A weekend ago, one of our KSK volunteer, Madam Lim Han Nee chanced upon a homeless person suffering from Parkinson’s disease during her visit to Pasar Pudu and this inspired her to compose a beautiful poem below:-



Let me take you by the hand
And show you
A sight that will make your heart bleed.

Here comes my woeful friend,
Emerging from behind the mound of garbage,
Filth and stench.
He labours his way towards us,
Stooped and bent,
Taking slow and painful steps.

And now he stands before us.
A trembling hand he stretches out,
From the grimy tatters of a 'sleeve'.
Minutes passed of careful effort.......
Finally, the parcel of food I offer him
Is safely lodged,
In the grip of two gnarled quivering fingers.

He lifts up his face.
And,for an instant,
A smile lights up his eyes.

When we think about our beloved city, we would remember the many acclaimed landmarks, sites or spots that top the pages of tourism pages: our prized Twin Towers, the malls, Jalan Alor, Petaling Street.
During our free time, we might even have ventured into these said spots of KL for our shopping sprees, blind dates or people watching in cafes at the heart of KL. However, behind all the glitz and glamour that is the KL of today, there exists a pocket of homeless communities living on streets, alleys and sidewalks, oblivious to the modernization that has shaped KL.
And we have passed by them on many an occasion, without having done anything, have we not?
One Saturday, a group of KSK members comprising old and new volunteers ventured into Pasar Pudu to provide food to a group of homeless lot. The volunteers included team leader, Chuah Su Ming and her friends, Terence Tan, Ooi Beng Kooi, Pauline Chong, Kelvin Hong, Natalie Low and Erique Hew.
Forget the charms of KLCC and your Cappuccino at Domé. Here is a completely different picture of KL, a forgotten face to many. In the Pasar Pudu area, we see an aftermath of litter strewn around the streets by sellers from the morning market, rats running boldly in and out of drains and rubbish lots; we see poor homeless souls sleeping by sidewalks under these conditions.
However, the sight of this did not deter us and drove our determination even further to complete the mission that we had set out for that weekend.
We started the evening by visiting an old Chinese man who was sleeping outside the pavement of a Chinese sundry store. According to the owner of the store, the man has been a regular there for a very long time. We did not know his age but he appeared to be in his late fifties, perhaps early sixties. His face brightened as we offered him a packet of food and he muttered something in broken Chinese which we could not really understand but we could at least catch the words thank-you.
We then walked along the street of Pasar Pudu and again found two homeless sleeping by the pavement. One guy had long disheveled hair and was in tattered clothes; according to Su Ming, he might appear to others as a little mentally unstable as he was perpetually mumbling something to himself. We approached him and gave him a packet of food and he continued to mumble some incomprehensible words to us. It was a very disheartening sight.

We walked further down a row of shops, again litter was everywhere and we chanced upon a Malay homeless guy sleeping on the pavement of a shop that was closed. When we placed down a packet of food beside him he woke up suddenly and was thankful and started to eat some biscuits from the pack. It was encouraging to know that our little effort managed to bring some cheer to him.

After that, we went to meet a homeless who according to Su Ming was one of the most gentle and polite person she had ever come across on the streets. The man’s name was Adbul Rahman, also known as “Mann”. He was a Malay chap, in his twenties (I think) and he was living under the highway bridge, at the intersection of Pasar Pudu. Both Beng Kooi and Su Ming were quite fond of him as he was very well mannered. He told them that he used to work before but he has now contracted with HIV+. Su Ming had been trying to get the AIDS foundation personnel to come and visit him and to offer him professional help which we are incapable of doing. When they told him that I had wanted to take a shot of him for my article, he quickly donned on one of his best shirt (he was topless earlier) to stand beside Beng Kooi for the shoot! I was very impressed by his attitude and mannerisms and I shook hands with him. He was a man of few words but he spoke good English and appeared to be a very nice man indeed.
I felt very sorry that such a state has fallen onto him.

As we ended the night, we realized that though we are living amidst some wonderful charms of KL, in our private little sanctuary or enjoying that wonderful dinner which we usually never finishes because we want to look fabulous in some nice outfit; some people are a lot less fortunate than us. These people are living in conditions we would never have imagined existed in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur because most of us had been fortunate to have come from a fairly good family. The people that we encountered in Pasar Pudu don’t have a proper home, they have health issues, and they don’t have work and could be missing many meals every day. In other words, they could be dying anytime. And a lot of us who are more fortunate have not only forgotten these places that still exist in Kuala Lumpur but also the less fortunate ones who are living within these places.

Each time we see the light of smile from the people that we have helped, it motivates us to return each week, knowing that we have created a small ounce of happiness for them and it encourages us to believe that our little efforts could perhaps, be helping them to prolong their life.
But that alone is not enough. We are still striving hard towards establishing a permanent Soup Kitchen base to cater to the needs of this homeless lot on a more permanent basis. We want to ensure these people can continue to live happily despite their hardships and to embrace life with faith; give them hope and allow them to return to a normal state of life. We need to let them know that all is not lost, hope is not vanquished and happiness can be achieved.

The world can never be one religion. But the world can be one heart.
The forgotten faces of KL need not be forgotten.
Together, we can make a difference.