Of Patience and the Government - 03 April 2007

i’m a chinese citizen.

nope, i’m not proud of it but it’s a fact. it’s not something that bothered me before, but it started making my life a living hell when i finally accepted an offer to travel abroad for work.

i was born here in the country, i pay may taxes to the government, and i will get sanctioned by country rules should i even attempt to violate any. so what makes me any different?

the thing is, despite the fact that i was born and raised in this country, i still have to endure all the bureacratic red tape that this country is so known for. most people just tend to accept it as it is, but it really is frustrating when you want to get things done.

i had to get a medical clearance from a government hospital, secure clearances from the police, NBI, fiscal court, metropolitan trial court and regional trial court. afterwhich, i had to fill out all these papers to affirm that i REALLY wanted to denounce my chinese citzenship and submitted these to immigration.

it would be great if after all the hard work (running around in various buildings, and all the fees that i had to pay) that i would actually get my application approved in a month or two months’ time.

WRONG

it’s been four months already, and right now, i’m just waiting for a pathetic initial (read: signature that would probably just be a squiggle) on my petition so it go back to immigration and finally end this farce. but with the nearly week long holiday and the elections coming up, my chances of leaving in a week or two is really becoming slim. bordering on non-existent really.
so, what to do?

1) wait. for how long? well it really escapes me right now.
2) pay someone. yes, bribe someone to actually get my petition and dump it on the signatory’s desk and tell him, “sign here please”

it’s really frustrating. i don’t know what else to do, and how else to go about it. if someone knows someone in the justice system, preferably someone really HIGH UP THERE, i’d really appreciate it if i could be endorsed to that person.

in the meantime, i guess i’ll just wait.

*sigh*