Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Uncle Amran, pictured center sitting next to Shi Wen, founder of Save Environment, Save Ourselves, who introduced me to him.
As we sat down, he told me his story: Graduated as an electrical engineer at the age of 23. Was about to get married, the love of his life’s parents betrothed her to another man from a rich family. Heartbroken, he took off from his home and lived on the streets.
He has been living homeless for close to 50 years: 8 years in Johor, 6 years in Penang, 5 years in Ipoh, and the other 29 in Kuala Lumpur.
Thus details the long life of Uncle Amran, the man who chose to be homeless. This is his story, from his point-of-view.
Uncle Amran: “I have been homeless for 50 years.”
I started my journey in JB. When I first became homeless, I worked as a lorry attendant. When the lorry arrives, we bring down the barang. Sometimes rich men, when they want to shift their house, they offer work to people like us. In the 70s-80s, we were paid RM8 daily. In those days nasi lemak was only 10 sen. But now nasi lemak you cannot get unless you pay RM2.
Our way of life is “always travelling”. I began in JB, then travelled from south to north, to KL, Penang, and Kedah. After many years, my observation is this: Living on the street, it is a culture. Not only in our country, but all over the world. Some of my friends tell me from their story: Everywhere you visit, any country, there are the homeless. You cannot get rid of this phenomenon. It is natural. Even in Japan. There are many, many.
Society’s approach to these homeless must be realistic. You cannot avoid them. You cannot punish them. They are not potential criminals. The reason they are homeless is because there are no job opportunities.
The only thing the authorities have to do is monitor their movement. To make sure these people do not endanger the society and the environment. That is more important. Because all this while, the authority, as in DBKL, their approach is wrong. They have been putting us homeless people in the lokap (jail).
The Destitute Rule: No Homeless Out and About After 12am
There is a rule, they call it “Destitute rule”: After 12am, no one is allowed on the streets. If anyone is seen in the street after midnight, the authorities have the right to catch these people and punish them in their lokap.
Even before the MCO, this rule already existed. This rule has been long-standing for more than 30 years.
A private NGO giving the homeless food.
Once, I was detained by bandaraya (the city council). I was in the lokap for almost 5 days. Insyallah, I knew an NGO that could provide me a lawyer. This lawyer is from one NGO by the name of Kedai Jalanan. So he looked for me, cos there are many lokaps. One of the famous ones is Sungai Buloh. He took me out of the lokap.
The officer, the leader of DBKL, Kuala Lumpur, and maybe also the mayor, they wanted to prove to the surrounding country and the world that “KL is such a wonderful city, there’s no homeless people.” So we are being criminalised, for no reason.
Because the job opportunity is almost impossible, and the price of a room is very expensive, so there has been no choice. And we end up in the street. This has been done for more than 20 years.
So when we sleep, in the city, after 12 o’clock, we are very afraid of this raid. It is very sickening ah. You just want to sleep!
We are not potential criminals. That’s why I say, DBKL, if you want to raid, it should be addressed to the drug addict.
These people are potential criminals. They need cash, so they may become snatch thieves. Some of the youth are notorious. Some carry knives. 10 years ago, this phenomena was very common, it was called “snatching” at the time. Now there’s no more snatching, so now I’m very happy, this case is no longer common in KL. It’s very, very safe. I must commend the Inspector General of PDRM for this.
Uncle Amran’s daily routine
My routine in the morning is, I usually don’t have breakfast, because we don’t know what time the next meal will be. But usually all religions give out breakfast consistently from 8.30 am to 11am.
The only unsafe time is during the rainy season. The place where we sleep is very small. If the rain is falling down straight, no issue. But windy rain ah, the whole of your body becomes wet. The floor becomes wet. So you have to sleep while you are standing. Sometimes you fall down from sleeping standing up. (He smiles).
Homeless people sleeping on the mats. They have no personal possessions apart from the clothes on their backs.
We are able to read the weather. We have to be careful with the cardboard mat, the carton. Without the carton, the floor becomes very cold after 12 midnight. Especially for the elderly. You must have a thick carton, 3-4 layers. Then you can feel the warmth. Otherwise you can get shivers.
