Travelog Australia 2015: Replacing buku merah @ Malaysian Consulate

Date: June 26th, 2015

Morning came. We're supposed to go for the Phillips Island tour at 9am. Started my day with a search of my passport again. To no avail, there was no sign of the passport anywhere. I had to go to and get Voda SIMcard first before Nad and Eki left for the tour. Initially, they wanted to stay but there was no point to do so. Rather than wasting our paid tour, I asked them to go while I figure things out. It was another 'Amazing Race' moment for them to get to the pick up point.

Once they left, I called my sister and she told me that I could only replace my passport either in Perth, Melbourne or Canberra. Since I was in Melbourne, it was better for me to settle everything there or else I need to drive up to Canberra once I arrive in Sydney later. Further more, I need to get it done by end of day since we're flying off to Adelaide the next day. Luckily it was Friday and it's still early in the morning.

So it's back to the hostel to get ready all of the needed documentation. These were all the things that I did. Apparently I couldn't get a new passport since I was only visiting, so what I need was the Emergency Certificate (Perakuan Cemas).

Step 1: Googled for Malaysian Consulate address in Melbourne.

Level 1| No. 432 St. Kilda Road,
Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
(P): 03 9573 5400
(F): 9866 6204
(E): malmelbourne@kln.gov.my

Public Holidays: Malaysian & Australian National 
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 09:30am- 5:00pm
Friday lunch break noon - 2.30pm.

Step 2: Check what are the needed documentation (http://www.kln.gov.my/web/aus_melbourne/passport_renewal) 

CHECKLIST FOR EMERGENCY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION

1. PASSPORT APPLICATION FORM (IM.42) Print as single sheet
    http://malaysia.org.au/forms/passport.pdf --> u can fill this at the consulate.
2. DOCUMENTS EVIDENCE OF MALAYSIAN STATUS (original)
     (MYKAD/KPT/MALAYSIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE/BORANG W)
3. RECENT WHITE BACKGROUND  PASSPORT SIZE  PHOTOGRAPHS (2 copy) --> i had huge trouble getting this as I was misunderstood that I need a black and white photo instead of a photo with white background. Black and white photo can only be done in a certain photo shop. There were plenty of Post Office but they only cater colored photo (which was fine as long as with white b'gnd). I literally spent 1 hour walking around and around CBD for this!
4. VALID AUSTRALIAN VISA (certified photocopy and original upon approval) --> weirdly i still hv the hardcopy of my e-visa, but not my passport although i remember bundling them together. Just a printed copy, not certified as it's e-visa.
5. FLIGHT TICKET (original) --> i didnt bring this and they didn't ask for it.
6. PAYMENT OF AUD 25.00 (CASH ONLY)
7. REFERENCE LETTER - full police report.

Step 3: Go to the nearest police station to make a full report. In my case, next door. It felt really weird as the place is quite quiet. Nobody was around but there was a notice saying to just sit there if you need to make any paperwork as they can see u via camera. For emergency, u could ring the bell there. So after few minutes, one of the officer appear at the counter and helped me to make the report.

Step 4: Ride a tram to the Consulate. (http://ptv.vic.gov.au/journey#jpsearch%5Baction%5D=showPlanner)
From Flinders St, I just need to board 1 direct tram to get to St.Kilda. It was only a 10-minute journey. If ure from Flinders St, the Consulate building will be on ur right. It's a grey colored building with Malaysia Flag at the front. There was a miscommunication at that moment. I was told by my sister that I need to be there before 12.30pm in order to get the Certificate done within the same day. Turned out, it's supposed to be before noon. By the time I reached there, it was already 12.15pm. The door was locked but there were still some staffs inside so they let me in. Initially, they told me that I had to wait til 2.30pm since it's already lunch break but she said she'd asked the approving officer whether it'd be ok to process my application right away.

Step5: Fill in all the paperwork, made a copy of everything and wait.
Lucky for me, he said OK. I had to make a copy of the police report as well as my e-visa. Fret not, there is a photocopy machine there. I had to fill in few forms and after an hour, I got my certificate. What a relief! Just in time for my sisters' friend from MATRADE dropping in for lunch. Since it was a working day, our lunch was a quick one as he had to return to office at 2pm and i got couple of hours to walk around Melbourne CBD before most of the places close at 5pm.

There was no good place to think of what to do other than at Melbourne State Library. I was in Melbourne before but I had never set foot in the library itself. So this was a good chance. Heck, the last time I was in a library was back in Uni LOL. So it's back on the tram towards CBD then.