~ continued from Jackson's article

As we move on, I encountered various types of homeless people. A lot of the homeless people look just like you and me, the only difference is that they do not have a home and shelter to go home to. Few have disability issue that prevents them from getting a proper livelihood. Few left their hometowns to live in KL, hence no money to return. Few are old and can't secure a proper job and barely enough to give them a place to live, as is with the case of Raymond and Rose. Of course there are homeless people that fit into the stereotype perceived by many, these unfortunate souls that have no means to secure proper attire, and are just left wandering, trying to survive.

It is so easy to become homeless one day, if you have no family or your family is far away, you are aging or an accident causes you to be disabled, nobody wants to hire you for a job, you ran out of savings or your money got stolen, you can't afford to pay for your rent and you have absolutely no choice but to live on the streets.

Just imagine the difficulty they had to go through to survive just a day; for a place to sleep, to shower, proper clothes to wear to avoid the police and welfare officers, proper meal to avoid starvation and thirst. On top of that, the street is a dangerous place for anyone to live, they have to be careful that their meager belongings do not get snatched by thieves and crooks as well as desperate drug addicts. Not to mention the higher risk of falling sick, contracting diseases, accidents, etc. Frankly, I wouldn't have the faintest idea how I would survive if I were to become a homeless one day, the enormity of the day- to-day survival seem inhumane.

My first evening concluded with new knowledge and respect for the homeless and the extreme helplessness I felt for them.

After my first experience, I learn to appreciate more things that I've taken for granted, that I had a family that supported my education so that I can secure a job, proper home that shelters me, a comfortable bed for sleeping, running water and electricity... with the comfort and luxury that surrounds me, I may seem to be living like a king in comparison. My personal problems seem superficial now as compared to theirs.

A couple of weeks ago, I was robbed and beaten to the ground. I stayed in the hospital for 3 days. I had insurance to cover my cost. I lost a tooth, and nearly lost one of my eyesight from the punches. My parents were shocked and they helped me through a difficult time. If I were a homeless person, what would happen to me? As I said before, some of the homeless person looks just like you and me, unsuspecting robbers may target them as they live on the streets everyday and they are at a higher risk. Although such an unfortunate event had befell me, I never really blamed anyone, in fact, I felt lucky. I felt blessed. I felt privileged. Previously, I might wallow in self pity, berating destiny, and blaming the unfairness of life. But I learnt gratitude from this incident and what I had seen and experienced; they taught me a valuable lesson in life.

Life is a constant cycle of birth and death, an ocean of Samsara that we all try to escape from. We all have the luxury to choose the way we want to live our life. From the unfortunate incident, I know now how I want to live my life. But for them, the homeless, they can only seek survival from the harsh brutalities of life.

May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with them and may they constantly obtain an ocean of happiness wherever they are. Sadhu.

JACKSON YEOH


Ben and our friend, Rose at Pudu Bus Stop

~ A thought-provoking article by our new KSK volunteer, Jackson. It brings out reality through the eyes of a young man.

I knew we were distributing food to people without homes, and I had a set of preconceived notion as to what defines homeless people and what was to be expected. Homeless people in my mind, refers to old ladies and gentlemen in their tattered rags, being thrown out to the streets probably by disability and extreme poverty as well as mental health issues. I believe this stereotyping was formed from numerous occasions on seeing old men and women sleeping on the street's pavement with little fabric covering them. This is the general consensus of the society's idea of homeless people, especially to people who had not been exposed to them.

Sadly, the stark reality is much grimmer that that.

On one Saturday evening, I decided to join my friend Ben, who was doing his regular Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) round. KSK was an extended arm of Kechara House, a non-profit Tibetan Buddhist organization, set-up to benefit the less fortunate, in this case, the homeless.

My first route was around PuduRaya and Kotaraya, where I have had my own encounters with homeless people before since it was a common route that I had taken since school. But nothing had prepared me for what I was about to learn. Armed with packets of various food neatly packed in plastic bag, we set out to distribute the food in hopes of easing the burden of homeless people.

The first homeless person I met was Raymond. I assumed initially that he was a volunteer who was set up to meet us there, as he was a middle age man, dressed decently, carried a sling bag and speak fluent English. Then I met Rose, an elderly lady, who speaks equally fluent English and equally well dressed. But I was very wrong! Apparently, they are the “regular homeless” according to the experienced volunteers. They both recounted to us the difficulty of trying to avoid the policemen and welfare officers who were constantly rounding up homeless people and getting them off from the streets in an effort to "clean" the city, as Merdeka day is approaching. According to them, whenever a homeless person gets caught, he/she will be put in a centre for 6 months or more, eating only plain rice with plain curry sauce. The workers in the welfare home are not friendly, and they were all treated like convicts with no freedom whatsoever. After a prolonged period of time, they will be warned and then released from the so-called "shelter", with no aid and they are expected to get off from the street permanently and not to remain a homeless.

I was shocked to learn that the authorities are handling the homeless people with such negligence. Why is there no proper program to rehabilitate homeless people? Why is there no proper effort set up to give the homeless people jobs? Why are they treating them as though they are scum of the society? It is maddening but hopelessly true. The authorities and town council are doing naught to help and support the helpless. I hate to say this but I think there are more scum in the country politics than there are among the homeless. And they are spending millions of ringgit on superficial issues, like strengthening our weakening football team. What about basic human rights? I seemed digressed somewhat but that is the reality.

~to be continued