold. It comes in leasehold. In order words, you will no longer rest in peace when the government decided to evict your mortal home under the pretext of development. You get screwed both ways, although you are dead.
Approved Permit
We are told that buying national cars are patriotic. It is a noble cause to support barangan buat Malaysia. It is also patriotic to protect our national car maker from our Japanese and European competitors. They are evil colonialists who wants to invade our country, economically. But then it is not evil when our Proton Persona is selling RM 10,000 cheaper than our local market price abroad because it is very patriotic to close one eye. However you still have a choice to stop being patriotic. In order to become unpatriotic, you will need an Approved Permit (AP). Yes, you read it right. It’s easy to become unpatriotic. All you need is to apply for an Approved Permit and your car will be taxed under the Unpatriotic Act. As a result, your car will be 300% more expensive. Don’t say the government is repressive. They are not. They gave you a choice, although the choice is only available to affluent people.
Medical Permit
You also need a permit if you want perform autopsies in Malaysia. It does not matter if you are intertionally renowned. It also does not matter if you are as famous as Dr Grissom of CSI. You are still incompetent in the eyes of our local medical practitioners if you are not registered. It also does not matter if you suck internationally, as long you have a Malaysian permit. In short, I am quite happy we have very high standards in forensic science. We are not easily cowed by internationally renowned experts. We must reject globalism, like Dr M is so fond of saying. I guess Dr Porntip will need to apply for a permit from the Malaysian Barber Association (MBA) too. You need to register with MBA to have that kinda hairstyle in Malaysia, ya know?