Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan’s attempt to force beggars out of Kuala Lumpur was met by anger from Malaysians who are upset with the UMNO Minister for ordering soup kitchens to move out of a 2 km radius around KL’s golden triangle.
Tengku Adnan reportedly said City Hall (DBKL) would fine charitable organisations which flouted the order, telling a media conference that “the image of my city is very bad. If I don’t do this sort of thing, society won’t be disciplined.”
On Wednesday, he had told the public not to give alms t0 beggars, adding that fines would be imposed by the ministry on those who do so.
Callers on this evening’s “talkback” show on radio station BFM expressed disappointment with the statements made by the Minister, saying that it was unbecoming of his position and uncalled for. Many pointed out that the directive conveyed a lack of compassion and callousness, while others felt the action was too harsh and did not take into account the complexity of the problem of homelessness.
“There are a lot of causes for homelessness, you cannot just sweep all these problems under the carpet. How can our minister be so heartless? The greatness of a nation is determined by the way the least fortunate member of society is treated”, said a caller who identified himself as Victor.
On social media, many netizens pointed out the destitute are in need of protection since they lack the basic human right of shelter. There are many causes for homelessness, and we should shed the stereotype that homeless people are lazy. Facebook user Yvonne related how a homeless man in KL told her that he chose to live in the streets because his family had betrayed him, and being homeless was less painful than living at home.
Soup kitchen volunteer Izzati Rahman shared on Facebook how many people who came to soup kitchens were not not homeless but earned an extremely small income and could not afford to feed their families. Some were elderly people who had noone to care for them, while others are born out of prostitution, poverty, or are mentally unstable and unfit to earn a living, she said.
Other callers who called in to the BFM program urged the Ministry to deal with the problem of poverty instead of punishing the poor. They said that to tackle the problem of homelessness, minimum wage laws should be enforced rather than punish alms givers. Many workers earn less than the minimum wage of RM 900 as a result of poor enforcement from authorities, leaving them with no safety net and financial security. When tragedy, illness or other unforeseen expenses arise, some are forced to the streets when they are unable to make ends meet.
Another caller, Catherine said that the minister was passing the buck to religious bodies. This was in reference to the Minister asking beggars to move to temples and mosques outside of Kuala Lumpur.
A listener, Raj, said that giving alms was a duty of all religions. The constitutional right to express one’s religion would be breached if people are fined when giving alms to beggar’s, he said.
A few callers also added that the ministry has to discuss the issue with NGO’s who have been running the soup kitchen. “Someone has to try to do it; statement like these from the minister does not help anyone,” said Yong Kee.
The minister had also said that he wanted to clean up a “bad image” for Kuala Lumpur. Prompting some callers to ask,”who are they [ministry] trying to please?”
“Since when did aesthetics become more important than compassion?” said Kumar.
Some who called in also agreed with the city councils action saying that there are scams, syndicates, “lazy bums”, and able bodied individuals who chose to beg because they feel “free in the streets”.
“What the government needs to do is help the soup kitchen NGO’s coordinate their work with the homeless,” said Hafiz who added that the NGO’s would be more efficient with government resources. “If they work together, then the homeless would be able to move on from their current state,” he added.
Philip, said that if the homeless are helped through this hard transitional period, then they would move on to a better future.
“I know people who have made come out of their homelessness once they got the support they need,” he said.
On Twitter, @AdrianNCF tweeted, “It is clear tt u r short sighted with ur sweeping plans to keep KL image “clean”. Extent of penalising soup kitchens means u don’t understd.”
Irate user @patricklsk tweeted “It’s now illegal to be poor and homeless in Kuala Lumpur. That’s how we eliminate poverty and become a developed state.” User @bedlamfury had this to say about the soup kitchen banning: “beggarism not allowed in presence of elites”.
A poster of a bearded man holding up a sign that says “dear Tengku Adnan, feeding people is not a crime” has gone viral on Twitter and Facebook. Meanwhile, soup kitchen Dapur Jalanan has said they will continue their work regardless of the Minister’s threat to take action come Monday. -The Rocket
