THE issue of beggary has become serious and widespread in Kuala Lumpur where a large number of tourists and foreign workers can be seen in the city’s busy streets. The main areas affected are Masjid India, Petaling Street and Bukit Bintang.
Lately these areas have become very popular with people begging and their children tagging along. The Masjid India area has become notorious with beggars from the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East.
It is mainly the women who are left to do the begging as they elicit more sympathy especially when they have a baby or child in tow. I do not know what their menfolk do.
Begging should be stopped as it degrades and humiliates the person and one can imagine how the children of beggars will be affected by the loss of self esteem and human dignity as they grow up.
Since a large number of people come to these areas for shopping and dining the beggars know that the large crowd milling around gives them a high chance of earning quite a good amount if they are persistent.
Most of the women partially cover their faces thus avoiding shame and scorn. Some solicit donations for religious purposes. Some are physically challenged and hope for people’s pity and sympathy.
At a time when local beggars have been phased out due to better socio-economic opportunities, the number of foreigners replacing them is alarming.
A lot of tourists from Western and developed countries could regard these beggars as Malaysians deprived of a decent living by their government and this will dent the image of the country that aspires to a higher income status nation in the near future.
The number of destitute and homeless has risen in various parts of the city and some sections of the city reflect third world surrounding that are filthy and smelly and give a negative image to Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia.
Many of these places are in buildings which are in a dilapidated and run down condition and this encourages the destitute and homeless to camp there.
These are the prime spots for the urban renewal programme. People mostly avoid going there due to the places’ unsanitary conditions while municipal services are probably not provided resulting in an accumulation of filth and garbage and stinking drains.
KL mayor Datuk Seri Dr Maimunah Mohd Sharif needs to start a bold initiative to clean up the city of beggars, destitute, vagrants and the homeless. Possibly there are syndicates involved in recruiting these beggars.
Foreigners in these categories should be sent back home and locals offered better economic alternatives for a living.
The locals could be recruited for recycling programmes to work in tandem with the Kuala Lumpur City Council’s municipal workers to keep the city clean.
Next year is Visit Malaysia Year 2026 and the country could experience a big influx of visitors and efforts should be made to go for a spring cleaning of the federal capital to positively reflect the image of the country. ‒ May 26, 2025
Thomas Zacharia is a Focus Malaysia viewer.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image: The Star
