Too many Beggars...

I usually hate to go to the 'Pasar Tani' (day market) and 'Pasar Malam' (night market)for the following reasons:-

• U have to wake up early (Pasar Tani only)
• There is a whole lot of bustling and shoving around
• The noisy atmosphere
• Sometimes it gets dirty too
• Parking problems

But, yesterday I made my way to the market to get some household items, as the cupboard was close to bare and mom wasn't around. As I soon found out, it wasn't as bad as in the list. I got there at 9a.m (not bad) and easily found a parking space. There was noise, but tolerable. Loads of space to walk around, and the place was reasonably clean. But I found another, not so good of sight. Beggars. There were placed all along the pasar tani, and on the hot, hard bitumen too! There were kids with crunches, kids with a photocopy IC of who I expect was the father which mentions the he had gone blind, adults who were visually impaired singing, adults just sitting there looking terrible, then of course there were the occasional boxes for charity homes which gives away bookmarks as 'thank you' to donors. As heartfelt as I was, I was also appalled by the lack of actions by the authorities to monitor these situations.

These acts of begging for charity was describe as 'a crime, using the sympathy of others for self gain' by the Crime Analysis, Kamal Affendi Hashim in the mStar mag today (13/06/2010). And the problem is not just in my area, but it is rampant all over our beloved Malaysia. What does this show about our 'prospering' country? My question is, what are the actions taken by the authorities to combat these goings on? Are there any course of actions taken, as I have yet to see them.

It is not like I am heartless, not feeling the sympathy and all, but we all know that some of these beggars are under the watchful eyes of syndicates, whilst some are individual, and shockingly, some has made it into an 'occupation'! That is just plain terrible! Lazy people, out to gains their livelihood from people's generosity! Just Terrible!

I am not trying to stop you from your act of kindness and humanity, in fact I encourage it a lot. But, just to be on the safe side, you can donate to charity homes and organisations who are registered and have the authority to ask for donations. And if you do feel like giving to those poor souls on the streets, maybe the donations can be in other forms, such as by giving them food and drinks, rather than money. Like what was mentioned by the Secretary of Malaysian Indian Muslim Association, Mohammed Sharif Ghani (mStar 13/6/2010), we should not encourage these acts, as it will lead to other, later consequences. He further "Do not let Malaysia be a 'site' to open up a 'begging business'."

I, again, beg the authorities to act upon this problem, and the public to report if you find this situation as 'disturbing'.