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FT MINISTER TENGKU ADNAN WINS THE FOOT IN MOUTH AWARD FOR HIS SEXIST STATEMENT!
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6 December 2018
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Reports by MARTIN CARVALHO, HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM, TARRENCE TAN and FATIMAH ZAINAL
YOUTHS aged between 18 and 30 made up more than 38% of the homeless who came to Anjung Singgah for assistance, said Deputy Woman, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh.
She said records at the temporary lodging and intervention centre for the homeless also showed most of them were from rural areas.
“Many have completed their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia-level education and told their families they are heading to Kuala Lumpur for work.
“Back in their villages, a kenduri (feast) is usually held to celebrate working in Kuala Lumpur but when they get there, they can’t find jobs.
“Many could not bear to face their families and end up loitering in the city,” she said replying to Natrah Ismail (PH-Sekijang) who asked on measures taken by the ministry to overcome the growing number of homeless people in urban and rural areas.
Yeoh added that Anjung Singgah focuses on providing counselling and job matching programmes to help those looking for employment.
She said private companies with job opportunities could also approach the centre to help in the job matching programme.
Earlier, Yeoh said so far there were 1,439 people registered as homeless due to various reasons such as unemployment, drug addiction and mental health problems.She added that volunteers at Anjung Singgah also reported an increasing trend of mentally disabled people seeking help at the centre.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/06/rural-youths-turn-homeless-in-kl/
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13 January 2018
Ir.Kumar @skumar176 3 minutes ago
#SoupKitchen by #Kechara ! A noble service . God bless all . #KL #malaysia
.
…
16 July 2017
New Straits Times @NST_Online
KUALA LUMPUR is a stunning city. A bird’s-eye view of the nation’s capital from any distance will leave you in awe, no matter how many times you’ve seen it. It’s especially beautiful on evenings the sun melts into the horizon and makes way for the bright lights of the towering buildings which dot the city.
On ground, it’s no different — couples walk hand-in-hand out of some of KL’s flashy bars and mammoth malls. Groups of friends toast to a good night out at one of the city’s upscale eateries while scores of teens smile through the glow of their smartphones at cosy cafes which line some of the more historic districts of the city centre.
But by 4am, the vibrant buzz of the city dissipates into the darkness. With the exception of the occasional motorbike wheezing in the distance, Kuala Lumpur comes to a temporary standstill. Well, almost. A closer inspection of some of the city’s inner lanes and landmarks reveal a community of people who find solace on their single piece of cardboard. Some sleep curled up in a fetal position to keep themselves warm from the cool of the morning dew.
Others sit up talking, forming the only audible chatter at this unholy hour of the day. For them, these public sidewalks and lanes are the places they call home.
They Took My Shoes is a 124-page offering recounting the tales of KL’s homeless community. A part of KakiSeni’s WOMENGirls project, the book has recently hit the stands in the Klang Valley.
Michelle Yoon Carmen Soo
They Took My Shoes
Publisher: MPH
Authors: Michelle Yoon and Carmen Soo
Pages: 124
https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2017/07/257741/face-homeless
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19 June 2017
Wira Perkasa chief Azrul Akmal, “I consider the advice given by Tengku Adnan as coming from a ‘rich person’. However, as an NGO, we will continue to help those in need, including the homeless.”
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New Straits Times @NST_Online
NGO bristles at comments by KuNan over aid distribution to KL’s homeless
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KUALA LUMPUR: Wira Perkasa, the youth wing of Pertubuhan Peribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa), has expressed disagreement with Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s recent comments on how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which help the city’s homeless distribute aid.
According to a news report yesterday, Tengku Adnan said that programmes organised by some NGOs to help the city’s homeless have led to areas becoming dirty and “out of control”, to the extent that they have tarnished the federal capital’s image.
He also reportedly said that NGOs and city dwellers should not provide so much assistance to the homeless, including in terms of money, food and clothing, as this will lead to the group becoming comfortable with their situation and increasingly lazy.
Tengku Adnan also reportedly said that there have been cases of homeless people exploiting the donations given to them by reselling them at night markets.
Wira Perkasa chief Azrul Akmal said the assistance provided by NGOs are for those who live a hand-to-mouth existence.
“The contributions are only temporary. There’s no financial aid distributed to the homeless. So why must Tengku Adnan say such thing?
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Ku Nan selar NGO jadikan gelandangan ‘terlalu selesa, malas’
KUALA LUMPUR: Badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang ingin menyumbangkan bantuan kepada golongan gelandangan di sekitar ibu negara dinasihatkan agar mengikut saluran yang betul.
Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor berkata hal ini berikutan tindakan sesetengah NGO yang menganjurkan program buat gelandangan di sekitar Kuala Lumpur hingga menyebabkan kawasan tersebut kotor dan tidak terurus hingga mencemarkan imej ibu kota.
“Kerajaan telah menyediakan pusat transit gelandangan agar segala aktiviti atau program berkaitan gelandangan dapat dibuat di satu tempat dan pihak NGO seharusnya sedar mengenai perkara ini.
“Selain itu, sebelum mereka (NGO) menyumbangkan apa-apa jenis makanan terhadap golongan ini, kualiti makanan juga perlu dirujuk kepada pihak pengurusan pusat transit dahulu.
“Ada kes sebelum ini, pihak penganjur memberikan makanan yang tidak boleh dimakan oleh orang Islam dan sebaliknya. Ini adalah salah,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas program Volunteer for Kuala Lumpur @ Unity (V4KL@Unity), di sini malam tadi.
Tengku Adnan turut menasihatkan pihak NGO dan warga kota agar tidak memberi terlalu banyak bantuan khususnya wang tunai, makanan dan pakaian yang dianggap dapat membuatkan golongan ini menjadi terlalu selesa dan malas.
“Di pusat transit itu, pihak kerajaan menyediakan pendidikan buat golongan ini untuk mereka ubah hidup sendiri serta ada juga yang diberikan peluang pekerjaan. Namun kalau sudah setiap hari diberikan makanan dan pakaian secara percuma, bukankah itu akan menyebabkan mereka jadi selesa dengan kehidupan sebegitu?
“Sehingga ada juga disebabkan terlalu banyak diberikan bantuan seperti baju, ada dalam kalangan mereka menjual semula baju tersebut di pasar malam. Kalau kita mahu menderma, mendermalah di tempat yang betul dan berilah kepada pihak yang sangat memerlukan,” tegasnya.
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Images of the Homeless: Can’t you see that the homeless are predominantly Malay?
Ku Nan selar NGO jadikan gelandangan ‘terlalu selesa, malas’: How about a night SLEEPING, HUNGRY, on the streets? https://weehingthong.org/2015/10/01/has-dbkl-started-harassing-soup-kitchens-again/ … …
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19 May 2017
AsiaOneVerified account @sphasiaone
Family in Malaysia forced to live under flyover for past 2 months
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KUALA LUMPUR: A family of six has been staying under a flyover in Pandan Perdana near Cheras here with just a tent, a stove and some basic personal possessions for the past two months.
Jeffry Husin, 41, and his family were evicted from their unit in the Low Cost 700 flats here after failing to pay rent for the past two months.
effry, his wife Siti Nor Sazila Zakaria, 30, and their children Siti Nurfadhilah, eight, Siti Nurfatihah, six, Nur Farisha Alesha, four, and nine-month-old Nur Cahaya Adawiyah had been staying at the rented flat for the past 11 years.
