After all hell had broken loose with Minister of Federal Territories, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor raising an ire when he made all the strong statementsto chase out the homeless in the city, now his ministry is spinning another story – that it is providing a solution!
How ironic that this was not coming out from Tengku Adnan’s own mouth, but from his ministry officials.
Even if chasing out the homeless people from the city is a solution, as suggested, it is nothing but a half-past-six solution coming out from the mouth of a half-past-six minister. Even the Good Samaritans are not spared.
This is what makes every city folk fume with the minister’s latest fiasco, synonymous of the party which he represents, I should say! It makes me wonder if anything good can come out of UMNO these days.
From bashing the non-Muslim community with ‘Ban Allah’ and cow head, to chasing out the homeless and banning the Soup Kitchen from the Golden Triangle of Kuala Lumpur, UMNO ministers appear to be involved in one controversy after another.
These ‘clowns’ are the ones to blame for Barisan Nasional’s overall poor performance in the past two General Elections.
Kangkung PM and Ministers
I have always wondered why Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak is unable to find anyone better to fill up the Cabinet positions. There are people such as Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, who should have replaced people like Tengku Adnan or Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Instead, Najib continues to appoint ‘clowns’ to take the helm of important ministries, and when they continue to make the blunders, he says nothing to reprimand them. I guess it is because he, too, has made all the blunders with his ‘kangkung’ and later, his RM1 per chicken remarks (amidst the frenzy search for the missing MH370 aircraft).
In less than a fortnight ago, Zahid Hamidi had raised the ire of the people by suggesting that RSN Rayer (Seri Delima State Assemblyman) deserved it, when a cow head was placed in front of his house. Then, another UMNO minister, Ahmad Shabery Cheek said that artists from Indonesia and Malaysia will be invited to perform in Konsert Uniti during Merdeka Celebration.
Now, Tengku Adnan has joined the fray by suggesting that the City Hall enforcement officers chase out both beggars and the homeless in the city. Even donors are not spared, so warned the UMNO senior minister.
Nurul Izzah (second right),Teresa Kok (second left) and Lim Lip Eng handing out food during their visit to the Pertiwi soup kitchen at Jalan TAR, July 4, 2014. - Choo Choy May
The presence of the homeless in any city is in fact a reflection of the Government’s failure to provide the necessary social welfare safety net for the poor and the homeless. It also shows the lack of police intervention in fighting the syndicates that prey on the innocent people who are often forced to beg.
It also shows that the lack of social and psychological support and other physical infrastructure to cater to the needs of the homeless. It also shows the disparity and the widening gap between the rich people like Tengku Adnan and the homeless Jack on the street.
UMNO prides itself for championing the New Economic Policy, yet many of the street people in the city of Kuala Lumpur are the Malays who, in my opinion, have been marginalized by the elites themselves. It is good that there are also Muslims involved in the Soup Kitchen. In the past, when only the Christian groups were dishing out food to the street people, Christian volunteers would run the risk of beng accused of trying to proselytize the hungry Muslims.
The presence of the homeless people in the city clearly shows some of our Government’s policies are not working out well, or not properly executed. It is time that the Government under Najib should review what has gone wrong with the BN policies through the years. Despite being an oil-rich country, why are there still so many street people in the city of Kuala Lumpur?
Perhaps, this points back to a series of policies that the Government has introduced and will be implementing in the next few years. First, Tengku Adnan should not raise the Kuala Lumpur City Hall assessment fees, considering that it will cause the rent to go up. Secondly, the subsidies cut has caused cost of food to escalate.
Thirdly, we have to be prepared to see more people become homeless, when the Goods & Services Tax (GST) is introduced next year. Najib has also agreed to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), despite strong protest by the people. TPPA will cause price of medicine among others to rise even further. The street people cannot even afford their food, what’s more when they get sick!
Being paid a fat salary every month, I challenge Tengku Adnan during Ramadan month to fast and donate his one month’s salary to help feed the homeless in the city. Even Scrooge, when he found the true meaning of Christmas, did that to all the orphans and street kids in his city.
I wonder if Tengku “Scrooge” Adnan will volunteer to do the same this year so that on the first day of Hari Raya, all the street people will be able to enjoy a sumptuous meal at his mansion! If Tengku Adnan decides not to take up the challenge, perhaps, Najib should take the lead being the prime minister himself. Talking about being a ‘People First’ Government!
UMNO is One Rotten Apple
Tengku Adnan said that he did not believe UMNO was involved in the cow head incident in front of Rayer’s house. “UMNO is not that evil,” he claimed. Well, we do not have to speculate; instead, what Tengku Adnan, as Secretary-General of UMNO, has done is really ‘evil.’
Tell me, who would chase away the homeless people and the Good Samaritans, except those who are evil? Only the robbers, who robbed the victims of their sustenance, would have the heart to even chase out the Good Samaritans.
In most countries, a caring Government will seriously look into the plight of the homeless. It is not just for the image, but for the sake of treating people with some dignity that the homeless are relocated to a place where they can be taken good care of. If they are prepared to work, the Government tries to look for a job for them. If they can be placed in a charitable home, the Government would do its best to relocate the homeless.
Instead, here in Malaysia, we see the Government led by UMNO and the likes of Tengku Adnan chasing away both the homeless and the Good Samaritans away. The homeless are, as the Malay saying suggests, are indeed suffering from ill-fate twice: already homeless, now they are chased out of the city of Kuala Lumpur with the help of City Hall enforcement officers. - MAILBAG
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