Tax!

For the first year of my tax paying year, I enthusiastically paid twice. Being a good Malaysian citizen, I decided to leave the amount in there so that the next year I would only deduct whatever I owed without having to actually pay. Then the government decides to lower the taxes and I haven't had to pay taxes since then, say 5 years now? Just deducting from that first amount! It's amazing to think taxes were so high before they lowered the taxes.

Anyways, I wasn't sure how much leftover I had in the account so I spent a good part of the morning just trying to reach the Income Tax office. As of all government offices, they speak the national language and since I haven't used it in a rather long time, my tongue struggled to form the appropriate words and I lapsed into half English and Malay, brokenly trying to piece sentences together (language has never been a strong point for me). In the end, I decided to use English on the next person as they transferred me to the correct extension. After waiting until 2-3 songs had passed (they played a radio station for call waiting), someone finally picked up. I rushed into my enquiry in English and all she said was "Hello? Hello?" and cut me off.

Furious, I tried calling again and it was only after 2 hours I managed to get someone to pick up my call again. This time I had time to compose my sentences in Malay so they entertained my enquiry. Sigh...