Minister’s tourist comment ridiculed by soup kitchen operators

The organisations running soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur are puzzled over Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim’s claim that tourists were taking advantage of the free food they were distributing to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur.

They wanted to know how the Women, Family and Community Development minister had reached such a conclusion.

They also said they did not have any problems serving tourists if they wanted to eat food cooked for the homeless.

Nasi Lemak Project Founder Mastura Mohd Rashid said none of its members had ever seen her at any of its food distribution points.

“I have never seen her (Datuk Rohani) on the street, why is she accusing us of distributing food to tourists?” asked Mastura Mohd Rashid.

“I’ve never come across any tourists,” said Mastura.

She also said that they passed their food out individually to people on the street to ensure that the homeless are the ones benefiting from its services.

“(So) I can be 100% sure that we don’t give our food to tourists,” she said.

Rohani today said tourists were taking advantage of soup kitchens in the city while defending a proposal to move soup kitchens away from the city centre, in a bid to rid the streets of Kuala Lumpur of homeless and beggars.

Rohani added that the feeding of the poor and the homeless by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has attracted the attention of others who have taken advantage of the situation to get free food.

"Sometimes, tourists too, line up (to get food) because they don't know. They think Malaysia is so generous in giving food to everyone,” she said.

Mastura wondered why tourists would want to eat their meals as it was nothing fancy.

“What we offer is very basic – either nasi lemak or nasi goreng with fruits and perhaps a curry puff together with mineral water. It isn’t McDonalds or KFC, and it is definitely not what tourists will look for,” she said.

She also does not find any problem if tourists were to take food from them, saying “If they (tourists) are asking food from us, then they must be very hungry.”

Carl’s Kitchen co-ordinator Alvin Santhanam was also curious at to how Rohani knew tourists had eaten the food they served.

Carl’s Kitchen is run by the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development, a service ministry under the St. John’s Cathedral.

Santhanam said they had helped tourists who were stranded in Kuala Lumpur in the past, but this was rare.

“We help by giving them food when they are in trouble,” he said.

Last week, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansur had criticised soup kitchens and the homeless for the rubbish that was left behind being among factors that tarnished the image of Kuala Lumpur.

He also announced a ban on soup kitchens serving within a 2km radius from the Lot 10 shopping mall in Jalan Bukit Bintang.

However, most soup kitchens had decided to defy the ban and said they will continue with their operations despite his warning. – July 7, 2014.