London Police Impressed By Malaysia’s New Passport

PETALING JAYA: Cosmetic entrepreneur, Rita Sosilawati shared an interesting experience when her new Malaysian passport caught the attention of immigration officers upon arriving in London, United Kingdom.

In a post on Threads, Rita said she was detained for a while for inspection because the passport was still new and had never been seen before by the officers on duty at the country’s entry point.

According to her, she explained that the passport had just been introduced and she obtained it on the third day after its launch.

“The immigration officers told me they needed to check it first because it was the first time they had seen Malaysia’s new passport.

“They also praised its modern and beautiful design, including the use of a colour photo,” she said in the post.

Rita said the inspection process took some time because information regarding Malaysia’s new passport was believed to have not yet been entered into the authorities’ system.

However, she admitted to feeling excited because she was among the earliest Malaysians to use the travel document in London.

“But it was fun to be among the first to use it here,” she said.

The post garnered much attention with over 271,000 views and approximately 5,900 likes, as well as drawing various reactions from social media users.

A Threads user known as @_lqmnarrii also shared a similar experience when visiting Hat Yai and Singapore recently.

“Yesterday went to Hat Yai, the officers there also said ‘new passport?’ Today went to Singapore, they also said the same thing. In Singapore, I was also detained for a while, then (they) praised the new passport, saying it’s beautiful,” she commented.

Another user, @jademisai shared an almost identical experience when her passport was examined by border control officers in Paris, France before being shown to colleagues.

“The officer said this passport is very sophisticated. That made me feel very proud as a Malaysian,” she said.

A netizen, @farahaz_97 said the experience of being detained for inspection should make Malaysians even prouder because the passport managed to attract the attention of foreign officers.

“If we get detained, we should be doubly proud. We’re detained because they are impressed by the new passport and of course to verify its authenticity,” she said.

Kosmo Online