Sunday Star December 13, 2009
Syndicates rake in profits
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3.00pm after work. The afternoon scorching sun was so hot that I felt my skin being fried as I hurriedly walked under the shade of the covered walkway towards the direction of the Plaza Rakyat LRT station.
After work I usually board the LRT at the nearby Masjid Jamek station to disembark 3 stations further down the line at Taman Mihajah where I would then collect my car at the car park for the hour drive back to Kajang. This has been my customary routine as the Masjid Jamek station is within 15 minutes walk from my office building. However on some days when I have to go to Chinatown for some errands then I would board the LRT at Plaza Rakyat Station where the Puduraya Bus terminal is located.
On this particular Saturday after clocking out of the office and with time on my side I suddenly had the urge to visit some book stores in the Chinatown area. After browsing around for about half an hour in a book shop and my feet and body growing weary and sore by the minute I decided it was time to go home.
The nearest LRT station from the Chinatown area is the Plaza Rakyat station situated next to the Puduraya bus station. The LRT station is located above street level and to get to the station you have to walk along a covered walkway including a long flight of staircase.
As I was climbing the stairs along one of the landings I saw an armless young man sitting on the floor begging for money from the public. His two hands from the arms down were missing and a big horrible looking open-wound covered one side of his face. The shirtless man didn't look like a local as he had fair skin and despite his horrible disfigurement looked well-fed and nourished. Sitting on the floor he was lying down half prostrating with a cup in one hand and the most miserable and sorrowful look on his face begging for money. Touched by the pitiful sight of the half-human some passerby tipped the begger with notes and coins. Then there were others aghast and shaken by the sight of the disfigured begger turned away their faces and continue their walk towards the station.
I instinctively reached for my camera-phone hoping to capture the scene for record. Then I thought about this pitiful half-human and asked myself what was the purpose of snapping the photo. Was it for my own selfish amusement and entertainment to post his picture in my blog so other people can enjoy the misery of the less fortunate? Already suffering so much pain and injustice I should not add on to his indignity by exposing his identity for the whole world to see.
I didn't snap his picture and as I was riding the LRT I was still troubled by what I saw. As a able person all my miseries and sufferings if any are really nothing compared to his and instead of whining and bitching about them I should count my blessings.
I have heard of horror stories of how criminal syndicates after kidnapping young boys and girls cut off their hands and legs and inflict other bodily disfigurements to force these people to earn money by begging on city sidewalks. Could this young man be one of these victims forced to a life of slavery to beg for a living by these merciless criminal syndicates?
The next morning the Sunday Star front-paged a story on syndicates earning thousands of ringgits a day by bringing in foreign beggers with severe deformities to beg for money. The Sunday Star also posted pictures of these foreign beggers with severe disabilities begging for money from the public in Malacca. The shocking images that you see here are downloaded from the online version of the Sunday Star. I decided to post the images here as with the publishing of the story by the Sunday Star these images have become public domain material.
As for the miserable, young, handless and shirtless begger that I encountered on a hot sunny afternoon in Kuala Lumpur, I did not snap his picture and even if I did I would not publish the pictures in this blog to honour what little is left of his dignity as a human being like you and me.
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