Evictions by senseless landlords must stop

 

As the Covid-19 pandemic leaves a trail of social and economic scares the world over, Malaysia is no exception too.

The increasing instances of landlords evicting tenants caught in the financial misfortunes are something that should never happen here.

But we continue to hear of heart-wrenching news about selfish, totally uncompassionate landlords evicting tenants who are suddenly unable to pay their rentals.

There are some reported to even cut off electricity to force the tenants to leave.

Equally cruel is the case of one who resorted to even cut off the water supply to a family of three in Cheras in order to force them to leave.

Have we heard anything from our ministers and politicians to rescue the destitute in these times of unprecedented nationwide economic, social and financial difficulties or to face up to these cruel landlords?

Such cruel cases of forced evictions reflect very poorly on the aggregate of values in the country.

And this is despite preaching and proclaiming religions and giving huge chunks of national budget allocations for places of worship and the promotion of religious teachings.

Are there no laws that can stop landlords from acting so cruelly in the midst of a national and global disaster that was never anticipated?

Have the rich who own properties to profit from dumped all compassion in order to solely protect their investments?

Is the argument that landlords need to pay their banks for the mortgage loans taken, justifiable for their punishing actions on tenants?

Do we take it easy and assume that there will always be some kind soul who will come to the rescue of families suddenly chased out of their rented dwellings?

Do these reported cases of landlords force-evicting tenants sound an alarm bell about a nation that has gone far too long and seriously wrong in its national housing strategies and policies?

It is time that we demanded that such cases - including the many unreported cases and those not knowing where to turn to are addressed by the government with immediacy.

Perhaps these cases of unacceptable evictions should make daily headlines until there is a permanent resolve to catheterise the cruelty upon fellow citizens.

If we sideline these cases, the rot in our society will eventually collapse the nation over time. - by JD Lovrenciear, Mkini