Instead of getting rid of soup kitchens from the city centre, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor should consider them as "tourist attractions", says PAS.

PAS vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the party disagrees with the minister that the noble efforts of providing food to the homeless were "spoiling the city's image" as the latter claimed.

"Probably, with cooperation from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), activities in the soup kitchens can also be turned into a tourist attraction that brings benefits to the people of KL," Tuan Ibrahim ( right ) said in a statement today.

"PAS suggests Tengku Adnan himself comes down to see the suffering of the city's poor," he said, saying the government should be assisting charitable NGOs care for the homeless.

"DBKL should instead be lending a hand to the NGOs that are involved in the soup kitchens, instead of driving them away (from the city)," he said.

Tuan Ibrahim added that instead of keeping the homeless away from the city centre, Tengku Adnan could better spend his time cleaning up the city of crime and other unsavoury elements.

"It's better for Tengku Adnan to suggest that the 2km radius of the city's centre, from Lot 10, be gazetted as an area that is free from crime, secret societies, dirty toilets and potholes.

"This is actually more beneficial to improving the image of Kuala Lumpur than to ban charitable acts of the soup kitchens," Tuan Ibrahim said.

Echoing this, former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said Tengku Adnan should first clear out vice from the city, instead of trying to clean out the poor and homeless.

"May I suggest cleaning up Kuala Lumpur of entertainment centres and activities that are detrimental to people's morals and character?" Mohd Asri said in a Facebook postin today.

Related stories

Soup kitchen launched by Rosmah bows to ban

Ministry: We're providing a solution, not being cruel

Open your mansion to the poor, Ku Nan told

'Lazy? Soup kitchens help get jobs for homeless'

Minister: Not arresting, but saving vagrants

Guan Eng: Homeless hunger for freedom

Nandos pecks into homeless fiasco

'Don't be Scrooge of Ramadan, Ku Nan'

'Why ban, if soup kitchens can be tourist attraction'

Homelessness is not a crime

Ku Nan, how did foreign beggars get here?