Homeless in KL

There are many homeless people in Kuala Lumpur, including those who have jobs but do not earn enough to rent a room or house. They sleep on the streets of popular areas in the city.

When nightfalls, scores of homeless people take over parks and five-foot ways, turning areas in Kuala Lumpur into their home for the night.

These homeless in the capital city are not all beggars or vagabonds. In fact, many of them hold jobs during the day.

However, they do not make enough to pay for houses or rooms and find it easier to make ends meet by sleeping on the streets.

There are no accurate figures on the number of homeless people in the city as only a few non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are aware of their existence.

Many do not even look shabby and a few even have cell phones and dress well.

Some who have chosen to live on the streets said they did so because of family feuds at home.

The Star team visited one popular area which is an open space in Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. The area has more than 100 people.

Many among them said they seldom go hungry in the city as it is a place “abundant with food” but they fear what happens when they go to sleep at night.

A drive through prominent landmarks in the city like the Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower and shopping malls may reflect a nation’s progress.

But behind the bright lights, lying in the shadows under the night sky are the homeless. At dawn, they will make way for the hustle and bustle of the city.

A guard at a car showroom in a well-known area filled with the homeless will ask those who choose to spend the night at the showroom’s doors to leave by 6am.

“They will go. We have this understanding. Even my bosses know about it,” the guard, who only wants to be known as Devan said.

“From there they will line up at various relief centres for the homeless to wash up,” he added.

One of the “regulars” at his place, Shila, 42, will proceed to wash up at her usual relief centre and then, like many others, make her way to the usual spots to find odd jobs.

“We will be lucky if we get them but there are more oppurtunities for jobs in Kuala Lumpur than in any other city in the country,” she said.

By noon, she is normally done with work and having earned a measly RM15, she will join hundreds of others at a soup kitchen run by the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development in Jalan Bukit Nenas.

After that, she is left to fend for herself.

“I will have to secure a suitable place to spend the night and hope that everything will be all right the next day,” she said.

“All we need is sincere attention. We are desperate to have a roof over our heads, have decent and regular jobs and not be stigmatised by society,” she added.

Many rejected by their family and society

Dressed in a polo T-shirt, long pants and leather shoes, Amran’s appearance can be deceiving. His fluent English also makes it hard to believe that somebody like him can be homeless and living on the streets for the last 30 years.

“Contrary to popular belief, there are many people just like me — well dressed and presentable — living on the streets for years. Never judge a book by its cover,” said the 59-year-old from Johor.

Amran’s parents were estate workers who died when he was in his teens. Having no family and no place to stay, he grew up roaming from town to town.

“I got these high quality clothes from a foreign ambassador. I do odd jobs by helping his officers pack his unwanted things,” he said during a free lunch at the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development in Jalan Bukit Nanas recently.

Amran’s friend, Monica (not her real name) said her latest set of clothing was also second hand. Both said it was their only attire.

Monica, in her 40s, wore a light pink cotton blouse with a track bottom. “We will wear these until they are worn out,” she said, adding that she dressed up so that she could fit in with the rest of society.

“If we go into a restaurant not properly dressed, we will be ostracised and chased out,” she said.

“That is why there are many people dressed up like us. The homeless are not just people with torn clothing and uncut hair. We are a misunderstood group,” Amran said.

“Many people put the homeless into a pigeonhole. Most of the time I feel misunderstood. I feel like a burden and a liability,” he said.

Amran added that facing rejection every day was a huge barrier for people like him to crawl out of their predicament.

“Unlike others, our families do not accept us anymore. There are some of us who have done things that we are so ashamed of that we do not even want to return,” said one of them who only wanted to be known as Mak Liah.

Five years on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, the 42-year-old ex-drug addict said she was not given a second chance when her family found out she was hooked on drugs.

Mak Liah also said she had children but that they lived with their grandmother in Johor.

“These are my family now,” shesaid, referring to the five kittens she had recently adopted.

Her “neighbour” for the night, Jit Kaur, said broken families was the main reason why they were living on the streets.

“We have nowhere to go to. My husband died. I have a daughter but she is in Kelantan and her husband refuses to let her have any contact with me. My brother is in the Philippines,” she said.