The temperature rapidly goes down after 12 midnight. At 11 it’s still ok. But after 12, it gets very sickening, especially with the mosquitoes. Some of the NGO are very generous, they provide the mosquito coil for us. I must say I’m in a blessed country, where this homeless issue gets help from many NGOs.
I want to mention some of the NGOs that give us help consistently. Reach Out, which I consider as almost the ‘pioneer’ of NGOs, the founder is an English man. Kedai Jalanan and Dapur Jalanan. These two operate their program at Jalan Pangkuk/Panggut. Every Sunday, they give a hot meal.
Sometimes they give clothing, and toiletries, something like that. Consistently, every week. I’m also volunteering for them.
But one advice I would give about this situation. Most of the NGOs actions are: what we want, they give. But we need long term solutions. Because if they just keep on entertaining our needs, it never solves the problem.
KL people are very lucky. There are many NGO who are willing to give. But the thing as I say is, we must look from different perspectives. That means we must create a good job opportunity.
How to solve the problem of homelessness
It is escalating every year. Long ago I tried to sell this idea, but it didn’t get any good response, because homeless people are not confident in many things. What they need is a “Leader”. And one thing that I’ve tried to suggest, from my opinion, with the 2000 homeless people in KL, is working together with the commitment from an entrepreneur, someone interested in volunteer work.
We could set up one organisation, a cooperative organization. Cooperative means we “cooperate”: We shoulder our burden together. If you give people a job, and you ask them to work individually, they get lonely, and they will never last. They will give up. But if they work in a team, like brothers, then they are willing.
I tell you, this is one of the best solutions. If they work, they want to work with their companion, in a team. This is how they can enjoy life. If you ask them to work, and the work is individual, the work is very boring. Sweeping the street, picking up trash — you work alone. Homelessness is about loneliness.
Loneliness. Their enemy is loneliness. It’s not about the money that matters.
An elderly disabled person on a mechanised chair
Some of these homeless people, they have good talent.
You see (Uncle Amran gestures, showing IRL’s writer the 5-foot-ways) there are many youngsters. They comprise about 60% of the homeless here in KL. Their money and talent are being wasted. There are places elsewhere in Chow Kit where there are even more of these youth. You will be surprised by the numbers.
Some of these people have mental health issues. Just now, I’m sitting beside our friend, the young guy is maybe 24, the bag is just next to the old man, he just started looking for something (inside it). The old man said, “Eh why why?” “Diamlah” the youth replied. Now they’re becoming more rude. They will target the older generation of homeless people.
They don’t have paper qualification. But they have a great motivation to be someone. Many talent! Some have a (talent to become) a haircutter, a designer, but they end up not getting attention. Nowadays, you don’t have to rely 100% on paper qualifications. You must give these people a chance to prove themselves.
Because the Government relies on paper qualifications, there is no space for them. I believe that they can manage, if not better, then at least at par with the holder of the diploma or the degree. They don’t demand money, because they want to fulfill their time with this kind of job that they love. I’ve been voicing this one many many times, but come to the bad year, I get very very sad.
Homelessness is sometimes due to the breakdown of “the family”
If you want to nurture, you want to develop your children, you must start from the early stages. The most effective teacher or guide is the parent. With the parents in harmony, the child enjoys the company of their parents. But if the parents keep on quarreling in front of this child, this child becomes a sick child.
Because they look at others and say, “Other children have loving parents, but my family is different.” They couldn’t get love from their family. The most important keyword is love. So when they don’t get this love, they try to look for it from another source that is their friend, called “A Friend’s Love”. As they go on with life, getting older, finally they’re closer to their friends than their parents. So this is a very close indicator that this child will be a problem. They cannot manage their life.
And when they reach the age of 18, they haven’t planned their future. There’s no encouragement, this all depends on their parents. If a parent does not really bring serious attention to the child, finally they will end up on the street. So you can imagine now, you have 2000 homeless people, and some have a bad character from parental neglect.
