No escape from the taxman...

In the previous post, I mentioned how this year's Aidilfitri is somewhat special because it coincides with my birthday. It was supposed to be a joyfully memorable day and which I shall remember for many years to come.

Well, it turn out to be memorable indeed, but all for the wrong reasons.

As in previous years, with the exception of the last, we would celebrate the 1st day of Syawal at my parents' home in Singapore. Since my parents are the eldest living relatives in our clan, most of my cousins in Singapore from both father and mother's side, would visit them on the first day of Aidilfitri. This means that their tiny flat in Bukit Batok would be filled to the brim with guests coming by throughout the day.

On the last day of the fasting month, my wife had slogged throughout the day to cook various dishes for the hari raya celebrations. This included the traditional chicken rendang and a large pot of nasi briyani. It was nearly close to midnight when her dishes were ready and it took another hour or so for us to be ready to load the food and our other stuff into my son's car. By the time we left our JB home to head for Singapore, it was technically already Wednesday the 6th of July 2016.

When we reached the immigration checkpoint at the Johor side of the causeway, my passport was cleared. So were the passports of my eldest son, daughter-in-law and youngest son. But there seemed to be a problem with my wife's passport. My wife and I had to alight from the car and go the Immigration Office to find out what the issue was.

The lady officer checked her computer and told us that my wife is on the Inland Revenue Board's blacklist for alleged non-payment of income tax and therefore barred leaving the country.

What?!

My wife left the employment scene 21 years ago when she was pregnant with our 3rd child. She has never been in full-time employment since then. In my own tax returns, I declared that my wife has no income and for which I'm claiming spouse relief. It therefore came as a huge surprise that IRB is chasing her for unpaid taxes.

Of course we had a thousand and one questions to ask but the Immigration officer was not in a position to give reply. All she could do was offer her sympathy and say that many people have been caught in similar situations. She is only doing her job in following IRB's directive.

My wife and I are not tax evaders. I know that IRB has set this procedure to go after those who owe the government tons of money in unpaid taxes. But the least that IRB can do is to first notify us of any possible outstanding amounts instead of resorting to this drastic method of preventing people to travel outside the country. My wife had never received any letter or other forms of communication from the taxman prior to this. In today's age of information technology, IRB cannot say that they don't know of my wife's current address. In fact, they could have relayed the information to me by mail, e-mail or telephone call. My income tax file is very much active and all those contact details are there.

It was turning out to be a bleak hari raya for us. We were not allowed to spend the special day with our parents. We had to turn back. My wife was so crestfallen.

When we got home, my son took out our luggage and rearranged the stuff in his car boot. He and his wife then retraced their route to their grandparents' home in Singapore. They became our representatives for the family gathering. No doubt my son would face endless questions from the relatives on why his mother and father are not home for hari raya.

To add salt to the wound, the long holiday break meant that we had to wait for another 6 days until Monday before we could visit the Inland Revenue office to find out more about our case. This we eventually did. For now we have reached an interim solution with them. It's not fully cleared yet so I'll perhaps write on that part after the case is settled.

So what did we do on the first day of Aidilfitri? We decided to visit my maternal uncle and aunt at my mother's hometown of Pontian. At least we did something meaningful to wash away the sorrow caused by a government who claims that they have the rakyat's needs as priority.... rakyat didahulukan. Ya lah tu...

I'm sure you can detect my sarcasm.

A different type of hari raya this year

A special Aidilfitri

Today marks the last day of the holy fasting month of Ramadhan for the Hijri year 1437. Tomorrow is the first day of the month of Syawal where Muslims celebrate Aidilfitri.

It would be a very special Aidilfitri for me because, for the first time as I can remember, the 1st of Syawal (Hijri calendar) coincides with 6 July (Gregorian calendar). It is also my birthday tomorrow. Praise to the Almighty for this special occasion.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim friends and readers. May all of you be in good health and joyful spirit.

Double exit

Last week, the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union, not by an overwhelming majority, but by simple advantage of 52% against 48%. This means that a very significant number had chosen to remain. Indeed over the few days after the referendum results, social media was abuzz with so-called claims that many have regretted the exit choice.

Brexit does not affect me directly, so I cannot claim to have a keen interest in the subject or have good knowledge of the implications. Nonetheless, having stayed in the UK for a number of years, I do have fond memories of the country. If I am there now and have a right to vote, I would have chosen to leave.

But who would have thought that Brexit would be an ominous sign for another departure a few days later. England was knocked out of the Euro 2016 football tournament by minnows Iceland.

I have not watched any of the group matches over the past few weeks. A bit strange for me actually, to have minimal interest in the current tournament. Especially since my favourite EPL team Liverpool, has 12 players in the different Euro squads, joint top club with Juventus of Italy. Somehow, the interest has waned compared to previous years. I have stopped being a supporter of England many years ago. In the previous World Cup, I cheered for Holland. But Holland failed to qualify for Euro 2016 so this time around I guess I'll cheer for Wales.

The Wales vs Northern Ireland match was the first one I watched live on Astro. I am rooting for Wales because I studied at Wrexham in North Wales for a short while. Before that, I had not known that the Welsh speak an entirely different language from English. In their language, their country is known as Cymru. It is a pity that I had not taken the opportunity to learn more of the Welsh language and culture while I was there.

I do hope that Wales beat Belgium in the next game and progress to the semi-finals. The chances may be slim but we can always dream. Give me hope, Joe Allen...