Who Will Feed The Homeless During The MCO?

Given the currently intrusive pandemic that has been altering our daily lives, many are facing troubling situations that involve the well-being of them and their families.

Due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia, large groups of homeless, jobless, and penniless people are caught in a helpless state. With the roads left empty, these people are unable to work odd jobs for money or eat scrap leftovers from shops to sustain themselves.

Recognising their need for help, Pn. Karimah Koh and Datin Nelly kick-started a project to prepare food for these 120 homeless people at Kuala Lumpur every day. When we heard about their efforts, Dr. Billy Tang, founder of PWD Smart Farmability, immediately connected with Lala Chong Seafood Restaurant to invite them to share the burden.

Lala Chong is no stranger when it comes to working with PWD Smart Farmability in their efforts of helping the needy. We have previously collaborated with them in helping the Myanmar refugees of the Lisu tribe. With their kind help, Lala Chong joined the project by committing to providing meals for the homeless people every alternate day - as they have also committed to cooking for laid-off construction workers every other day.

Through this effort, we have come to realise that no matter what worries we face, food should still be placed as a top priority. Worries like job security, citizenship applications, or anything else would not even matter if we do not have food.

The current food production system in Malaysia is where vegetables are all produced from a centralised thousand-acre farm that will then be transported by a large truck that distributes to different markets. Not only does the transportation method increase our carbon footprint, but this food production system also creates heaps of wastes when the extra vegetables are thrown away at the end of the day - while leaving thousands of hungry people stranded with no food.

As learnt from this pandemic, matters like the employment rate would not even matter if our country does not have a proper food production chain that can supply and provide food for the public properly.

This is why PWD Smart Farmability continues to ask the people of Malaysia to stand with us in our efforts to establishing Food Security, beginning with the marginalised. It is especially when times are troubling, that we should reach out our helping hands to the most vulnerable people out there and create an inclusive society that looks after each other. For more information on our efforts and how you can help, go to our website at www.pwdsmartfarmability.com/ today.