Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng donated RM 20,000 to soup kitchen The Lighthouse today, in Georgetown Penang.

He commended the Lighthouse and the NGO behind the soup kitchen, Penang Office for Human Development (POHD) for their efforts to feed the homeless and the poor.

“To feed the poor is an honourable deed. I am touched by the soup kitchens here and elsewhere organised by either Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or Catholic NGOs that help feed the unfortunate.”

“The less fortunate have the right to receive food from others, especially from organizations such as this,” he said.

Lim also expressed that he did not understand how the federal government decided to discriminate and punish NGO’s like these for their noble work.

“They must be praised and defended, not punished or fined,” he added.

The Chief Minister was seen teary-eyed as he laid plates of food for the poor there, while watching as they ate.

“It is important that we the people give the less fortunate their dignity as human beings,” he said.

The Lighthouse is located at Jalan Penang, and receives a multiracial, multi-religious crowd as its guests. No beef or pork is served at the soup kitchen.

Other than feeding the poor, The Lighthouse operates a learning centre for those who need to enhance their skills and contribute to society.

Lim Guan Eng also asserted that Penang will not concur with the federal governments Ops Kasih crackdown on soup kitchens and attempts to remove and fine them.

He urged the government not to persecute against the poor. Being poor is not a crime, he said.

“This is not something I will allow in Penang,” he added. -The Rocket