“Furthermore, who will employ an ex-drug addict who is 62 years old?” Jit added.

On why she chose to sleep on the streets, Jit said she had tried going to a public welfare programme but that did not turn out well.

“The officers treated us like children. We weren’t given anything to make for ourselves other than cleaning the compound of the welfare centre,” she said.

“When I complained about the futility of me being there, I was then instructed to attend counselling sessions,” she added.

According to Jit, going back to the streets gave her a “greater sense of freedom” but that she would give anything to have “a normal life”, even if it was just basic and simple living.

“I am getting old and it worries me. Sometimes I do not know how long I will be around if I continue to live like this,” she said.

Seeking out the homeless

In the wee hours of July 7, Statistics Department officers took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to survey the homeless living on the streets.

This exercise, the first of its kind, was also simultaneously conducted nationwide in other big cities in conjunction with the national census launched the previous day.

Statistics Department Asst Comm Rozita Talha said the homeless had always been included in the nationwide census but that their numbers were merged with other figures labelled as “others”.

This would be the first that the homeless were being categorised under a separate group.

“This was done to improve the collection and processing of the figures,” she said.

However, there has been no indication on whether the figures would be made available.

The responsibility of improving the lives of this group falls under the Welfare Department.

A fact sheet on the homeless by the Welfare Department estimates there are about 2,500 individuals who are living this way.

Among this group are those who are destitute with no means of supporting themselves, beggars and vagrants, drug addicts, mental patients and even those who have jobs but cannot afford housing.

There are a multitude of factors leading to them taking to the streets for refuge, but the more sad ones are because of family issues.

Some run away from home because of violence while others have been ostracised by their family members because they are drug addicts or suffer from AIDS.

However, the fact sheet describes the presence of the homeless as “disturbing the peace of city dwellers and affecting the image of the nation, especially to tourists.”

The Welfare Department frequently works with government agencies such as the police, City Hall, Labour Department as well as the National Anti-Drug Agency in joint operations to take them off the streets.

The homeless would then be put into institutions, some which offer skills training to those who are still productive, or old folks homes, all of which are located in other states.

Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Ku Chin Wa said the homeless did not necessarily add to crime.

“However, some of them may fall victim to drug addicts desperate for some money. Some have been robbed and injured,” he said.

He added that the police could not arrest them unless they had committed an offence.

Getting up close and personal

Star reporters JOSHUA FOONG and SHAUN HO took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur for a week to see for themselves what it was like to be homeless.

The first day, we decided that we should first gain the trust of the homeless.

We followed a group of volunteers from Kechara Soup Kitchen to a spot off Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

Upon seeing us arrive with packets of donated food, the homeless people staying in the area — already familiar with the order of things — formed a queue.

Some were dressed smartly from head to toe. But there were also those who only had the tattered clothes on their backs and went barefoot.

If somebody else had told us this story, we would have assumed that the homeless were a sorrowful bunch. Surprisingly, we were greeted with smiles of gratitude despite the poverty that they were in.

They were happy that we took time to meet them and give them food and even thanked us by name.

While distributing food, we were also told that there was an open space near Petaling Street, just in front of the Cahaya Suria building where about a hundred homeless people spend the night every day.

The next day, we dressed down — T-shirts, shorts and slippers and waited at a mamak shop overlooking the square to find out for ourselves.

We waited, and true enough, their numbers grew to about 100 by 1.30am. However, we were unsure how to approach them.

One of them, Nelson, whom we befriended during a food-sharing programme earlier saw us and came over to greet us.

When we told him we were The Star reporters and wanted him to show us the place, he obliged and said he trusted us.

“We have some form of understanding with the police. Most of us are not criminals. So we are seldom disturbed by the police when we sleep here,” he said.

“Sometimes being around the streets at night makes us watchmen, too,” he added.

It was the wee hours in the morning, but social workers were still on their rounds distributing food.

“Thankfully it is those who come to help us, not disturb us,” Nelson said.

As we were talking to Nelson, the social workers came up to us and asked if we had received our share of food.

