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Sunday, July 6, 2014

'KU NAN THE BARBARIAN': Hiding the homeless & poor will not erase Umno-BN's failure

'KU NAN THE BARBARIAN': Hiding the homeless & poor will not erase Umno-BN's failure
Federal Territories Minister, Adnan Mansor, in an act of absurdity, has stated that soup kitchens will not be allowed to operate within a 2km radius from the Lot 10 shopping complex in Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur's Golden Triangle.
Adnan claims the existence of such facilities would only cause beggars, the jobless and homeless to be more complacent.
This is in line with Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur's (DBKL's) efforts to rid the capital city of beggars and vagrants and a by-law and standard operating procedure would be introduced in a week or two.
DBKL also plans to impose a fine of RM150 on anyone giving a donation to a beggar. Those who are penalized will be given a numbered receipt and their fine of RM 150 will be channelled to the poor.
Adnan stated that those who give donations should do so through the proper channels like the "zakat" (tithes) collection centers, state Islamic religious councils and charitable bodies.
Adnan's rash and reckless decision has sparked outrage and incited anger among different groups of Malaysians while the general public is appalled that he can act so cruelly and in a heartless way.
The suddenness of his act has also caused many to wonder why he is behaving in such a high handed manner. Adnan himself lives in a palatial home and has no thoughts or feelings for the thousands that throng the soup kitchens and the homeless of Kuala Lumpur.
Many of them can be seen at night congregated at various places in the city and sleeping in the open air. They not only lack a place to stay but many have health problems and are incapable of fending for themselves.
Malaysians of all walks of life have voiced their dissent with Adnan's arrogant and autocratic move and see it as another ploy by the BN (Barisan Nasional) government to fail to get to the root of the problem of urban poverty and to avert responsibility.
The many voices of dissent
Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam Malaysia said Adnan's decision was unfair to needy folk and added that they would continue to run the service despite the announcement. They stated that life in the city was tough and the welfare of these people were important.
Other organizations that reach out to these needy people such as Dapur Jalanan have lawyers on standby in case the authorities raid its premises on Jalan Panggong near the prominent Chinatown or Petaling Street.
Dapur Jalanan contends that homelessness was the result of socio-economic issues that need addressing and which will not be eliminated by simply getting rid of the homeless.
They are also upset and disturbed by the fact that the Social Welfare Department, police and DBKL have already moved to arrest these homeless people. The harsh and evil crackdown has been going on daily for the past week with between ten to 20 arrests a day.
Soup kitchens are typically located in areas such as Jalan Pudu, Jalan Silang, Central Market and Chow Kit. These areas are 1.4km, 750m, 2.8km and 3.2km respectively from Lot 10.
The number of soup kitchens have been on the rise over the past few years owing to the hardship of a flagging economy and there are even individuals who give out packets of food as they are moved by the plight of the needy.
Samaritan Ministry in YMCA and Brickfields stated that Adnan's decision would not solve the problems of the homeless and beggars.
They say that even if they can be removed there will be others that come on stream as the real core problem of the matter is not being attended to by the BN government.
But Adnan counters with the poor excuse that the image of the city is bad. He said he was merely trying to stop syndicates which send out children, especially Rohingyas to the streets and act as their "bosses."
Adnan further stated that foreign beggars in Kuala Lumpur can afford to stay in three-star hotels by receiving alms from the public and jobs found for beggars and vagrants have failed in the past as they were just lazy to go to work.
Another group that has flayed Adnan is a group calling themselves Lawyers for Liberty. They stated that it is not a crime to be homeless and destitute and arresting them was a serious violation of one's right to live if authorities criminalize their existence and way of life.
Lawyers for Liberty stated that soup kitchens and those who helped the destitute and homeless existed to compensate the lack of social support that fell under the responsibility of the FT Ministry.
They say that penalising, arresting and hiding destitute and homeless persons from public view will not resolve anything but will have the opposite effect and worsen their day-to-day life struggles.
It called upon Adnan and DBKL to adopt a more holistic, long term and compassionate approach when dealing with the destitute and homeless instead of perceiving them to be social misfits.