“I was falling behind on my rent payment, so I offered RM200 (S$64) first but my landlord refused,” he said, adding that he had been doing odd jobs such as selling recycled items after leaving his security guard job a year ago.
He said he quit his job after an old injury on his spine following a fall in 2006 become painful and left him unwell at times.
He claimed that the landlord went to the house almost daily before they were evicted.
“He would shout at us and call us names,” Jeffry said.
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He said the family cook and eat under the flyover, but the children sleep at his sister’s house at night.
Pandan MCA chairman Datuk Leong Kok Wee visited Jeffry and his family yesterday and donated money and essential items to them.
Leong said he had contacted the Welfare Department, which has promised to find housing for the family.
A good samaritan, Danny Sum, has also donated funds to the family and will offer a job to Jeffry once he has found a place to live.
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Heartless UMNO. To treat the poor Malay like this…
2 June 2016
Asian Correspondent
Kuala Lumpur authorities round up homeless, dump them 30km outside city
KUALA LUMPUR CITY HALL (DBKL) has been accused of rounding up homeless people in lorries, driving them about 30 kilometers away and leaving some by the side of a highway.
The accusation was leveled at DBKL by Lalita Abdullah, executive committee member of a local NGO, the SEED Foundation, in a Facebook post.
According to Abdullah, DBKL conducted a “massive raid” on May 22, picking up homeless people found in the city and “herding” them onto lorries around midnight.
Without being informed of what was happening, they were driven out and dropped off in the town of Rawang in the Gombak district, about a 40-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur.
Some of the homeless people picked up said there were up to 30 others in a single lorry, reports local news portal Malaysiakini. It is not known exactly how many people were driven out of the city.
They also said it took about four hours to walk back to Kuala Lumpur. By the time they reached the city, it was daylight.
Abdullah posted the scathing allegation earlier this week, accusing the Malaysian government of washing its hands of homelessness and poverty in the city.
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SAYS
Things The Rakyat Wants Tengku Adnan To Know Before Banning Soup Kitchens
Many open letters have been written to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan since he declared a ban on soup kitchens in the heart of KL. These are some of the most important points the Rakyat wants Tengku Adnan to know.
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http://says.com/my/news/things-the-rakyat-wants-tengku-adnan-to-know-before-banning-soup-kitchens
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People who would not let you feed the homeless or give them any money…
Left: Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.
Right: Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor Says They Will Introduce A Rule To Haul Beggars And Issue Summons To Those Who Give Alms
The homeless and poor
http://says.com/my/news/the-government-does-not-want-you-to-give-money-to-beggars-in-kl
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13 Dec 2016
ABIM Numbers Of Homeless People Increased By Three-Fold In Kuala Lumpur, What Are We Doing To Curb The Problem? http://fb.me/1La4b1Fi9
Numbers Of Homeless People Increased By Three-Fold In Kuala Lumpur, What Are We Doing To Curb The Problem?
- Published on Thursday, 25 February 2016 08:15
- Written by Arief Irsyad
The number of homeless people in Kuala Lumpur have increased by three-fold, from 600 in 2014 to at least 2,000 people last year, based on a survey conducted by the Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL).
“Recently, DBKL discovered 1,500 and 2,000 of them (homeless) in the city,” Segambut DAP member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng relayed the findings last year.
Federal Territories Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Adnan Md Ikhsan earlier this month had said the ministry was working hard to provide shelter for the homeless.
“With the launch of Homeless Transit Home in Jalan Pahang, we are working closely with NGOs in tackling this issue,” he said speaking of the three-storey building which begin operations on February 1.
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Kuala Lumpur: Oppresser of the homeless? Again?
June 1, 2016
Has DBKL started harassing soup kitchens again? Making war on the Homeless? Doing a Ku Nan?
Ops Qaseh: War against the Homeless and Poor in KL
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Putrajaya now scraps ban on KL soup kitchens
The Malaysian Insider
In a volte-face, Putrajaya has ditched a controversial plan to bar soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur’s shopping district and have also recommended several sites, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor said today.
The Federal Territories minister said the ministry would monitor the charities that run the soup kitchen in the federal capital city to ensure cleanliness. His comments came a month after the proposed ban caused an outrage in the country.
“We have identified several suitable locations for the NGOS to operate, based on our observation. Those who have decided not to move can continue operating from their base,” he said after officiating Federal Territories Veteran Association Annual Meeting and Raya celebration in Kuala Lumpur today.
Putrajaya now scraps ban on KL soup kitchens The Malaysian Insider – 3 hours ago
Soup kitchens can stay in city, says minister in U-turn The Malaysian Insider – 3 hours ago
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THE PRIME MINISTER LETS HIMSELF BE SEEN AMONG THE HOMELESS BUT DAP SAYS, ‘HE CAME, HE SAW AND HE LEFT…”
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s walkabout on Wednesday to view the homeless around Kuala Lumpur was nothing but a publicity stunt, said DAP parliamentarian Lim Lip Eng.
“The prime minister’s visit did not bring about any real benefit but was a mere publicity act that only helped in raising his party’s image, which had already been tarnished,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The Segambut MP said Najib did not know exactly what he was doing and visited the homeless for the sake of it.
Malaysiakini, DAP: Najib came, saw, and left the homeless
(http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/268397)
Malaysiakini, Najib walks KL streets to check on the homeless
(http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/268272)
…
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WE WILL FIGHT CITY HALL!
A coalition consisting of soup kitchens, NGOs and a lawyers’ group have said they were preparing to challenge provisions in the Destitute Persons Act 1977 (DPA 1977), which the authorities are planning to use to detain vagrants in an operation called Operasi Qaseh.
YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
Groups to go head-to-head with Putrajaya on soup-kitchen ban
The Malaysian Insider
Lawyers for Liberty spokesperson Michelle Yesudas said it was working with the NGOs and soup kitchens and are preparing to provide legal help to the homeless.
“All along we have been defensive in handling this harassment against the homeless, but I think it is time for us to go on the offensive against all of these actions because no one has gone head-to-head with them (authorities) yet,” Yesudas said today at a press conference.
She added that some homeless folks had expressed willingness to appear in court to testify because they wanted to see the issue being pushed forward.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/groups-head-head-putrajaya-soup-kitchen-ban-102355169.html
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Soup kitchen meeting with ministry frustratingly lopsided, says NGO
The Malay Mail Online
PETALING JAYA, July 8 — Putrajaya’s meeting with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating soup kitchens in the capital was a frustrating affair marked by a lack of empathy towards the poor, one NGO has claimed.
Debra Loh of KL Urban Fellowship, one of the groups that attended this morning’s meeting with Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, said the narrow perspective adopted by government representatives, frustrated attempts at proper dialogue.
“There was no perspective of the poor carried in the meeting but only of businesses, not of the poor themselves… they don’t want to understand or hear from the ground,” Loh told a press conference.
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LIE OF THE WEEK!
“Ops Qaseh is for the good of vagrants and beggars. This is a rescue operation not an exercise to jail them,” said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Karim
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If the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Karim could get rid of the NGOs and their soup kitchens, she could use Ops Qaseh to monopolise all welfare work in KL.
Only then could she hope to make a step up in the Ministerial Rat Race!
However, could you imagine how the poor and homeless would suffer?
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8 JULY 2014
SUCH AMBITION! Such heartlessness.
YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
Ops Qaseh is to turn KL into a ‘zero’ vagrant and beggars city, says Rohani
The Malaysian Insider
Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim has said the operation to round up vagrants in the city will be carried out, despite the widespread criticism against it.
The Women, Family and Community Development Minister said the controversial Ops Qaseh is to turn Kuala Lumpur into a “zero” vagrant and beggars city.
…
“To me Ops Qaseh should be a continuous operation and should not be fixed for a certain period,” she told reporters today in Putrajaya.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/ops-qaseh-turn-kl-zero-vagrant-beggars-city-071633954.html
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Putrajaya defers KL soup kitchen ban until after Hari Raya
The Malay Mail Online
PUTRAJAYA, July 8 ― The Federal Territories Ministry today postponed its ban on those operating within central Kuala Lumpur to after Hari Raya after its nearly three-hour discussion with soup kitchens here failed to result in a final solution on the matter.
Talks between the ministry and the non-governmental organisations involved in the soup kitchen effort will resume tomorrow, Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) president Datuk Ruby Khong said after this morning’s meeting.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/putrajaya-defers-kl-soup-kitchen-ban-until-hari-053200637.html
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Malaysiakini
3:39PM Jul 8, 2014
‘Ku Nan’s foreign beggars claim belied by gov’t study’
Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor’s claim that most beggars in Kuala Lumpur are foreigners is contradicted by an earlier government study, said soup kitchen Dapur Jalanan coordinator Adam Adli Abdul Halim.
In the 2010 study by the Department of Welfare, he said, 99.3 percent of homeless persons interviewed are Malaysians
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/268077
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This is an informative article written by someone who is involved with working in soup kitchens.
Free Malaysia Today
The soup kitchen is no easy street
Banning soup kitchens and the homeless from the city centre is akin to opting for image over welfare. Where is your sense of humanity, Ku Nan? A volunteer bravely speaks out….
by Izzati Rahman
Working in a soup kitchen is a labour of love.
I am not a veteran volunteer, but I have had my fair share of experience at various soup kitchens across Kuala Lumpur since the age of 16. What I have to say is my own humble opinion and not representative of any organisation I have volunteered with.
From slicing onions to packing and distributing food, soup kitchen volunteers have never been paid.
Most soup kitchens receive monetary aid or food donations from various individuals or corporate sponsors, and food operators.
Click on this link:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2014/07/08/soup-kitchen-is-no-easy-street/
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It is rich, well-fed and luxuriously dressed Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Karim who says,
“Don’t spoil the homeless!”
She means, “Don’t spoil my Ministry’s plans! We have spent so much time, effort and money on Ops Qaseh and you!!!”
The Sun daily
Last updated on 7 July 2014 – 09:31am
PUTRAJAYA: Welfare Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) must refrain from “spoiling” the homeless with free shelter and food as it can interfere with the government’s initiatives to rehabilitate the group into a normal community.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said there is a group of homeless who are freeloading from the NGOs aid and refuse to undergo the rehabilitation programme offered by the Government and subsequently work.
…
“We are not saying the NGOs are wrong but we need to channel the food directly to welfare homes and help the homeless to rehabilitate and be gainfully employed.”
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1104131
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WHAT A SILLY EXCUSE OF A COMPLAINT!
THE COMPLAINANT is rich, well-fed and luxuriously dressed Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Karim.
Her complaint is that even tourists lined up for free food because they did not know that the food was meant for the homeless. She blames NGOs for this: if they don’t give out food on the streets, this won’t happen!
How many tourists lined up for free meals? 1, 2 or 3? 10? A hundred? How often? Every night? And how many of the homeless were there, waiting for their meals?
Does she mean that, to prevent a few tourists from getting free meals, ALL THE HOMELESS should be deprived of their basic meal each night?
Read: Even tourists lining up for free food, says Rohani Karim (http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/07/womens-minister-tourists-too-taking-free-food/)
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YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
Minister’s tourist comment ridiculed by soup kitchen operators
The Malaysian Insider
The organisations running soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur are puzzled over Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim’s claim that tourists were taking advantage of the free food they were distributing to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/minister-tourist-ridiculed-soup-kitchen-operators-120247511.html
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YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
Join in soup kitchens, NGOs tells ‘misinformed’ minister
The Malay Mail Online
…
To Sara Sukor, co-founder of Need to Feed the Need, the minister’s remark earlier today that soup kitchens in the city were feeding tourists and depriving the poor and homeless of food was simply “mind boggling”.
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The activist said tourists had stopped to look at Need to Feed the Need’s stall, located beside Tune Hotel on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman every Thursday night.
She added that the tourists were only curious and denied any had lined up for the free food.
“Yes, they have asked us what we were doing after taking notice of the queues but when we explain that we are running a soup kitchen they say ‘good job’ and get on with it.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/join-soup-kitchens-ngos-tells-misinformed-minister-141700282.html
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6 JULY 2014
YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
CATCH 22!
When you are detained under the Destitute Person’s Act 1977 (DPA), they can lock you up in a welfare phone for up to 6 years.
Once you are locked up, you have to find a regular job or proper home before you are released from the welfare home!
BUT how do you find a regular job or home when you are LOCKED UP?
Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, “Even criminals who have served their jail sentence are not required to prove that they have gainful employment or a permanent roof over their heads before they are released.”
Unfair to detain vagrants against their will, says DAP
The Malaysian Insider
Putrajaya’s move to use the Destitute Person’s Act 1977 (DPA) to detain the homeless in welfare homes for up to six years is an infringement of their rights, a DAP lawmaker said today.
“To use the DPA to detain the homeless against their will is to make homelessness a crime and thus, should be condemned,” Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming said.
He was responding to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development’s plan to round up the homeless starting Monday under “Ops Qaseh”.
Under the DPA, the captured vagrants would be given care and rehabilitation for three to six years.
They can be released early under two conditions: that the authorities are satisfied the resident has obtained appropriate work to sustain himself, or has been released to someone who can support and take care of him.
“Many of the homeless in Kuala Lumpur do not have regular jobs and have, for various reasons, lost contact with their family members,” said Ong.
“To require that they find regular jobs or proper homes before they are released from the welfare homes is unfair and unacceptable.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/unfair-detain-vagrants-against-says-dap-032611014.html
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The Destitute Person’s Act 1977 (DPA)
Under the DPA, a destitute person means: “(a) any person found begging in a public place in such a way as to cause or to be likely to cause annoyance to persons frequenting the place or otherwise to create a nuisance; or (b) any idle person found in a public place, whether or not he is begging, who has no visible means of subsistence or place of residence or is unable to give a satisfactory account of himself.”
A homeless person who is not begging would fall under category (b) of a destitute person, said Ong.
Section 3 of the DPA allows a magistrate to require a destitute person to reside in a welfare home for up to one month.
Section 4 of the DPA allows a magistrate, based on the recommendation of a social welfare officer, to order a destitute person to remain in a welfare home for up to three years and this order can be extended for another three years.
“This means that a homeless person can be detained against his or her will for a period up to 6 years,” said Ong.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/unfair-detain-vagrants-against-says-dap-032611014.html
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Read the following article. It’s informative.
NST
SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT: Feeding the urban poor
6 July 2014 @ 8:04 AM
THEY provide some 13,000 meals every month to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur.
And for eight years, they have used food to interact with the city’s homeless and urban poor.
“Life on the streets is tough and 98 per cent of the urban poor we meet are Malaysians. They are not criminals and they have done nothing wrong,” says Reach Out Malaysia founder Pete Nicoll.
