The Malay Mail Online – 41 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- People lining up for food at a soup kitchen in Kuala Lumpur, June 23, 2014. — Picture …
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.
KL Urban Fellowship is a group helping vagrants find jobs; it also feeds the poor.
Loh explained that most government representatives at the meeting could only think of the homeless in “stereotypes” and were unable to see them as vulnerable people who need help.
“One example is the KSU (chief secretary of the FT Ministry) who gave his own experience of going down to the ground. He said it gave him a feeling of fear because he was afraid they might hurt him. This is how they presented their perspective,” she said
Ban on soup kitchens only after Hari Raya
Malaysiakini – 43 minutes ago
The ban on soup kitchens feeding the homeless and poor will not be enforced until after the Hari Raya celebrations.
According to the Federal Territories Ministry, the soup kitchens will be allowed to operate in the 2km radius, which was initially declared off limits to soup kitchens starting this week.
Ministry secretary-general Adnan Mat Ikhsan ( right ) revealed this at a press conference after a three-hour meeting with 12 NGOs in Putrajaya today.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri is expected to fall on July 29.
Adnan said that the ministry will also organise a laboratory and invite the NGOs to participate in mapping out a short and long-term plan on the issue.
"We understand, some NGOs are facing financial problems, we can also discuss it over there."
Asked why Lot 10 is chosen as the focal point, Adnan said this is due to the Bukit Bintang shopping mall is "in the city centre", and the area is also a tourist hot spot.
Don't pass the buck around
Among NGOs present were Kechara Soup Kitchen and Pertiwi Soup Kitchen.
Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor was not present at the meeting.
Kechara Soup Kitchen President Ruby Khong said Kechara will meet with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall tomorrow, to further discuss the matter.
Pertiwi Soup Kitchen founder Munirah Abdul Hamid, meanwhile, urged the government to distinguish between homeless people and beggars, as the latter may be controlled by syndicates.
She also called on the authorities to look into the matter of people living with HIV, who are living rough on the streets.
"In the case of HIV, (the issue) was passed around. Who looks after it? Don't just say this is not my territory.
"Let's just sit together, and try to sort it out, otherwise you won't find a solution," she said, adding that this was also discussed today's meeting.
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