THE homeless in Kuala Lumpur are caught in a vicious trap. They don’t have a roof over their heads because they don’t have job, and they can’t get a job because they are homeless.

They told The Malaysian Insight they immediately get rejected when employers find out about their homeless state.

Eddy, 46, said he has tried to get a job at multiple places but has yet to land one due to his homeless status.

“I tried applying at fast food chains, petrol stations, restaurants, and many more places.

“They immediately reject me when they find out I’m homeless,” said Eddy who’s been a homeless person for seven years.

The Penang native said he became homeless when he came to Kuala Lumpur to look for better job opportunities.

“In Penang I was working in a factory, so I wanted to try my luck to find a better opportunity here but it didn’t go as planned.

“I was renting here for the first few months and tried applying for jobs but I just could not seem to get one. The competition in Kuala Lumpur is very high,” he said.

He said his siblings are unable to help him as they are all married and living their own lives.

Eddy said the only way he makes money now is by selling clothes donated by civil society groups. He said he would sell them on the streets.

“Unfortunately, nowadays we don’t often get clothes, just food.”

Stigma

Muhammad Rafiq, 59, said he and his wife have been living on the streets in KL since 2015.

“I used to work at the morning market but the pay was too low, so I just slept on the streets since then.

“When Covid-19 happened, I lost my job and I have yet to get one since then,” said Muhammad who grew up in Ampang.

He said the situation got worse last year when his wife got pregnant.

“After delivering our baby, my wife has been in a wheelchair due to the surgery.”

“So now I have to take care of both of them while looking for odd jobs,” he said.

He added that he was grateful that one of his relatives allowed his wife and baby to stay with them on days he goes looking for a job.

He said that once someone becomes a homeless person, it is extremely hard to get a job.

“One of the reasons being that employers assume that we would start spending the night at the workplace.”

“Although we do not do that, employers just won’t believe us no matter how much we try to convince them,” he said.

Shahrul Nizam, 46, meanwhile said he became homeless during the pandemic. 

“I had a minimum wage job before that but once the lockdown started, I lost my job.”

“After the first year of lockdown, I could not afford to pay bills so I moved to the streets,” said the Kedahan who is yet to secure a job.

“I never knew the city would be this expensive and the competition to get jobs is extremely high,” said Shahrul who moved to Kuala Lumpur 12 years ago.

Shahrul said he was determined to work and hoped to get a job some time soon.

“However I am thankful for the civil society groups that provide us with food and clothes.”

“If it wasn’t for them, life would have been much harder,” he said.

Volunteers serving free meals to the needy in the city said the queues for meals have become shorter compared to the days of lockdown.

Nasrul Hisham, 24, from Dapur Jalanan, a volunteer-based soup kitchen service, said crowds have reduced since the lockdown.

“The lines at our booth on Sundays during lockdown were at least five times longer than what we have now.

“During the lockdown, those who came to collect food were not only just the homeless, some were the urban poor hence the line was longer,” he said.

According to him, there was a huge number of homeless people who had been coming to them for years for food.

Dapur Jalanan feeds about 180 to 200 persons every Sunday evening at Jalan Panggung.

A 2016 study by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) showed that there are about 1,500-2,000 homeless people in the capital city, the unofficial number has increased in recent years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a survey done by the Department of Social Welfare in 2010, the top three factors are unemployment, low incomes and old age without family members.

Earlier this month, mayor Mahadi Che Ngah said DBKL succeeded in reducing the number of ‘street friends’ around the city through homeless rescue operations with related agencies and departments.

“So far, approximately 1,845 homeless people have been successfully rescued, placed in shelters and trained in various skills.

“This was done to ensure that this group could lead a normal life after being sent to the Anjung Kelana Homeless Transformation Center,” he said. – August 16, 2022.