“They are on the streets because they have nothing left back home.”
Nicoll says although many of the city’s urban poor are employed, they find it a struggle to survive in the city where the cost of living is high, as many of them support families back in their villages or hometowns.
Unwanted and shunned by society, the homeless have made pavements, bypasses, bridges, abandoned buildings and underpasses their home.
Click on:
http://www.nst.com.my/node/9994
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HEARTLESS TENGKU ADNAN PUTS MALAYSIA IN THE BAD NEWS IN SINGAPORE!
MALAYSIA “SOLVES” HOMELESS PROBLEM BY ASKING HOMELESS TO LEAVE KL
Tengku Adnan had today said soup kitchens in the city would be fined if they do not move out of Kuala Lumpur by Monday.
He said this was in line with Putrajaya’s plan to remove the homeless from Kuala Lumpur’s streets and added that NGOs were prohibited from feeding the homeless within a 2km-radius around the city centre’s iconic Lot 10 shopping complex.
Pertiwi Soup Kitchen founder Munirah Abdul Hamid said Tengku Adnan appeared to have misunderstood their work.
She said they had been vocal in pointing out the difference between the homeless and beggars as the latter may be controlled by syndicates.
“Tengku Adnan has confused the two. The ones that we feed are people trying to get by every day.”
Munirah said they had driven the same point to the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim at a recent meeting.
“What is wrong with making life better for the homeless? Isn’t it very un-Islamic of him to say such things during the month of Ramadan?” she asked.
Commenting on the irony of the current situation, she added that Pertiwi Soup Kitchen was launched by former Minister of Federal Territories Datuk Raja Nong Chik on March 11, 2010.
“So how can he (Tengku Adnan) suddenly say that feeding the homeless is illegal?”
…
In announcing the ban, Tengku Adnan claimed that soup kitchens were dirty, and also attracted rodents that spread diseases like Leptospirosis.
Tengku Adnan said the homeless could go to temples and mosques outside Kuala Lumpur if they wished to get food, adding that those who donate to beggars in the capital city would also be fined.
To this, Pertiwi’s Munirah said: “We clean up after ourselves as well as other places around the area after each round. In fact, I have also challenged the mayor many times to join me for our food distribution”.
Mastura said they were particular about hygiene and cleaned up after distributing food on their rounds.
“We shop for food at around noon and we start cooking at 2pm and finish at about 6pm. We also take the trouble to separate each type of food as some go bad faster than others,” she said, adding that to further maintain the freshness of the food, they also reduce the use of coconut milk
Source: The Malaysian Insider
Sam Gunner · Follow · Top Commenter · Manager at Property investments Private limited
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Johnathan Li · Top Commenter · Singapore
http://therealsingapore.com/content/malaysia-solves-homeless-problem-asking-homeless-leave-kl
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YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
Tengku Adnan to file complaint over online ‘slander’
The Malaysian Insider
Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor wants authorities to probe parties which he claims have slandered him by twisting his statement about soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur.
Tengku Adnan said his statements directing soup kitchens to cease operations by Monday had been taken out of context.
He is planning to file a complaint with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to probe the irresponsible parties who have slandered him by circulating his statement on social media.
July 5, 2014
https://my.news.yahoo.com/tengku-adnan-file-complaint-over-online-slander-144030992.html
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No, this house caught fire in May 2011!
Not yesterday. It seems that a story has been making the rounds of the house being on fire.
The false report in question is a three-year-old article of Tengku Adnan’s house catching fire that was widely shared on several blogs and social media sites with the date stamp changed to this year.
Saturday July 5, 2014 MYT 4:39:02 PM
Tengku Adnan refutes report house is on fire, screams defamation
PETALING JAYA: Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor assured that his home is intact and screamed defamation after false reports of his house catching fire went viral online.
“My home is not on fire. It is yet another defamatory statement, why do people like to defame me,” tweeted Tengku Adnan on Saturday.
“A lot of people have been calling me, giving me a fright,” he said, adding that he just returned from Kota Baru, Kelantan.
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/05/tengku-adnan-house-not-on-fire/
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Malaysiakini
5:45PM Jul 5, 2014
Najib moves to douse soup kitchen flames
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has finally jumped in to douse the heat over the soup kitchen row saying he appreciates such efforts to help the homeless.
He said on Twitter today the government is very concerned about the plight of the vagrants and the destitute.
“(I) appreciate the role played by volunteers such as the soup kitchens,” he tweeted briefly.
In a second tweet he added, “Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor will be discussing with (those) soup kitchens to find a mutual acceptable solution for all parties.”
Najib’s intervention comes as the Federal Territories Ministry denying that it is acting cruelly in clearing out beggars and soup kitchens within the Kuala Lumpur city centre.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/267803
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STRAIGHT FROM A HOMELESS MAN’S MOUTH!
Published on Jul 5, 2014
A homeless man met at a soup kitchen on Friday claims he works 12 hours a day, everyday, and only earns about RM1,300. This he says isn’t enough to put a roof over his head.
He claims the government hasn’t been very helpful, and has even denied aid to other homeless people who have requested for housing and monetary aid.
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RICH AND POWERFUL TENGKU ADNAN AND BARISAN NASIONAL DECLARE WAR ON THE HOMELESS, SOUP KITCHENS, BEGGARS AND GIVERS TO BEGGARS.
This Very Big Shot claims to have gone incognito among the homeless. Could he have done so and not have been recognised?
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Besides feeding the hungry, the NGO also provides clothing and offers medical assistance.
Malaysiakini
2:44PM Jul 5, 2014
Crowds at soup kitchen prove it’s still badly needed
Over 250 people lining up for food distributed by NGO Pertiwi Soup Kitchen last night may prove how soup kitchens are still relevant to Kuala Lumpur, despite the government’s move this week to “clean up” the city centre of such activities.
Malaysiakini went down to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman last night where volunteers were distributing rice, fruit, buns and drinks to the homeless and destitute at the venue next to Tune Hotel.
The crowd was orderly, although a slight commotion occured when volunteers reprimanded media personnel present from using flash photography.
It would be a typical night at the soup kitchen bringing relief to the homeless, except for the arrival of opposition MPs that hyped up the affair.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar after helping to distribute food to the poor told reporters policymakers must understand how it is to live without food and shelter.
“I invited (Federal Territories Minister) Tengku Adnan to join us tonight, but he said he’s in Labuan,” she said.
Nurul Izzah added it is important for MPs to engage with experts on the situation such as Pertiwi, since they are the ones who help alleviate the misery of the homeless.
DAP to offer legal aid
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok meanwhile confessed that it is her first time engaging in such an activity.
She slammed Tengku Adnan for only offering to set up one-stop centres for the homeless after coming under heavy fire.
“Why is he only announcing this now, why didn’t he announce this earlier?
“He probably announced it after all the criticisms,” said the DAP leader.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/267784
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Soup kitchens to defy minister on move out order The operators of soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur today vowed to continue feeding the homeless despite facing the threat of action by City Hall which is on a dri ve to present a better image of Malaysia’s capital city… |
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5 JULY 2014
YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
When the good life makes a minister poorer of empathy
The Malaysian Insider
He lives in a different stratosphere than 99% of Malaysians.
Have you seen his palatial home in the tony neighbourhood of Bukit Tunku, just a short distance away from the Prime Minister’s private residence? If you are one of the thousands of motorists travelling along Jalan Duta daily, you would have seen his house.
