Proving that soup kitchens do not promote laziness, one soup kitchen operator said that it has helped place hundreds of homeless people into jobs and saw them lift themselves off the streets.
"At the end of the day, the only permanent solution is this – our homeless clients need to find jobs, and Kechara has always been here since day one, to help them to do so.
"We have already placed hundreds of homeless people into jobs, and helped countless others prepare for their interviews.
"Many of them continue to be willing and ready to work, if only they are given the chance," Kechara Soup Kitchen Society project director Justin Cheah said in a statement.
Responding to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor (right), who said that giving free food encourages laziness, he said that the free food is merely a way to reach out to the group in order to provide other services.
The ministry will impose a ban on soup kitchens in a two-kilometre radius of Bukit Bintang, saying that soup kitchens cause littering in an area frequented by tourists.
Cheah said among those who end up on the streets escaped abuse, are struggling with addiction or were abandoned by their adult children.
'Rural-dwellers seeking a better life'
“Many young homeless men and women come from the rural parts of our nation, congregating in Kuala Lumpur to seek a better life for themselves and their families back home.
"It is not for lack of trying that many have not found jobs; many have been cheated by unscrupulous middlemen and agents, or they simply do not have the skills.
"Removing the work of the soup kitchens and welfare centres will not solve the problem of homelessness," he added.
He said that homelessness in Kuala Lumpur is caused by poor employment opportunities, lack of rent regulation, inadequate housing for the working poor, poor enforcement of minimum wage and rising cost of living in the face of surpressed wages.
Although Kechara, which was established in 2006 and has received government funds, will comply with two-kilometre radius the ban, it will continue their other services.
These include providing job placements, medical care, food banks for needy families and assisting them into welfare homes, with help from sponsors.
Meanwhile, pioneering Malaysian soup kitchen Food Not Bombs KL said the latest government initiative is detrimental to public welfare.
"The federal territories minister and the Ministry of Women (Family and Community Development) are more concerned with image than substance.
“It is wrong to force people who are homeless or begging out of the city in raids like Ops Qaseh and it is wrong to prohibit citizens from directly aiding people in need," the group said in a statement.
It said that society should address homelessness by working together, not by excluding those in need from aid.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim, however, yesterday stressed that such operations are not to arrest but to “save” beggars and the homeless.
Rohani said that when taken in, the homeless are provided counseling, job coaching, medical checks and motivation to raise their self-esteem.
"At the end of the day, the only permanent solution is this – our homeless clients need to find jobs, and Kechara has always been here since day one, to help them to do so."We have already placed hundreds of homeless people into jobs, and helped countless others prepare for their interviews.
"Many of them continue to be willing and ready to work, if only they are given the chance," Kechara Soup Kitchen Society project director Justin Cheah said in a statement.
Responding to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor (right), who said that giving free food encourages laziness, he said that the free food is merely a way to reach out to the group in order to provide other services.The ministry will impose a ban on soup kitchens in a two-kilometre radius of Bukit Bintang, saying that soup kitchens cause littering in an area frequented by tourists.
Cheah said among those who end up on the streets escaped abuse, are struggling with addiction or were abandoned by their adult children.
'Rural-dwellers seeking a better life'
“Many young homeless men and women come from the rural parts of our nation, congregating in Kuala Lumpur to seek a better life for themselves and their families back home.
"It is not for lack of trying that many have not found jobs; many have been cheated by unscrupulous middlemen and agents, or they simply do not have the skills.
"Removing the work of the soup kitchens and welfare centres will not solve the problem of homelessness," he added.
He said that homelessness in Kuala Lumpur is caused by poor employment opportunities, lack of rent regulation, inadequate housing for the working poor, poor enforcement of minimum wage and rising cost of living in the face of surpressed wages.Although Kechara, which was established in 2006 and has received government funds, will comply with two-kilometre radius the ban, it will continue their other services.
These include providing job placements, medical care, food banks for needy families and assisting them into welfare homes, with help from sponsors.
Meanwhile, pioneering Malaysian soup kitchen Food Not Bombs KL said the latest government initiative is detrimental to public welfare.
"The federal territories minister and the Ministry of Women (Family and Community Development) are more concerned with image than substance.
“It is wrong to force people who are homeless or begging out of the city in raids like Ops Qaseh and it is wrong to prohibit citizens from directly aiding people in need," the group said in a statement.
It said that society should address homelessness by working together, not by excluding those in need from aid.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim, however, yesterday stressed that such operations are not to arrest but to “save” beggars and the homeless.
Rohani said that when taken in, the homeless are provided counseling, job coaching, medical checks and motivation to raise their self-esteem.
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