“The congestion at the high commission was also caused by the sudden surge in the number of walk-in passport applicants who failed to set an appointment via the STO,” the department’s director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said, referring to the online appointment application system.

Khairul went on to advise Malaysians in the island republic to renew their passports online, adding that the document would be processed and printed within four to five weeks.

He also said that the department was waiting for the green light from Singapore’s foreign ministry to allow Datasonic Group Bhd, a security-based ICT solution provider, to enter the country to fix the system.

For now, the department would prioritise Malaysians who want to extend their work permits.

The Straits Times has reported that hundreds of people had to queue since the early hours of yesterday morning to renew their passports, with the elderly and wheelchair users having to wait for hours under the sun.

It said the school holidays from March 13 to 21 seemed to have worsened the situation, with some of the applicants told that only a limited number of applications could be processed each day due to “technical issues”.