KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — The National Welfare Foundation (Yayasan Kebajikan Negara – YKN) has found that 38 per cent of homeless people at welfare home, Anjung Singgah, are youths aged 18 to 30 years old.
Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh told the Dewan Rakyat today that the volunteers at Anjung Singgah have found the majority of these were rural youths who migrated to the nation’s capital looking for jobs.
“There are many (homeless) from the rural areas. When they finished their SPM they told their families they wanted to head to Kuala Lumpur to work. And back in their villages a celebration was held in their honour.
“But when they reached Kuala Lumpur, they couldn’t find a job and many could not face their families so they end up wandering around and loitering in the city and did not return home. Our focus is to give them counselling, job matching and also send them home to their families,” she said.
Yeoh, who was addressing the Lower House during Question Time, also said that any homeless in Kuala Lumpur who wants to find a job can head to Anjung Singgah, which will do their best to assist them.
She added that companies looking for workers should also submit their organisation name and the welfare home will matchmake the jobs with the workers.
The homeless community in Malaysia has exploded since 2015. Those categorised as homeless without jobs have increased fivefold from 228 in 2015 to 1,158 last year. Up till June 2018 it recorded 564 homeless Malaysians.
The number of those who became homeless also skyrocketed since 2015 from 328 to 1,387 last year. In June this year, the government recorded another 330 homeless individuals.
Yeoh also said that Anjung Singgah volunteers have reported an increasing trend in mentally-disabled individuals seeking their help.
The year 2015 saw 63 mentally-disabled Malaysians and 13 foreigners seeking their assistance, in 2016 it rose to 86 Malaysians and 18 foreigners, in 2017 it was 98 Malaysians and four foreigners and up to June this year it recorded 47 Malaysians and six foreigners.
