Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has asked Pertiwi Soup Kitchen to move its operations out of the city centre as a measure to clean up vagrants and beggars from the city. He also mentioned providing food to the homeless affects the image of Kuala Lumpur especially in the areas of hygiene.

He was quoted as saying, “ Imej bandar raya terjejas teruk, bukan saja jalan kotor tetapi ada antara mereka penghidap HIV, penagih dadah .” Pertiwi Soup Kitchen is an NGO founded by Munirah Abdul Hamid which aims to provide a decent meal to the homeless and poor in Kuala Lumpur. The NGO tries its best to assist the poor to stay out of hunger.

No one chooses to be jobless, homeless or beggars; they become one due to unintended circumstances. To the urban poor, getting a free meal is all there is to look forward to in a day. In every city in the world NGOs such as Pertiwi Soup Kitchen do their best to provide the unfortunate people some simple food, and some NGOs even provide shelter on a nightly basis.

In certain countries, the government give funds or loans small amounts of money to support such charitable work.

Tengku Adnan has portrayed these groups of people as lazy and not interested in seeking a job because of the existence of such an NGO to feed them. The government should concentrate on creating more job opportunities while ensuring a lower inflation rate.

People in Kuala Lumpur find it difficult to cope with the rising cost of living, hence some turn towards the aid of NGO such as Pertiwi Soup Kitchen. Reducing poverty is important and should be the ultimate goal of a successful city, but to warn or stop NGOs that are trying to provide a helping hand to these unfortunate people cannot be tolerated.

The Malaysian government should engage and further involve itself to curb, assist and seek new methods to eliminate poverty and not by worsening the situation. Stopping them from enjoying a meal daily is cruel.

I take this opportunity to thank all NGOs and their volunteers who care for the needy, and urge Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to be more considerate towards this issue and quickly ease the situation. The government should be awarding these NGOs for their noble initiatives and not threaten to penalise them.

TIAN CHUA is Member of Parliament for Batu and is a PKR vice-president.