In his world of plenty, he and his family members want for nothing. The best food. The best accommodation. The best clothes. The best cars. The best air travel. The best holiday destinations. Domestic helpers. Drivers. Bodyguards. Gardeners.
This is his nice, comfortable, sterilised bubble.
He has little clue about the daily hardship of Malaysians; whether it is the clerk at the Treasury with a hand-to-mouth existence or the marginalised on the streets in Kuala Lumpur who often have to forego a hot meal.
When he talks about reaching out to Malaysians and being one with them, what he really is referring to are his exertions with Umno members.
When he talks about empathy (in the very rare occasion when he does talk about empathy) it is with regard to his party members. Not about ordinary Malaysians.
Because his world is his nice bubble.
So, Malaysians should not have been surprised that the Federal Territories Minister asked soup kitchens in the city to shut up shop, and spoke about the homeless and indigent in our society as if they pieces of litter.
…
So now, he is backtracking in the only way he knows how: to pretend he was misunderstood.
But he wasn’t misunderstood. We understand him perfectly.
Like many ministers, big shot Umno politicians, he lives in a different world than most Malaysians; in a world surrounded by an excess of everything.
The most important thing missing in this world is EMPATHY – sadly that is what every elected representative and minister must have. Pity that some have no space for that in their palatial mansions or their own hearts. – July 5, 2014.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/good-life-makes-minister-poorer-empathy-021206643.html
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Don’t shame Malaysia again over homeless issue, Christian youth tell Putrajaya
The Malaysian Insider
…
Meanwhile, the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) Youth wing expressed deep concern over the escalating anti-homeless measures announced by Putrajaya recently.
In a statement today, CCM Youth moderator Chrisanne Chin said that the measures announced not only oppressed the vulnerable in society but also those helping them.
She added that the lack of compassion shown by the ministers was particularly insensitive, coming at a time when millions in Malaysia were fasting, praying and giving out alms.
“It is reprehensible to demonise all homeless as beggars, criminals, addicts or lazy and would only serve to stoke public hostility, endangering destitute women and street children to further violence should society turn against them,” Chin said.
The movement called on the Department of Social Welfare and Federal Territories Ministry to withdraw the anti-homeless campaign before the nation was shamed globally again.
“Beneath the progress Malaysia tries to portray to the world, lies an ugly truth of the gravity of homelessness in Kuala Lumpur.
“CCM Youth finds it shameful that the government is intent on sweeping the matter under the carpet, which in this case, is to sweep the homeless off the 2km radius of Kuala Lumpur,” she said, adding that it was as if Malaysia was trying to hide the real problems affecting the nation.
Chin said that unlawful detention of the homeless was unjust and immoral, adding that the proposal to put sharp steel spikes in public areas was dangerous to the visually impaired and children.
Chin also hoped that the authorities would exercise compassion and humility by consulting and working with civil society groups and NGOs to carry out mitigation strategies and long-term solutions to help the city’s poor. – July 4, 2014.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/don-t-shame-malaysia-again-over-homeless-issue-054735008.html
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TENGKU ADNAN’S PALATIAL MANSION
It caught fire in May 2011.
http://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2011%2F5%2F9%2Fnation%2F8645307
Home of the homeless
Star
TENGKU ADNAN is NOT lining up a a soup kitchen! It’s an UMNO breaking fast do.
02.08.2011, Selasa – Semalam YB Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor yang juga merupakan Ketua UMNO Bahagian Putrajaya telah bersama-sama 400 warga Pusat Pentadbitan Persekutuan itu menghadiri program berbuka puasa Maidatul Al-Rahman anjuran UMNO Puterajaya. Program yang diadakan di Presint 8 ini berkonsepkan penyediaan juadah berbuka puasa secara percuma terutamanya kepada warga miskin khususnya dan warga Putrajaya amnya sepanjang bulan Ramadhan Al-Mubarak.
These people are lining up at a soup kitchen.
Malaysiakini
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SOUP KITCHENS THAT WILL DEFY THE ORDER TO MOVE OUT OF THE 2KM RADIUS
1. Pertiwi Soup Kitchen feeds between 500 and 700 homeless every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at its three locations.
One of the areas that fall within the area for Pertiwi Soup Kitchen’s food handouts is near Kota Raya. The other two areas it serves, Chow Kit and Masjid India, will not be affected by the range limitation.
Chow Kit is 3km from Lot 10 while Masjid India is a further 600m out.
2. Reach Out Malaysia, another NGO that feeds the homeless at locations that fall within the 2km-radius from Lot 10, also said it would stay put.
Just like Pertiwi Soup Kitchen, only one of its three food distribution locations — in Puduraya — fall within the area.
The other locations are Masjid Negara (3.6km away) and Masjid India.
3. Projek Kaseh4U founder Normaliza Mahadi, which feeds about 300 homeless every Tuesday near Tune Hotel in Jalan Sultan Ismail, said her NGO would be staying put.
“We will not stop providing decent food for the homeless and the minister should find a better solution instead of asking us to drop everything.”
http://www.nst.com.my/node/9761
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DID THE OBJECTION OF THE MINISTER OF URBAN WELL BEING, HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAKE TENGKU ADNAN BACKTRACK?
Perhaps he has already got an earful from Rosmah? Najib may keep quiet but Rosmah won’t!
Tengku Adnan now says that he has good intentions. He also says:
“We will meet up with the NGOs to discuss ways to tackle this problem better.
“My message to them (soup kitchens) is not to worry. You can operate (distribute free food) but we will work out the details,” he said.
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TENGKU ADNAN CLAIMS TO HAVE GONE INCOGNITO AMONG THE HOMELESS AND DISCOVERED THE FOLLOWING:
1. There were beggars among the homeless.
“I have spoken to them (the homeless) and they have told me that they are being harassed by gang members and some who claim to be beggars.
QUERY: If this is true, why can’t he organize raids to arrest these beggar gang members? Why threaten to arrest everyone within 2km of Lot 10? Why throw out the bath tub with the dirty bath water?
2. There were genuine parties doing good work to help the homeless.
QUERY: If this is true, why does he want to stop soup kitchens from operating within 2 km of Lot 10?
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/05/Tengku-Adnan-I-know-the-plight-of-the-homeless/
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NST
Soup kitchens defy order to move out
By NOR AIN MOHD RADHI AND SARAH RAHIM – 5 July 2014 @ 8:06 AM
KUALA LUMPUR: MOST soup kitchen operators will be defying the order to move out of the Bukit Bintang area issued by the Federal Territories Ministry.
They said they would continue feeding the homeless in the same locations, all within a 2km-radius from Lot 10 and Bukit Bintang, which the ministry had set as the boundary for soup kitchens.
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“Why would we want to stop charitable work that was launched by his (Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s) predecessor Datuk Raja Nong Chik? Is he saying that feeding the homeless was allowed then and not now?”
Munirah said Tengku Adnan should leave soup kitchen operators to their job and focus instead on addressing the problem of beggars, especially in Bukit Bintang, many of whom are being controlled by syndicates.
“Beggars in Bukit Bintang are the ones tarnishing the image of Kuala Lumpur. He should look into the matter rather than asking us to stop helping the homeless.
http://www.nst.com.my/node/9761
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WHERE ARE YOU, ROSMAH? Rosmah opened Kechara Soup Kitchen in Jalan Imbi in 2011. Why won’t you speak up?
