Malaysia: Homeless in KL

This article written by Mugunan Vanar and Joshua Foong on the Online STAR is most distrubing.

It is shocking to discover that some 400 homeless Sabah youths are loitering around Jalan Masjid India, the Dayabumi Complex, Klang bus station and Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur every night, sleeping along roadsides, parks or buildings and have to forage for leftover food just like animals.

Most of them come from the interiors of Sabah.

One of the youths interviewed , Apai John from Tenom, said he had been without a job for four years.

Their plight has been highlighted by the Catholic church and NGOs like the Kechara Soup Kitchen Society (KSK) and Street Fellowship. Strangely, the government departments in charge of social welfare or human resources do not report this.

The NGOs claimed that the Sabahans roamed the streets and relied on free meals after they lost their jobs or were cheated by bogus employment agents.

“Most of them are young – 16 to 25 years old – and are hoping to seek employment in the Klang Valley,” said KSK treasurer Julia Tan who leads her group of volunteers to distribute food to the homeless every Saturday and Sunday.

“Those who are still unemployed mingle with the homeless in the city,” she added.

“When I ask them why they choose to stay on, they said there are more opportunities here for them to earn a living than returning to Sabah,” she added.

Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah recently said the Sabah government should assist homeless Sabahans to return home if the cases were genuine.

The Sabah Government has since recognised this problem.Apart from bringing them home, they should look for stable jobs for them.

I do hope a land of plenty such as Malaysia should have programmes or jobs in place in their NKRA for these able-bodied youths. Letting them to loiter the nights on streets is a sheer waste of manpower!