Homelessness; Ruin image of a country

Homelessness is a prevalent concern to any part of the country. It is most related to street
begging in Kuala Lumpur and has becoming a raising phenomenon and the issue is catering
under the Akta Orang Papa 1977 Act 183. Homelessness may be defined in many ways, but is
generally understood as the state of not having shelter or a regular private space for sleeping,
washing and otherwise conducting one’s day-to-day life. Malaysia’s Social Welfare Department
rounded up 1408 homeless people particularly in Kuala Lumpur. The three articles that I read (
Mohd Ramlan Mohd Arshad et al., Policing Homelessness; Strachcona Research Group and
Policy Sheet Homelessness in Malaysia) discussed the causes of homeless and how it ruin the
image of a developing country.

Homeless people were found everywhere in the public spaces such as gas station,
restaurants, supermarket, mall walkaway, mosque and church. According to the report by
UNICEF (1992), they were the victims of abuse, neglect and abandonment of society. Poverty, in
its nature, is defined as the state of being extremely poor (Jelili, 2006). The rise in living cost in
Malaysia is a reflection of urban complexity and the population of homelessness increasing over
the years. The Economic Planning Unit (2013), Prime Minister’s Department Malaysia figures
that the abject poor households in Malaysia nation at 53.5%. The Star Online (19 July 2010)
wrote these homeless in the capital city are not all beggars or vagabonds. In fact, some of them
hold jobs during daytime. However, they do not make enough to pay for house or room and find
it easier to make ends meet by sleeping on the public spaces.

This issue contributed to some ethical dilemma on how we regulate nation policy without
discriminating homeless people needs. Malaysia is a developing country aiming at “ Wawasan
2020” where government working on eradication of poverty. Senator Shahanim Mohamad Yusof
said even though the number of homeless people said to be declining, however, it’s still can offer
damage to image of a developing country and should be taken under massive consideration. This
related to the fact that a country can fall under a judgment for not having any strong action
against poverty and lacking humanity concerning. This also can be seen in the views of foreigner
that visits a country and feeling unsafe with the homelessness condition happening around.
 In order to resolve the issue of homelessness, the root factor which poverty is need to be
taken as a prior consideration. It is recommended to the government to review the economic
policy to ensure it is more inclusive for those poor are stayed in Urban area (Mohd Ramlan
Mohd Arshad et al.,). A comprehensive economic policy must be implemented to ensure urban
poverty can be cut down short and stop when Malaysia achieve high income developed nation by
year 2020.