Day trip to the Indonesian Embassy, Kuala Lumpur to renew maid's passport

I took a day off work today to drive my Indonesian maid up to Kuala Lumpur to renew her passport at the Indonesian Embassy along Jalan Tun Razak. Her passport validity period had less than a year left to her work permit, so we had to renew it before local immigration authorities will renew her work permit in Malaysia. We arrived at around 9.15am and the sheer number of peoples already there was staggering. Thousands had arrived and long queues had already formed for application forms, taking a number (ours was number 2123) and the photo session. It had been around 3 years since my last visit to the Indonesian Embassy and the procedure this time was different. They didn't allow outside photos anymore - you had to get your maid to queue up to have her photo taken by the Embassy which will be used for her passport application. It was pretty hectic and after some querying fellow-queuers i managed to find out what was to be done. Apart from photocopies of the employer's IC, maid passport and her work permit, they also wanted insurance coverage for your maid and a contract of employment. The insurance you could easily purchase for cash just outside the Embassy gates from one of the many agents and touts selling their services at RM85-00 only for a 26-month policy from Great Eastern insurance company. They would immediately issue you with the insurance proposal form and an official receipt - you have to photocopy the proposal form for the passport application and keep the original copy yourself. The contract of employment is a standard document prepared by the Embassy which is given to you along with your maid's passport application forms. (By the way, i tried calling the Embassy before my trip but no one picked up the telephone for my matter). The contract of employment you fill up, sign (as employer) and date it the same day that you are at the embassy to renew your maid's passport. The rest is just waiting waiting and waiting for your number to be called inside the embassy's air-conditioned office which was filled to the brim with people, people and more people. The passport costs only RM18, which came as a pleasant surprise. During previous years they had charged RM150, then a few years ago it came down to RM50 and now it's just RM18. And photocopying charges inside the embassy is free-of-charge though you have to queue up for it. The staff were courteous and helpful, so apart from the waiting time which i spent alternatively between reading newspapers and staring at the numbers on the electronic counter in front, all in it was a pleasant transaction. At the end of day, around 5.30pm, we finally got our passport in the waiting area (non air-conditioned) outside. They had issued my maid a 5-year passport (i verbally requested for 5 years specifically) with 24 pages. Previously they only issued 3-year passports. Well, there's progress. Now, if only the Indonesians could also do something about the haze...