In a similar vein, other organizations and individuals and NGOs have come out strongly to defend the destitute and homeless and taken Adnan to task for behaving in such an inhumane manner.
Getting to the root of the problem
The root of the problem of begging, the destitute and homeless can not be easily identified and they are various and many reasons which are highly complex and difficult to solve in the short term.
It doesn't help that Adnan has acted in a way and manner to merely sweep the issue away under the carpet and hopes it does not resurface. This is wishful thinking.
The plight of beggars, the destitute and homeless will not be here to stay if the BN government goes to the ground to collaborate with all the stakeholders of this issue to eradicate the menace.
Obviously this requires a lot of manpower, planning and resources to be able to tackle this problem as there seem to be an increasing number of beggars, the destitute and homeless annually.
Investigating into the root causes might be a better move than to arrest and violate their human rights. A comprehensive study has to be done to address the problem but Adnan appears to be trying to solve the symptoms of the problem rather than the root causes.
A minister of such high standing can behave in such a shallow and foolish way reeks of the quality of leadership that BN provides that are unable to solve problems and take Malaysia forward.
While on one hand, the BN government cracks down on beggars, the destitute and homeless, on the other hand the prime minister is proud to announce the payment of a special financial aid of RM 500 to civil servants in Grade 1 to Grade 54 as preparations for Hari Raya.
The hypocrisy and double standards practised by the BN government was evident when Najib stated that the special financial aid amounts to a massive RM 890 million.
If only a fraction of this amount was used to address the problems of beggars, the destitute and the homeless, it should be enough to bring the situation under control.
Instead, this is another example of wastage of the tax payer's money, the bloated and inefficient Malaysian civil service, already fending for a 1.4 million workforce, suck and bleed dry the money of the rakyat by being mostly passengers in government service.
The large number of civil servants are unnecessary and a heavy welfare burden for the 30-million strong Malaysian population.
As a counter example, the nation of Australia, with an economy five times larger than Malaysia can manage by employing 250,000 people in their civil service.
While on, one hand, there are harsh and cruel and evil ways being used upon the genuine cases of welfare, the Malaysian civil service also provides welfare for its employees in an undeserving way.
This anomaly must be checked and rectified and more time, effort and money and other resources be used to address the plight of beggars, the destitute and homeless and to address seriously the issue of urban poverty.
Addressing the problem
Not only in Kuala Lumpur but in major towns and cities across the country like Ipoh, Penang, Johor Baru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching the beggar population has grown dramatically over the last few years.
Part of the reason for the existence of beggars, the destitute and the homeless is due to the fact that the rising cost of living has overwhelmed them and caused them to lose hope and direction in life.
It doesn't help that corruption as Public Enemy Number One in the BN government is also at runaway levels and spreading in a widespread way throughout the civil service.
This translates into Malaysia having a lop-sided system of taking care of its population with favoritism being shown to undeserving people while the needy are basically neglected, and in Adnan's act of absurdity, inflicted by his cruelty.
This is the time for right thinking Malaysians to say enough is enough. The plight of beggars, the destitute and homeless now highlights very clearly that Malaysian democracy has been tinkered with in an unfair and unjust way.
This is why more Malaysians are beginning to feel the pinch and are joining in the ranks of the urban poor.
Poverty is not acceptable in a country like Malaysia. The reason why there is poverty is because the wealth of the nation has not be equitably distributed and are basically enjoyed mostly by the elite in this country like the likes of Adnan.
Not only are the corrupt leadership and government of BN to be blamed, they even have the audacity to punish the innocent and make them look like the culprits.
The culprits who cause urban poverty are the corrupt of which BN and the civil service are largely to be found guilty.
It is high time for the silent majority of Malaysians to come forward and counter this great specter of evil that has enveloped Malaysia.
Otherwise the numbers and those joining the ranks of beggars, the destitute and homeless may be people like me and you. - Malaysia Chronicle

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