During the ceremony in 2011, Rosmah had urged more collaborative efforts between the government and NGOs to tackle homelessness in the nation.
In a Bernama report then, she said a more strategic and proactive approach was needed to handle the problem rather than short-term solutions that would be costly in the long-run.
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Rosmah also noted that homelessness can be related to a number of issues.
“Homelessness can be the result of either personal failing or situations beyond control of a person for example poverty, lack of affordable housing, domestic abuse and mental illness,” she added.
Also present at the event was then-women, family and community development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
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..Kechara Soup Kitchen has become the first to comply with the new directive as Tengku Adnan embarks on his task of ridding the nation’s capital of beggars and homeless people.
Contacted by Malaysiakini today, Kechara project director Justin Cheah said: “We are not closing down our operations per se. We will not distribute food in the 2km radius stipulated by the minister.”
However, he added that Kechara would continue to distribute food outside this zone.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/267718
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At long last, one UMNO minister speaks up against Tengku Adnan.
NST
Postpone decision on city homeless, Abdul Rahman tells FT ministry
By A. Azim Idris – 4 July 2014 @ 9:48 PM
PUTRAJAYA: The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government ministry has asked the Federal Territories ministry to review the decision to demand the closure of all food serving kitchens within the two kilometre radius of the Lot 10 shopping complex in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.
While understanding the necessity to relocate the feeding programmes from commercial areas, its minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said it was also important to address the realities of a city.
Responding to the public outcry following Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s controversial move to illegalise unauthorised donating to the urban destitute population, Abdul Rahman said it was also important to show compassion.
“The (Federal Territories) ministry is not being cruel in making the decision, but I believe they should review it as the homeless were not committing serious crimes,”
“We also do not want to discourage the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and good samaritans from volunteering to help the homeless as it is very difficult to find good-hearted people willing to lend a helping hand,”
“That is why it is preferred that they (Federal Territories ministry) should postpone the decisions until the matter was discussed with the NGOs,”
http://www.nst.com.my/node/9577
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N Surendran, “Tengku Adnan should not try to sweep the issue under the carpet by hounding and jailing the poor as well as banishing the soup kitchens.”
Malaysiakini
7:44AM Jul 4, 2014
Open your mansion to the poor, Ku Nan told
Here’s the irony – a minister who dwells in the comforts of a palatial home has vowed to rid Kuala Lumpur of those deprived of a roof over their heads.
The former carpet merchant-turned-politician courted brickbats when he warned that those who gave alms to beggars would be fined and demanded soup kitchens which fed the homeless be relocated.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, N Surendran said the minister should throw open the doors of his sprawling four-storey Jalan Duta mansion in an upmarket suburb in Kuala Lumpur.
The PKR MP believes that the breathtaking bungalow might provide enough room to house all of the city’s homeless people.
“Perhaps in the spirit of Ramadan, Tengku Adnan should also offer the banished soup kitchens to set up in his large beautiful grounds.
“Having grossly insulted the poor, this is the least he could do,” he added.
Enormous gulf
On a more serious note, Surendran said living in such sumptuous surroundings, Tengku Adnan cannot relate to the hopelessness, suffering and daily struggles of the poor.
The issue, he stressed, also highlighted the enormous gulf between ordinary Malaysians and Umno leaders.
“How do these full-time politicians amass such wealth? The public is entitled to know.
“Why are there so many impoverished and homeless people on the streets when Umno ministers live in mansions in prime areas?” he asked.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/267638
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NST photo
http://www.nst.com.my/node/9207
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3 JULY 2014
YAHOO! NEWS MALAYSIA
Ku Nan most heartless of Najib’s men, says DAP on soup kitchen ban
The Malaysian Insider
Since the general election last year, members of the Najib administration have taken turns to anger and humour the public with their foolish remarks, but the federal territories minister takes the cake for being the most callous and heartless of ministers when he ordered soup kitchens to move out of Kuala Lumpur city centre, said DAP.
Party adviser Lim Kit Siang questioned if Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was inspired by Norway’s plans to criminalise begging when he issued an ultimatum to soup kitchens in the city to move out or face penalties.
“If Tengku Adnan is attempting to emulate Norway, perhaps he should first seek parliamentary approval before issuing his callous ban on soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur,” Lim said in a statement today.
Lim pointed out that Norway had a gross domestic per capita of about US$100,000 (RM324,000) compared with Malaysia’s US$10,500 (RM34,020).
…
“Instead of introducing such punitive measures on beggars and soup kitchens, Tengku Adnan should engage all the relevant stakeholders first.
“He should have engaged MPs and non-government organisations on the best way to resolve the issue of beggars and soup kitchens.”
Lim said Tengku Adnan should have also considered the socio-economic ramifications of poverty before acting in haste.
https://my.news.yahoo.com/ku-nan-most-heartless-najib-men-says-dap-122836533.html
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Malaysia Chronicle
Would Ku Nan or the Umno elite know how it feels like to be HUNGRY & WITHOUT MONEY? – Nurul
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DESPITE THE OBJECTIONS OF VARIOUS QUARTERS, OPS QASEH WILL BEGIN SOON!
Ops Qaseh
The government has declared “war” on the homeless found on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Starting in early July, enforcement agencies will “sweep” the streets clean of all such people.
Some people would call Ops Qaseh a program to sweep under the carpet the homeless and the unresolved problems caused by the lack of affordable accommodation for immigrants from the rural areas and small towns.
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THIS EXCUSE OF A MINISTER, SO RICH AND POWERFUL, BANS YOU FROM FEEDING THE HOMELESS AND POOR WITHIN 2 KM OF LOT 10!
Star
Thursday July 3, 2014 MYT 3:56:40 PM
Tengku Adnan: Soup kitchens banned within 2km radius of city centre
Packets of food is distributed for free to the homeless at several locations throughout the city by Pertiwi Soup Kitchen on several nights a week.
KUALA LUMPUR: Soup kitchens will no longer be allowed to operate within a 2km radius of Lot 10, which covers a large portion of the city centre, effective immediately, said Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.
“This activity just encourages people to remain homeless and jobless. There have been many such people whom we have found jobs for, who returned to that life because they said it is easier,” he said at press conference to present official appointment letters to representatives on the Non-Islam House of Worship committee in Menara DBKL here Thursday.
He added that the sessions also resulted in littering and this in turn attracted scavengers that brought about diseases.
“We already have all kinds of garbage-related problems in the city and spend more than RM90mil a year collecting it. I do not see my actions as harsh but necessary in order to create a disciplined society,” he said.
Tengku Adnan added that the soup kitchens have not been officially notified of this and a meeting with them to discuss it will be held soon.
However, he said they would be given the next two days to comply with the decision and action will be taken against those who continue to run the activities.
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/03/Soup-kitchens-banned-around-KL-city-centre/
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Star
Thursday July 3, 2014 MYT 6:04:34 PM
KL soup kitchens rail against City Hall ban
PETALING JAYA: Social workers have lashed out at the ban on soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur city centre, terming the move cruel and ineffective.
Pertiwi Soup Kitchen founder Munirah Abdul Hamid said soup kitchens provided a guarantee of a decent meal for the homeless and hard-core poor in the city.
“Some of them can only buy one packet of iced coffee, which they sip throughout the whole day.
“People with low wages, the hard-core poor trying to make ends meet in the city – these are the ones we are helping,” she added.
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Munirah rubbished talk that soup kitchens caused littering, and said she was prepared to meet Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib to prove her point.
