The Malaysian Insight

AD hoc groups and volunteers are causing chaos and disrupting regular free food services to those who are homeless or destitute in the capital city.

Established volunteer groups told The Malaysian Insight that these groups – known as randomers – have dropped food boxes at improper spots and are guilty of not practising the Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP), including social distancing.

The groups’ charitable works also resulted in huge food wastage as well, as the food is sometimes taken by those other than the homeless or destitute, they added.

The Pit Stop Community Cafe’s co-founder Joycelyn Lee said the situation has worsened in recent months, as drops are made on pavements, and people scrambling as they try to get to them.

“We have seen an increasing number of groups giving food packs to the homeless communities in KL since the lifting of the movement-control order (MCO) in June.

“These groups generally do not observe protocol, like social distancing or crowd control,” said Lee.

Over some weekends, up to six such groups will distribute food in three to four hours, she said.

This led to people, who are not necessarily homeless or urban poor coming by, parking their cars or motorcycles by the roadside and joining the fray to collect the food.

“Ad hoc groups have made it look like the homeless numbers have grown,” said Lee.

Lee’s community cafe, located in Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, which is a hot spot for homeless people, provides food packs four days a week.

It hands out 80 packs of food from its base and another 60 from nearby Anjung Singgah. Thirty more packets go to an orphanage.

The founder of another established soup kitchen, Pertiwi, Munirah Abdul Hamid, urges these ad hoc groups not to make it difficult for them, or to make it appear as though the number of homeless people has increased in the city.

She said there has not been an increase of homeless people as was being suggested on social media by these groups.

“There are cases of families who arrive at certain spots to camp and wait for handouts and people share these videos on social media, which is very frustrating.

“Every one of them has a video to highlight their good deeds, but this is causing many random groups to give piles of food that end up being thrown away.

“The people in the videos are known to us and they enjoy this ‘pesta’ mode of generosity from kind groups with goodies and even money.

“I urge these groups to cooperate by not giving DBKL and the regular groups more (work) to keep the city clean and the kids safe,” said Munira.

Pertiwi distributes lunch and dinner daily except for Tuesdays and Thursdays to avoid overlapping with other providers.

Pertiwi, which normally distributes food from the homeless transit shelter at Lorong Medan Tuanku 2, now operates from a nearby restaurant.

Homeless after losing jobs

A handful of the homeless people The Malaysian insight spoke to said they had been pushed into this situation after losing their jobs in recent months.

Daniel Chin, 34, who is originally from Kedah said he lost his job at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur about two months ago.

“The restaurant was shut down due to the drop in business

“Ever since the shutting down of the restaurant, I have been sleeping on the streets,” he said.

He admits that he has some savings he could use to return to Kedah but decided to stay put in Kuala Lumpur as life could be even more difficult in his home state.

Another new homeless person is Arif Zaini, 38, who also lost his job in recent months due to the pandemic.

“I have kids and a wife back home in Kelantan and they are depending on me.

“I used to work in a mini-market but due to the drop in business they shut it down about a month ago.

“As for now, I go around the streets looking for empty cans or bottles and sell them at the recycling centre.

“I do not have to pay for my room rent as I sleep on the streets, so the extra money I get, I will send it back home,” he said.

Shafiq Abdul, 56, said he has been living on the streets for more than two years.

“My kids do not bother about me as they left after their marriage, and I could not afford to pay for my house and bills, which is why I ended up on the streets.

“To be very frank, I do enjoy it here at times as there aren’t many things to be worried about.

“There are days when I miss my kids, but I have no idea about their whereabouts, which is why I am grateful to have friends here who help to cheer me up when I am feeling down.” – January 11, 2021.