Is this the mid-life crisis?
Friday, 19 July 2024 23:43![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elusivekI had lunch with a colleague-friend yesterday and well, when she said the phrase "I've gone past 40, so now I'm counting down to retirement," that got me thinking... yeah... I've worked for 20 years already, so I now have... another 20 years to go, 25 if lucky... so yeah... Counting down to retirement.....?
Here's another funny story.
So China has now implemented a newfangled "travel permit" for "Permanent Residents of Hong Kong and Macau That are NOT-Chinese" and it.... is a hit. Automated immigration? Skip the passport queue? YES PLEASE! It's like holding an EU passport going into an EU country. You get to go through the fast lane!
But I'm being a hobby-level conspiracy theorist and noticed some things. They needed that the registrar for the PR status to have the nationality the same as the passport you are holding. For example, I have a Portuguese Passport so my Nationality in my Macau PR file should say Portuguese. Alas, it has none. I thought it was just me because I was bornspecial *snort* of a mixed descent. Apparently, MANY people in Macau have the same issue.
So I went to the ID place to get it sorted out, but they were so trying to convince me to say I'm Chinese. I say "If I know for a fact I'm not Chinese, why would I claim Chinese nationality? I'm Portuguese!"
They "If you choose to say you are Portuguese then you can't change and be Chinese later!"
Me "by the same theory, if I choose to be Chinese then I can't change and be Portuguese later!"
They "ah, if you show us proper documentation then yes you can."
Me *what the actual F?* "in any case, I'm not going to just say I'm Chinese, man"
They "why not we do an ancestry check?"
Me: takes out my birth certificate that lists my ancestry up to my grandparents
They "our check doesn't rely on just your birth certificate. We have our ways."
Me "okay. I know for a fact I'm not Chinese. You insist. You want to do the extra leg work, be my guest."
And of course, a week later, they say there is no evidence that I have Chinese blood. Mwahahaha! I told ya so!
But it seems my aunts, my Mom, etc.. have the same issue. The conspiracy theorist in me is, this new Chinese scheme is to force people to claim to be Chinese so that it seems they are a strong nation!
Let's hope I can get all that sorted out soon. Then it's more frequent trips to China for, I dunno, mega malls, food, manicures, and all that.
Here's another funny story.
So China has now implemented a newfangled "travel permit" for "Permanent Residents of Hong Kong and Macau That are NOT-Chinese" and it.... is a hit. Automated immigration? Skip the passport queue? YES PLEASE! It's like holding an EU passport going into an EU country. You get to go through the fast lane!
But I'm being a hobby-level conspiracy theorist and noticed some things. They needed that the registrar for the PR status to have the nationality the same as the passport you are holding. For example, I have a Portuguese Passport so my Nationality in my Macau PR file should say Portuguese. Alas, it has none. I thought it was just me because I was born
So I went to the ID place to get it sorted out, but they were so trying to convince me to say I'm Chinese. I say "If I know for a fact I'm not Chinese, why would I claim Chinese nationality? I'm Portuguese!"
They "If you choose to say you are Portuguese then you can't change and be Chinese later!"
Me "by the same theory, if I choose to be Chinese then I can't change and be Portuguese later!"
They "ah, if you show us proper documentation then yes you can."
Me *what the actual F?* "in any case, I'm not going to just say I'm Chinese, man"
They "why not we do an ancestry check?"
Me: takes out my birth certificate that lists my ancestry up to my grandparents
They "our check doesn't rely on just your birth certificate. We have our ways."
Me "okay. I know for a fact I'm not Chinese. You insist. You want to do the extra leg work, be my guest."
And of course, a week later, they say there is no evidence that I have Chinese blood. Mwahahaha! I told ya so!
But it seems my aunts, my Mom, etc.. have the same issue. The conspiracy theorist in me is, this new Chinese scheme is to force people to claim to be Chinese so that it seems they are a strong nation!
Let's hope I can get all that sorted out soon. Then it's more frequent trips to China for, I dunno, mega malls, food, manicures, and all that.