“Datuk Bandar, we have trash cans and volunteers to clean up after we distribute food to the homeless, so Pertiwi always leaves the donation area cleaner than when we found it!” she said.
According to the 64-year-old, Pertiwi sometimes arrives to set up their soup kitchen even before Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had cleaned the dirty surroundings.
But the ban is nothing new, Munirah added.
Prior to this, Pertiwi was not allowed entry into the “impenetrable” Bukit Bintang area.
“We did try to feed the poor there back in 2010. We could see people living around the monsoon drains, but we were not allowed in,” she said.
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/03/soup-kitchen-rail-against-ban/
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Star
Wednesday July 2, 2014 MYT 7:12:30 AM
Ops to house the homeless
Lending a hand: An enforcement officer rounding up beggars in Kuala Lumpur.
PETALING JAYA: At least four hotspots for beggars and the homeless in Kuala Lumpur will be targeted by the authorities under Ops Qaseh, a large-scale operation to get the homeless into shelters and crack down on begging syndicates.
Ops Qaseh, to be launched next week, is set to begin around Jalan Imbi, Masjid India, Central Market and the National Mosque, said the Welfare Department.
“From our previous operations on the homeless community, we deduced that most of them gathered in these areas.
“We are still in discussions with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry on a final list of locations to search but the operation will begin during the fasting month,” said a department official.
Ops Qaseh is a three-pronged approach initiated by the department and the ministry. It is aided by the police, Immigration Department, KL City Hall and the National Anti-Drug Agency.
Under the operation, the homeless will be taken to Desa Bina Diri (DBD) shelters-cum-rehabilitation centres for beggars and vagrants under the Welfare Department.
They will be sent to relevant institutions a month later.
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More on Ops Qaseh
Most of the homeless are likely to be housed at the Sungai Buloh DBD, which can house 200 people. Other DBD facilities are located in Johor (Mersing), Pahang (Jerantut) and Sabah (Kota Kinabalu).
The halfway homes provide food and lodging, counselling, recreational facilities, healthcare and practical training such as in agriculture, vocational skills and handicraft.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim had said the ministry would work with hypermarkets nationwide to hire the homeless once the one-month assessment at DBDs was up.
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HOMELESS IN KUALA LUMPUR!
PLACES WHERE THE HOMELESS SLEEP:
1 The bridge beside the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station
2 The bridge beside Central Market
3 Under the Syed Putra roundabout
4 Jalan Kinabalu Roundabout
5 Below the bridges along Jalan Istana and Brickfields
6 The bridge beside the Central market (daytime)
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THE HOMELESS IN KL: IMAGES, REPORTS
The issue is not new. The following report is just over a year old, dated 23 May 2013.
Star
Thursday May 23, 2013 MYT 2:41:37 AM
Homeless in KL
On compassionate grounds
NGOs have found their way into the hearts of the homeless living in Kuala Lumpur.
Every day, hundreds of poor and homeless citizens have a decent meal thanks to the efforts of NGOs such as the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development (AOHD), Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) and Reach Org.
These NGOs do their best to provide them with one meal a day and medicine if required.
But more importantly, it is the kindness of these strangers that they look forward to.
Jace Chong, 27, a producer in KSK’s video department, said she loved seeing the glow on the faces of the street people whenever the volunteers arrived to distribute meals to them.
KSK delivers meal packets every evening during the weekend at various locations in the capital. The packets consist of hot food, fruits, some bread or biscuits and water.
“I started volunteering in 2008 and I feel good helping them. They appreciate what we are doing because few people show them care or pity,” she said.
http://www.thestar.com.my/Travel/Malaysia/2010/07/19/Homeless-in-KL/
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Archives | The Star Online.
www.thestar.com.m
buddyfication: Food for the Homeless Programme
1901.blogs.com
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IMAGES: NGOs FEED THE HOMELESS AND HUNGRY
Volunteering in a Soup Kitchen For The Homeless, in Kuala Lumpur …
manvsclock.com
Feeding the homeless in KL – Letters to the Editor – New Straits Times
www.nst.com.my
blue: WebCamp KL for homeless August 201
fuyichin.blogspot.com
Volunteering in a Soup Kitchen For The Homeless, in Kuala Lumpur …
manvsclock.com
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Star
Saturday June 14, 2014 MYT 1:47:52 PM
Why are so many homeless?
PETALING JAYA: Non-governmental organisations working with the homeless have objected to next month’s Ops Qaseh that was meant to get the downtrodden off the streets.
They say that the operation demonstrated “a severe lack of understanding and empathy” over the problem of homelessness.
“I have seen how the raids are conducted,” Munirah Hamid of Pertiwi Soup Kitchen said.
“They are treated without compassion,” she said, alleging that some of the homeless people were dragged away.
..
NGO Food Not Bombs said in a statement that conducting “sweeps” was a mere excuse of sweeping the problem under the carpet, without dealing with larger issues.
“Homelessness is a visual sign of a larger problem in society that is destabilising the lives of countless people in Malaysia today, such as labour exploitation, inadequate mental healthcare, domestic violence, insufficient access to income (including pensions or other social assistance), regional disparities in development, and social and economic inequality.
“Problems like these can’t be solved by targeting vulnerable people, removing them from the streets and depriving them of their rights and liberties by sending them to ‘rehabilitation’ centres,” the statement added.
Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming said in a statement that the Government’s solution was “too simplistic”.
“There are many reasons why someone is homeless,” he said. These include “mental illness, falling into debt, drug or alcohol problems, being abandoned, escaping from abusive spouses, ex-convicts who cannot find jobs and foreigners whose visas have expired.”
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NOTE THE STEREOTYPING!
The homeless community are regularly stereotyped as people who are drug addicts or suffering from mental problems.
They are often ignored, feared, ridiculed and seen as incapable of doing anything with their lives.
However, a visit to a few bridges in the city proved otherwise.
Most of these misunderstood groups are only living on the street because they cannot afford to rent a room with the measly pay they get.
“Who wants to live like this? No one. But we don’t have a choice,” said a homeless individual, who identified himself as Ridzuan.
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Ong Kian Ming, DAP MP for Serdang, “I urge the Malaysian government to set up a Joint Ministerial Working Group in order to coordinate a comprehensive and systematic effort to understand and then tackle the homeless issue rather than to take the heavy handed approach of declaring ‘war’ on the homeless on the streets of KL.”
Malaysiakini
12:25PM Jun 13, 2014
Set up joint panel to tackle homelessness
MP SPEAKS It was reported yesterday that the government will be planning a major crackdown on the homeless and beggars in Kuala Lumpur starting next month in July, 2014. This major operation will be initiated by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, aided by the police, the Immigration Department, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK).
The statements made by the Minister, Rohani Abdul Karim, that were reported in various news reports demonstrated a severe lack of understanding and empathy on the part of the minister regarding the problem of homelessness.
This operation, entitled ‘Ops Qaseh’ will firstly entail bringing the homeless and beggars to the Sungai Buloh ‘reintegration’ centre where they will be given ‘food and lodging, counselling, recreational facilities, healthcare and practical training such as agriculture, vocational skills and handicraft’.
Apart from the fact that this basically amounts to imprisonment for the homeless – which is not a crime – there is no guarantee that the comprehensive list of ‘services’ listed by the minister will be adequately provided for in these halfway homes.
