Written By : R.Gunasekaran
THE Covid-19 pandemic has shown that Malaysia has a legion of big-hearted souls who have been moved enough by the plight of the cash-strapped to step forward and keep them from going hungry.
Some of these Good Samaritans have chosen to provide the food on their own without going through any organisation.
The sad truth is that their generosity has sometimes ended up discarded in many downtown Kuala Lumpur rubbish bins.
Volunteers who have been working with the city’s homeless say that the food often donated by stall traders after the day’s business, is not fresh and a lot of it turns rancid quickly.
Some kindhearted Malaysians who want to show support for local businesses also buy the food to be distributed to the needy.
These Good Samaritans may not realise that some of the food may no longer be safe for consumption by the time it reaches recipients.
“Their intentions are good, but it is making matters worse,” said Jennifer Chua, an individual working with DBKL’s homeless programme.
“This situation, where donated food ends up in the bin, has been happening for a few years now, even during pre-Covid times.
“But what is happening now is that more people want to support their local neighbourhood stalls, so they order in bulk and ask the stall owners to donate the food to the needy,” Chua said.
Chua, who has been involved in feeding the homeless for many years, said stallowners would usually drop off the food at traditional areas populated by the homeless, such as Chow Kit, Masjid Jamek and Jalan Petaling.
“When the homeless wake up, they find all these food packets near them but some of these will already have turned rancid,” another volunteer who only wants to be identified as Lyn, said.
“I used to tell people dropping off the food not to do that, but I would get scolded for being ‘heartless’,” she said.
Chua also said that the public should not be serving food on the streets.
“We need strict enforcement by the authorities to only allow food to be given at designated centres that are easily accessible by people in need.”
What traders say
Traders told StarMetro that they were only doing a kind deed and that no one had complained about the quality of their food before.
“I make sure my food is still fresh and will never give away unsold food that has turned bad,” said fried fishball seller Anon Ahmad from Seri Petaling.
Aulia Ibrahim, 24, also does not believe in throwing away unsold food.
“Rather than wasting the food, we might as well do charity and give it to the needy.”
The fried chicken trader from Taman Keramat Permai said she had donated some of her stall food to orphans during Hari Raya Aidiladha last month.
Curry noodles seller Nor Mizayanti Mohd, 34, sometimes donates unsold food to a nearby surau.
“Some surau in the area have children studying tahfiz and they like curry noodles.
“And sometimes, I give an extra pack to customers who come here late in the evening,” said the mother-of-four who operates daily from 11am to 7pm.
A nasi kandar seller, who only wants to be known as Lan, sets up a food bank by the road every morning and stocks it with 20 packs of rice.
“Any needy person in the area can come and pick one up.
“It is my small way of giving back to society amid these difficult times,” he said.
Lan used to distribute packs of nasi kandar to the homeless in the city but is no longer able to do so due to movement restrictions.
“I would visit spots where the homeless congregated, such as Masjid India and Masjid Negara,” he said.
Saifudin Mohd Noor, 33, who sells nasi kerabu, donates unsold food to surau, mosques and passers-by.
The Wangsa Maju resident said that in a way, the ban on dine-in at eateries had been a blessing in disguise as it had driven customers to his stall.
“Business has not been as good as before, but it is giving me enough money to get by,” he added.
These traders are licensed under the free trade initiative that the Federal Territories Ministry launched on Nov 15 last year.
Under this initiative, traders can apply for a temporary licence from DBKL to start a small business anywhere in the city.
However, the lockdowns have caused a drop in customers, forcing many traders to give away their unsold food.
