KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — To give is better than to receive, but Malaysians are urged to not be so generous as their generosity can hamper efforts by the government to rid street begging.
Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh said such generosity could also encourage the bad habit among beggars.
“Enforcement through rescue operations of the beggars is not very effective if there is no cooperation from the public to eliminate begging by continuing to provide alms to them (beggars),” she told the Dewan Negara today.
She was responding to a question by Datuk Seri Khairudin Samad on efforts by the government to address the issue on children and senior citizens being used by syndicates to beg.
She said members of the public who wished to donate for the needy should channel their donations to the National Welfare Foundation (YKN) which would coordinate and monitor the donations to ensure they reached the target group.
According to Yeoh, as of December last year, the Social Welfare Department (JKM) conducted 2,584 operations to rescue beggars, during which 3,472 of them were rounded-up, including 355 children.
She said children who were caught in such an operation would be referred to shelter homes for action under the Child Act 2001, while Malaysian adults aged below 60 and with no relative would be sent to Desa Bina Diri (DBD) and the older ones to Rumah Seri Kenangan (RSK) old folks home.
Foreign beggars will be referred to the Immigration Department, while the refugees will be referred to UNHCR, she added. — Bernama