…
The fact that the minister found that many of the homeless were ‘able-bodied and aware’ and that ‘some were trying to save as much money as possible to send home and eating food provided by good Samaritans in order to keep costs low’, all discovered when the ‘went down to the ground’ clearly shows that she does not understand the complexity of the homelessness problem.
…
…there are many reasons why someone is homeless, including people who are seem physically fit and healthy. These include mental illness, falling into debt as a result of gambling, drug problems and alcoholism, being abandoned by children, escaping from abusive spouses, ex-convicts who cannot find jobs and foreigners whose visas have expired, just to name a few.
Many of them cannot speak Bahasa Malaysia or are illiterate which means they cannot have access to government resources and help such as Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M). Some of them don’t have proper identification.
Hence, for the minister to assume that they can just get jobs at supermarkets and hypermarkets which are currently filled by foreigners after they have been ‘rehabilitated’ is clearly a mistaken assumption. Just because some of these jobs are low-skilled such as ‘arranging stock, arranging trolleys and sweeping’, does not mean that each and every homeless person can take up these jobs.
Finally, for the minister to ask the NGOS who are currently giving food and other types of assistance to the homeless in KL to ‘redirect their charity to our homes and other places that need help, not on the streets’ clearly shows that the minister is not interested in working together with and to take advantage of the knowledge and experience of the NGOs in order to deal with the homeless issue.
Better treatment at shelters run by NGOs
The same two Harian Metro reporters who were turned away from Anjung Singgah found better treatment in shelters run by NGOs, which goes to show that the government should support these NGOs’ efforts rather than trying to stop what the NGOs are currently doing.
For the full article:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/265588
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Free Malaysia Today
‘War against homeless shows lack of understanding’
Rohani Abdul Karim’s plan to remove the homeless from the streets of Kuala Lumpur has been heavily criticised by soup kitchen leaders.
PETALING JAYA: The declaration of ‘war’ against the homeless community living on the streets of Kuala Lumpur by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim has been heavily criticised by the soup kitchen NGO’s.
“This problem cannot be solved with just one solution. The homeless situation runs much deeper than just a simple ‘sweep’ of the streets,” said Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (Pertiwi) vice president Munirah Hamid.
“Many of the homeless are people who face serious problems at home and some are suffering with mental issues.
“By ‘sweeping’ the homeless off the streets, the government will just cause added isolation on the very people who require some human touch in their lives.
“What they need is care and patience, not being forced off the streets.”
“The Minister does not realise that the homeless and beggars are two different issues. The homeless are people with real social and emotional problems whereas beggars are normally syndicates trying to get money from the people.”
The founder of Pertiwi’s soup kitchen said that the ministry’s solution is too idealistic and that they do not understand the core of the problem.
Founder of Global Street Mission (GSM) Rev. Dr. Robert Judah Paul said that it was a terrible thing for the minister to accuse the soup kitchens of encouraging people to take advantage of the free food offered.
“There is more to the homeless than just loitering in the streets. No one wants to live on the streets the way they do.
“It takes months of interaction with these people to understand their problems, not just a day or a week of going on the ground.
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AWAY WITH THE HOMELESS!
THEY WILL CATCH THEM, CLEAN THEM UP AND HOUSE THEM!
At the moment, four centres have been set up: in Sungai Buloh, Jerantut, Mersing and Kota Kinabalu.
Free Malaysia Today
‘War’ declared on the homeless
Starting next month, the government will sweep KL streets clean of all such people.
PETALING JAYA: The government has declared “war” on the homeless found on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Starting early next month, enforcement agencies will “sweep” the streets clean of all such people.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim said her ministry would be working closely with enforcement agencies to carry out the “sweeping” operation in early July.
“The agencies working together with us include Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the police.
“This will be a continued effort from our last exercise of taking people off the streets. This is for the protection of these people and not to just plainly ‘chase’ them away.”
The homeless will be taken to national rehabilitation centres under the Welfare Department for assessment and rehabilitation. They will stay for a minimum of one month before they are returned to their homes or sent to relevant institutions.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/06/11/war-declared-on-the-homeless/
…
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said there were five categories of homeless people, comprising drug addicts, mental patients, homeless with jobs, homeless without a job and those who had no place to stay.
NST
Ops Qaseh to address problems of the homeless
11 June 2014 @ 11:30 PM
KUALA LUMPUR: The Social Welfare Department is launching “Ops Qaseh” next month in an effort to address problems of the homeless people in the city.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said the homeless that were rounded up during the operation would be placed at the Desa Bina Diri (DBD) centres.
“These homeless people should not be on the streets. So, through this operation, they will be given protection at the DBD centres, as well as counselling, religious guidance and skills,” she said after visiting Pusat Sehenti Bina Diri in Sungai Buloh near here today.
…
She said there were five categories of homeless people, comprising drug addicts, mental patients, homeless with jobs, homeless without a job and those who had no place to stay.
“They will be placed at the centre for at least a month and will go through the screening process, before they are sent to the relevant quarters, like the old folks home, National Drug Prevention Agency, Health Ministry, etc,” she added.
Each DBD centre can accommodate 200 people and so far, there are four DBD centres nationwide, namely in Mersing, Jerantut, Kota Kinabalu and Sungai Buloh.
http://www.nst.com.my/node/1824
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Star
Monday June 9, 2014 MYT 12:31:40 PM
Even with a support network, the homeless risk their lives living under bridges
LOOK under any bridge in Kuala Lumpur and chances are you might find a homeless person sleeping on a cardboard, clutching their belongings close to their chest.
Sometimes, you will even find mothers and babies making the dark, dangerous and smelly concrete surface beside the Klang River their home.
The thin mattress, cardboard sheets, pillows, clothes and other personal items are everything that they have.
The majority, who are Malaysians, choose to take shelter under a bridge as they believe it is safer compared to sleeping along five-foot ways and pedestrian bridges.
Temporary shelter: Under the bridge is where some of the homeless people call home, away from the eyes of society and authorities.
However, taking refuge from the storm right beside the Klang River is risky, with the chance of flooding and getting swept away by the raging water.
Occupants under the bridge have to flee at the first sign of rain, packing up everything they own and moving to higher ground.
…
(Many live) under the bridge beside the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, along with many others.
This spot right beside the Klang River is one of the popular areas where the homeless seek refuge, due to its wide pavements and high pillars that allow them to keep their belongings safe even when it floods.
Other populated areas are at the bridge beside Central Market, under the Syed Putra roundabout, Jalan Kinabalu Roundabout and below the bridges along Jalan Istana and Brickfields.
Most bridges located along the Klang River with proper concrete pavements and spacious rest areas are where most of them take refuge.
Sometimes each area can house over 100 occupants, or even more.
During the day, quite a number of them sleep at the bridge beside Central Market as it is free from pedestrians and is breezy even during humid days.
…
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Reach Out Malaysia shared a link.
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weehingthong 
Listen to how other cities handle the challenge: http://www.upworthy.com/its-an-extreme-but-effective-way-to-get-rid-of-homelessness?c=ufb1
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I don’t know who to address this issue to or if there is even a hygiene department in Malaysia, but I just stayed at the Red Dragon Hostel in Kuala Lumpur and after three days I am totally flea or some bug bitten. On day two I asked where I could buy some bug spray, explaining the problem to the front desk, who seemed quite disinterested. Places like this should be shut down and fumigated, at their own cost. I see affluence everywhere in this country, but this is an embarrassment. People come to visit your country and you allow them to be treated like this? Makes it look like a grungy, third-world country which doesn’t care much about its guests. pew.
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