Urban poor
Dec 28th, 2008 by Tian
Urban poverty is a serious problem in Malaysia. It is particularly prominent in inner city area like Sentul.
Marry is a single mother who had lived in Sentul for all her life. Her house was located behind the Pasar (market) and was in a appalling condition. She is currently living with a 16 year-old daughter who is schooling in Sentul.
Her case is typical profile of urban poor, especially women without income. Her issue was highlighted in the media two months back. As Member of Parliament for Batu, I visited and gave some small assistance.
The conditions of Marry’s house, more like a shed:
Marry’s plight had also caught the attention of a non-profit organization known as Habitat for Humanity. The NGO advocates housing for the people. Its projects involve the community in building houses as well as preserving heritage sites.
In our discussion, Habitat suggested to build a new house using a type of cheap durable material that would last up to 10 years.
It would also mobilizes volunteers to build the new house as a showcase. Thus we decided to launch the project as a Christmas and New Year gift to the poor family.
Thanks for Batu MP to highlight such hardcore poor..
keep up the kind work.
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A very commendable gesture for sure, YB. But over and above what little one person, or one NGO, or even a group of people can do, the responsibility should be borne by the government authority which is supposed to look after these things. We keep harping on moving on to become a developed country but our social problems are far from admirable. In particular, I have always been, and continue to be, greatly disssapointed by the government department which is supposed to be looking after the well being of women and children.
As promise you, I upload your photos today: http://xiaoeng.blogspot.com/
This is a great move to get Habitat for Humanity engaged in Malaysia as a helpful component in a plan to help the Urban Poor. My only concern is that Habitat for Humanity, with its strong ecumenical Christian influence, must be sensitive to the multi-religious nature of the country and community, and not engage in its Christian ministry work while helping urban poor members of the community who are not Christians. It would be great if we can get a non-sectarian, non-religious chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Malaysia.
Dear Tian Chua.
It really disturbs me to know that so many Malaysians still suffer in silence; whose plights would never be heard and their hope for aid to never arrive. What irks me even more is how Government can be such poor stewards of our finances… buying that worthless piece of space shuttle debris from the ANgkasawan programme for example… Even now, there is much debate embroiled on the new airport that AirAsia and Sime Darby want so badly. How can we aimlessly be spending that much money and not consider the greater good that could come out of these amounts of money! People like Marry would only need but a fraction of the amount we’re talking about to live a significantly better life. It’s plain injustice. I seriouly hope that this lacking of stewardship will be raised soon. In fact, by the next Parliament hearing, things might already be too late. Please, do speak for us.
can I bring to your attention 2 interesting articles I have come across.
Article 1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/10/AR2009011002236_2.html
The article above (last paragraph on the 2nd has more details), indicates there is a network of companies in Malaysia aiding Iran to get banned US technology.
See quote below
By 2007, the Dubai-based operation had been almost entirely replaced by the Malaysian networks, the ISIS study found. Yet, while perhaps less conspicuous than before, the Dubai network probably continues to exist, though in a different form. Typically, the new front companies will not be discovered until long after crucial technology has left American shores aboard ships ultimately bound for Iran, Albright said.
Article 2
In a rather longish article in the New York Times, I came across a reference to a Malaysia company, the Malaysian Smelting Co. this is a company listed on the KLSE but it looks like the majority shareholders are Singaporeans.
The relevant page is below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/world/africa/16congo.html?pagewanted=4
on the 2nd last paragraph on this page, it implies that Malaysian Smelting Company is buying Tin from international brokers who source from the conflict zone in Congo.
the exact extract is :-
The flights land in Goma, the provincial capital, where other middlemen buy and process the ore for export. Alexis Makabuza’s Global Mining Company is one of these buyers. Amid the sorting and cleaning equipment of his rudimentary processing plant sit dozens of barrels of tin ore. On each is stenciled the address of Malaysian Smelting Company Berhad, a major tin smelter. Mr. Makabuza said he sold to the company via a minerals broker.
Further reference to Malaysian companies buying tin from warlords in the Congo is here from the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7723988.stm
The extract from the BBC article is below :-
Located predominantly in India, China, Malaysia and Thailand, these smelters sell tin to component manufacturers.
So while Malaysian Smelting Co buys from an international broker, it can request that they not source from Congo. If you read the entire article you will realise that buying these ore’s are only lining the pockets of these warlords and destabilising the country.
I e-mailed the company but they have not replied. I would have not replied too in similar circumstances.
YB
KL Cityhall has many JV with developers. What happen to income of the condominiums they sold? Can we have some breakdowns of the income and expenses of the JV with private developers?
We have so many poor citizens in our own country.
najib can only thinks of helping poor malays living overseas.
We have so many poor citizens in our own country.
umno can only thinks of helping a hooker in England.
We have so many poor citizens in our own country.
bn can only thinks of spending millions to “Buy-Election”.