In a twist of irony, the less fortunate in the Chow Kit area of Kuala Lumpur had their state funding for 2015 cut despite the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry doubling of its budget to more than RM2 billion.

The ministry’s decision to cut off funding for KL Krash Pad as well as an NGO catering to transgenders is questionable as both receive a total of only RM1 million per annum, Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming said.

"Is Minister Rohani Abdul Karim (below) so heartless as to deprive the marginalised children, poor and homeless in the Chow Kit area access to the services offered by these two NGOs?” he asked in a statement yesterday.

The two NGOs in question are Pusat Bantuan Khidmat Social (PBKS), which channels its funds of RM700,000 through the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) and a teen and youth centre called KL Krash Pad, run by Yayasan Chow Kit, which received RM300,000 per year.

Ong (left) said this is troubling since the budget for community welfare has also increased from RM195.6 millon to an estimated RM314.6 million.

"The RM1 million it takes to run the activities of PBKS and KL Krash Pad for one year amounts to 0.3 percent of the total budget for community welfare," Ong pointed out.

Since its establishment by the ministry in 2007, PBKS has acted as a one-stop centre for the marginalised Kuala Lumpur's underbelly, Chow Kit.

However, the centre's senior manager Mitch Yusmar Yusof told The Malaysian Insider it will try to cobble funds together to continue assisting the urban poor, the homeless, those living with HIV/AIDS and the transgender community.

He was quoted as saying that he had sent a letter of appeal to MAC to be forwarded to the ministry.

KL Krash Pad, which serves as a sanctuary for children and teens seeking refuge from violence, drugs and prostitution on the steets received notice that their funding is cut yesterday.

The youth centre might have a chance of turning the decision around if its manager M Pusenthi P Maniam can come up with a convincing proposal, the portal reported.

She said that the ministry had asked them to submit a proposal to justify an extension of funding for another three years, but it was rejected, so their funding will come to an end this year.

Like KL Krash Pad, PBKS too vowed to continue their work despite the cut in funding.