I reached the number issuing booth at 8.45 am and my number was 1138. They were servng number 1019 at that time. Yippee. I should be finished in an hours' time. But alas, I was only finally called to send in my passport renewal application at 12.00pm. After the checks and thumb prints taken I was asked to wait for my number to be called again. This time for payment. The wait took another 15 minutes.
I waited 3.5 hours for the whole process which took only about 5 minutes. The time spent on each applicant was not that long as the personnel were quite efficient in doing their work. 210 hours divided by 119 people gives about 1.7 minutes per applicant. That is remarkable considering there were a few who took just one number but was in actual fact giving more than one application form to the counter clerk. These would be those who came with their entire family. I saw a few with 4 or 5 kids in tow.
Kudos to the department for efficiency. The negative side was just the feeling that there were no one attending to the applicants as numerous numbers keep flashing on the screen but your own. I forgot there are different categories of applications and at first glance it seems as if my number is not in the queue. But all is well and I should get my new passport on Wednesday.
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