It is hard to distinguish if a person on the street is homeless or not.

“We are already in such dire straits. Most of us are trapped in this situation.

“We are desperate to come out from it, but people should know we cannot do this on our own,” Nelson said.

The new friendship had the both of us thinking of Nelson after we parted ways.

Although we had common thoughts, opinions and hopes, unlike the two of us, Nelson has been bedding down for the night on cardboard and his bag for a pillow every night for the past seven years.

On compassionate grounds

NGOs have found their way into the hearts of the homeless living in Kuala Lumpur.

Every day, hundreds of poor and homeless citizens have a decent meal thanks to the efforts of NGOs such as the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development (AOHD), Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) and Reach Org.

These NGOs do their best to provide them with one meal a day and medicine if required.

But more importantly, it is the kindness of these strangers that they look forward to.

Jace Chong, 27, a producer in KSK’s video department, said she loved seeing the glow on the faces of the street people whenever the volunteers arrived to distribute meals to them.

KSK delivers meal packets every evening during the weekend at various locations in the capital. The packets consist of hot food, fruits, some bread or biscuits and water.

“I started volunteering in 2008 and I feel good helping them. They appreciate what we are doing because few people show them care or pity,” she said.

Over the years, Chong got to know many of the regulars personally and checks on them every time she goes on her rounds with other volunteers.

She said many of them had been living on the streets for so long that they were now used to it.

“They have freedom to do whatever they want. There are no schedules to follow and nobody’s telling them what to do.”

However, she said most of them were far from being happy.

“Most of these homeless people do want a proper home or to return to their families. But they have problems that they need to iron out first before they can start anew,” she said.

KSK volunteer Low Su Wen said volunteering gave her the opportunity to talk to the homeless and she now saw them as people who needed care.

“They tell me about families who will not accept them. A lot of them have been ostracised by their own families. It is sad because it is their families who are supposed to take care of them.

“They have no choice but to set out and fend for themselves,” said Low.

“Talking to them has taught me to value our comforts. Many of these people are in this position not through their own fault, although there are some who choose to live like this,” she added.

Mohd Nong Shah, 40, has been living on the streets of Kuala Lumpur for more than 15 years.

Originally from Kuala Terengganu, Mohd Nong, who also goes by the name Mansor, ran away from home when he was in his late teens.

“I have never seen or spoken to my parents since and I have only met one sister all these while.

“People like me have no plans and no purpose in life. We just drift from place to place and find a little money to stay afloat,” said Mansor.

A former drug addict, he said he had “unresolved problems” making him reluctant to return home.

“I hope to go home some day,” he said but until then he is content to remain on the streets collecting recyclable items and doing odd jobs for money.

Mansor said although life on the street was uncertain, he had no qualms remaining here and found comfort coming to the AOHD.

“This is one of my favourite places to visit. The people here are understanding and kind, and the food is not bad,” he said after a heavy lunch.

AOHD feeding programme coordinator Carl D’Cunha oversees the distribution of lunches to more than 100 people.

The centre has been operating for 12 years and gives out hot lunches from Monday to Friday at its premises in Bukit Nanas, opposite SK St John.

Among the homeless people who come to have lunch are many senior citizens.

“The crowd is made up of elderly people as well as youngsters and we do not deny food to anyone.

“We also try to help those who want to get off the streets,” said D’Cunha.

“We try to get the younger ones to go back to their families. We tell them they have a future and they cannot be doing this all their life,” he added.

D’Cunha also works closely with other NGOs such as KSK, Street Fellowship and Grace Centre to help the youths get jobs.

The common goal shared by many of the NGOs is to take the homeless off the streets and find proper jobs for them so that they do not go back to the streets.

Reach Org founder and director Peter Nicoll said by giving them jobs, the homeless could be reintegrated into society.

“They just need a chance,” said Nicoll when met during one of his rounds.

However, one homeless man named Nelson said the NGOs should stop giving out free food.

“There are many youngsters among us who do not want to find jobs.

“They do not care because they are already fed.

“If we stop feeding them, they will rise up and make an effort to find jobs,” he said. - Stories by Joshua Foong and Shaun Ho