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Friday, July 4, 2014

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


Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has been called a "scrooge" for "waging war" against the homeless during the holy month of Ramadan.

"On this first Friday of this holy month of Ramadan, I feel it is really strange to see a Muslim Umno minister suddenly initiate a war against the practice of goodness, charity and giving food to the poor," said Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng (below) in a statement today.

He pointed out that charity is one of the key deeds for Muslims to emulate during this period.

"It is thus shocking when a minister from a party that claims to put the people first, showing it doesn't at all care for the poor, but instead wants to punish them.

"This is highly unusual," he said, calling on Tengku Adnan to "repent" for his behaviour.

He said where Muslims during the holy month were "racing" to perform acts of good, he has never seen a Muslim "that is so cold-hearted to issue an order such as this", he said.

The government received much flak this week over its plan toround up beggars, fine those who give alms and place a ban on soup kitchens within a two-kilometre radius of Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur starting next Monday.

Tengku Adnan, said Lim, should retract his "inhumane" orders, less he "ends up like the Charles Dickens character Ebenezer Scrooge, who does not love the poor".

CCM: Halt orders now

Meanwhile the Council of Churches' (CCM) youth network urged the government to halt its onslaught against the homeless and those who assist them, pointing out the irony that this is the holy month.

CCM youth moderator Chrisanne Chin in a statement today expressed "deep concern" over the "rapid escalation in anti-homeless measures" that the Women and Federal Territories Ministries announced this week.

"(The measures are) oppressing not only some of the most vulnerable in society, but also the very people who are serving and helping the homeless through exercising our national values of being a 'Masyarakat Sejahtera dan Penyayang', or 'A Prosperous and Caring Society' as articulated in the stated vision of the Department of Social Welfare," she said.

"The lack of compassion and care shown by these ministers, especially during this period in time, is particularly insensitive to the faith traditions of our nation, as millions of Malaysians fast, pray, and give out of charity," she said.

She denounced the measures as "harsh and ruthless", pointing out that an unpublished Women’s Ministry in 2010 showed 15 percent of the homeless are women and 22 percent are above 60.

Therefore the Social Welfare Department and the Federal Territories Ministry to withdraw all anti-homeless measures "with immediate effect", she said.

"It is imperative that the government authorities find urgent civil and compassionate solutions before the nation comes under global shame yet again," said Chin.

“These (measures) contradict the government’s own commitment to establish a caring culture and ‘raising the status of women in this country’,” she said.

'Target root causes'

Chin attributed the problem of homelessness to a range of broader issues, and called the government’s move to sweep the matter under carpet “shameful”.

“The problem of the homeless is only but a symptom of the broader issues facing our nation, ranging from urban poverty, economic disempowerment, rural-urban displacement, financial illiteracy, mental illness, disability and so on.

“Criminalising and unlawfully detaining the homeless is not only unhelpful, but unjust and immoral,” Chin said.

She urged the public to urge their elected representatives to pressure the authorities to find urgent civil and compassionate ways to deal with the city’s poor.

She also urged the authorities to consider to:
  • withdraw the anti-homeless policies with immediate effect

  • address the root causes: unemployment and job insecurity, breakdown of families, poverty, increasing cost of living and housing

  • provide alternative solutions to enable welfare aid to be given

  • provide immediate support services on housing, medical aid and welfare assistance,

  • involve Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and local government for affordable housing

  • extend homeless assistance grants to all local councils

  • increase research funding on homelessness and

  • reform archaic laws affecting the homeless.

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