Everything starts from the home. If you manage a home properly, you produce a good citizen.
I want to quote, a month ago, the Inspector General of PDRM, made a very, very nice statement: In the police force, you must pass a religious test, before you resolve to become a policeman.
This is very, very beautiful statement by the Inspector General. Because you know the importance of religion in your daily life. The value of religion is nowadays not given due attention or value. Nowadays, everywhere, every person in every nation is given the concept: Money can solve all problems.
When you want money, there will be no stopping. Always insufficient. Finally you will create more problems.
I ended up as a homeless man. But I have a strong commitment in religion. I try to outreach to people from a religious point of view.
Clothes being hung to dry on roadside bushes in Petaling Street
The weakest people on Earth are those that rely on others. That is the worst state of living, when you all your life depend on others. So now these types of people are becoming more numerous…simply because the home institution is slowly damaged, to the point where it’s almost destroyed.
Competitive living breeds a Robber’s Society
The wealthy people, they’re not doing enough to help the needy. Because to them, we do not increase their money. You can imagine I have been living on the street more than 48 years, close to 50 years. In KL, if you wake up in the morning and you sit at the bus stop, there’s no Malaysians.
In 1960-1970s, all the people waiting at the bus stop, all going to work, they were all Malaysian. But now at any bus stop, starting at 5.30am, ending at 9pm, none are Malaysian. Because all these low-class jobs are picked up by foreigners. Our leaders, especially those involved in business, want to get more workers, so they make it easier to bring in foreigners.
Importing foreigners is a good business! It’s a very, very good business. You can become a millionaire overnight by importing foreigners. The agent will charge the company, per head, RM2000 ringgit, and this agent needs to communicate with the country that they want to supply, they know how to manage.
But when the foreigners are causing the government problems, the agencies just pay a fine. The police catch and send the foreigners to the lokap, but the problem is still there.
This is the thing that the authorities are not really giving attention and care. This is life… competitive living. They’re always addressing how to improve intelligence, skills. Finally, our successful ones are creating a society, which is becoming a “Robber’s Society”.
Nowadays, in the age of competition, people are more concerned on polishing up their intelligence. And their approach is how to get things quicker and faster.
This kind of situation will produce mostly opportunist people. Nowadays, as long as you can give something, “I don’t care who they are.” They want a quick solution. Everything must be quick.
This is the thing that authorities must give attention to. In a “Robber’s Society”, people become very rude. Nowadays the youngsters, below 50, never have any regard for the elderly.
I notice… the people’s actions now are getting uglier and uglier.
They sacrifice the value of humanity. This is very, very serious. If we don’t address this now, or in the very near future, the whole nation, the whole world will lose the beauty of man. If you look at it now, the beauty of man is almost destroyed. That’s why we need new leaders to address this situation.
I believe the world needs a new leadership that emphasises on Humanity.
The homeless are people who have given up on life.
If you want to improve society, you must instill the values of sharing and caring. For your fellow friend, and your neighbor. This is emphasised in all religions. I, being a Muslim, believe the very purpose of religion is more toward Humanity than toward riches.
And finally, people need to understand the art of friendship. As you grow, you will understand more about nature, and then you will understand more about love. God is about love. Before you understand about love, you must be able to exercise the art of friendship.
That’s why I tell you the most obvious responsibility on this planet, in this world, is the institution of marriage. When you marry, you are willing to take up responsibility. Marriage is not harm, marriage is responsibility. When you exercise your responsibility, you become very happy. You will pass down the good quality to your child.
This is what life is all about. That is why I really appeal to the authority: The subject of civics should be introduced again in the schools.
Civics is about mannerism, it’s not about winning in a competitive environment. Your obligation to the seniority…You must exercise it in your individual life. Otherwise, at the end of life, humanity will be destroyed.
So I really appeal: It’s now time to restructure our country. I’m very serious about this.
I think every citizen, including the homeless Malaysians, can play their role to shape our nation.
For more stories like this, read: ReMission: Surviving Life after Cancer and I Battled Breast Cancer: Story of A Survivor.
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