There was little sympathy for Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor today, following his announcement that begging and giving alms will be made a crime.
In fact, Federal Territories PAS Youth Nurul Islam deputy chief Mohamed Yusoff said such a move is “un-Islamic” as Islam encourages the giving of alms.
He said that the growth of begging in Kuala Lumpur is actually due to the government's failure to address urban poverty as well as rein in begging syndicates.
He said that instead of criminalising begging and the giving of alms, the ministry should look into providing homeless shelters and welfare to the beggars.
“They should be provided with training and education so they can escape poverty. DBKL and the ministry should not just wait for the homeless to apply for welfare but should go out and find them and assist them.
“Only when the quality of life of its residents is lifted can Kuala Lumpur be free of beggars,” he said in a statement.
Tengku Adnan announced that the law will be amended to allow authorities to arrest beggar and those giving alms, and regulate soup kitchens to only operate in certain areas for the sake of cleanliness.
He also said that most beggars in the city are foreigners.
"We will take the approach where those who give are fined while the recipient is nabbed, since most of the beggars are foreigners.
"Besides that, NGOs who provide free food to the homeless can only operate in specified areas so as to not dirty the place," he was quoted by Bernama as saying.
'Heartless and naive'
Meanwhile, Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur, which runs a soup kitchen at the heart of the nation’s capital said that such a move is "naive", “heartless” and “does not make sense”.
In fact, it said, the move to amend the Destitute Person Act 1977 to make it a crime to beg and give alms is an “abuse” of the law.
“The minister’s statement makes it as if the issue of urban poverty is the individual’s problem and the government is out to save them.
“This is completely inaccurate as the DPA which purportedly saves and rehabilitates the poor is abused by the authorities like the Welfare Department and Kuala Lumpur City Hall…to arrest and detain the urban poor.
“The ironic truth is that the government is saving the urban poor by hiding the issue through more frequently conducting arrest operations.”
The DPA allows for the poor to be forced to stay in shelters for up to three years.
Dapur Jalanan said that that criminalizing begging does not address underlying social and economic factors for the problem, instead prioritizing “material beauty” to show that Malaysia has progressed.
In fact, Federal Territories PAS Youth Nurul Islam deputy chief Mohamed Yusoff said such a move is “un-Islamic” as Islam encourages the giving of alms.
He said that the growth of begging in Kuala Lumpur is actually due to the government's failure to address urban poverty as well as rein in begging syndicates.He said that instead of criminalising begging and the giving of alms, the ministry should look into providing homeless shelters and welfare to the beggars.
“They should be provided with training and education so they can escape poverty. DBKL and the ministry should not just wait for the homeless to apply for welfare but should go out and find them and assist them.
“Only when the quality of life of its residents is lifted can Kuala Lumpur be free of beggars,” he said in a statement.
Tengku Adnan announced that the law will be amended to allow authorities to arrest beggar and those giving alms, and regulate soup kitchens to only operate in certain areas for the sake of cleanliness.
He also said that most beggars in the city are foreigners.
"We will take the approach where those who give are fined while the recipient is nabbed, since most of the beggars are foreigners.
"Besides that, NGOs who provide free food to the homeless can only operate in specified areas so as to not dirty the place," he was quoted by Bernama as saying.
'Heartless and naive'
Meanwhile, Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur, which runs a soup kitchen at the heart of the nation’s capital said that such a move is "naive", “heartless” and “does not make sense”.In fact, it said, the move to amend the Destitute Person Act 1977 to make it a crime to beg and give alms is an “abuse” of the law.
“The minister’s statement makes it as if the issue of urban poverty is the individual’s problem and the government is out to save them.
“This is completely inaccurate as the DPA which purportedly saves and rehabilitates the poor is abused by the authorities like the Welfare Department and Kuala Lumpur City Hall…to arrest and detain the urban poor.
“The ironic truth is that the government is saving the urban poor by hiding the issue through more frequently conducting arrest operations.”
The DPA allows for the poor to be forced to stay in shelters for up to three years.Dapur Jalanan said that that criminalizing begging does not address underlying social and economic factors for the problem, instead prioritizing “material beauty” to show that Malaysia has progressed.
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