Word From The Streets

Firstly my apologies.
If you find the contents of my blogs and postings about Kechara a little sensitive then I am sorry.
But I urge you to check out the previous blogs here and also previous articles written on the Reach Out Facebook site.
This will allow those who are wondering why I keep naming Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) and the Kechara Buddhist Organisation in my writings.
I have no personal agenda against Kechara. But their work is flawed and their intention is deceitful.
The poor of Kuala Lumpur have got enough issues.
They have been abused and used for quite sometime.
And I for one will not standby and allow this to continue without raising the awareness of what we face in our own work with Reach and how this so called charitable society KSK operates.
Transparency and truth. That's what we want.
That's why I name them.
Ok now that I have got that off my chest on with the latest news....
On the midnight run on Saturday's we have been meeting at the Al Wira mamak restaurant on Jalan Pudu for sometime now.
Last week for the first time 4 volunteers from KSK came, pushed their way through where we were seated and then returned the same way to a small table where they continued to watch us. Mind you every time I looked at them they looked away quickly!
We were seated outside.
Three Chinese women and one foreigner.
We know them as they have confronted us on the street before demanding to know who we were and why we were feeding in "their area"! So rude!
So last night we meet again for a quick tea and a chat before we get on with our late runs. Once again the KSK volunteers, (2 of them), arrive. One moves his table right next to ours (despite there being plenty of room on the street and no other customers and stands staring at us, (again until I eyeball him), and as I make a move to stand up and go to speak to him he moves off into the restaurant itself.
On both occasions they are in plain clothes and seem to have abandoned their KSK t-shirts and IC cards. The arrogance has to be seen to be believed. Ask those who were there!
We move off and as we are transferring food from Datin Sury's vehicle to mine a young Chinese fellow walks up to Enn and Feexa and chats for a while. He then moves off and joins the KSK team.
Enn and Feexa then let us know that he approached us asking if he can come and work with Reach as he finds KSK "too religious"and is "very fed up with them"! Enn gives him our contacts and asks him to call, (we aint stupid and I want to do a full vetting on this guy).
Oh and by the way, last week we had a call from our fresh bread sponsor wanting to know if there was any substance in the rumours she had heard that we were replacing the fresh bread she donates to us with inferior mass produced bread on the street!
We of course invited our sponsor to come onto the street at anytime unannounced to check that there was no fact in these disgusting and unfounded allegations.
Mmmm.....
So off we go on our midnight rounds.
At Bangkok Bank I run into an old friend Kevin.
Kevin used to assists us when we packed at Bangkok Bank and has been a street friend for many years. Kevin is a great lad, collects old cans and cardboard and knows everything going on on the street.
He is....was.... ( I can qualify the 'was' after you read the following), a staunch KSK supporter.
Kevin was fuming.
I have never seen him so angry or animated.
This is what he told me, in front of other Reach Out Volunteers:
1. An old uncle who used to help us pack on the street years ago has been employed by KSK in their Jalan Imbi Soup Kitchen premises and has been speaking to Kevin recently.
2. KSK does not cook food there. All food is delivered from sponsors.
3. KSK has every item they require fully sponsored and in fact has extra food that they can't distribute so return it (dry goods).
4. This uncle has advised that KSK have made it public within their soup kitchen that they are raising funds for a "new temple". I can only assume this is the RM120 million for their monastery in the Genting Highlands.
5. Kevin advised that a KSK volunteer recently told him that KSK will raise the funds for the new temple.
6. Giant recently donated umbrellas to KSK for the street folks. None have been issued onto the street. Kevin advised that they have been distributed amongst Kechara members for their use.
7. Kevin recently brought to the attention of Justin from KSK (Justin heads operations and occasionally goes on the street), that there was an injured man near to Kota Raya and that he had a cut arm that needed medical attention. KSK ignored Kevin. The man was left to his own devices.
8. KSK have been feeding in different areas each Saturday. Kevin believes this is to try and cover more areas so they can claim to "do lots of feeding for the poor but actually they don't".
9. Last week KSK didn't feed in the Bangkok Bank area as normal.
10. KSK is feeding at different times and as such don't manage to get too a lot of the street folks.
Kevin was scathing and has advised that the street folks are now dumping the KSK food as they have found it to smell and taste 'funny'. Many Muslims on the street are refusing to even accept KSK food packets.
I asked Kevin if he had met Ruby Khong the KSK President recently as she had claimed in a recent newspaper and magazine article that she was on the streets of Kuala Lumpur 'every weekend feeding the poor".
Kevin spat and what he said cant be written here, but the gist was that no he hadn't seen her and can't remember the last time she was on the streets.
Our Chow Kit crew last night found that at 10.30pm - 11pm they had significantly larger numbers of street folks wanting food as KSK had not provided. Normally KSK are there before 10.30pm and we have to cover the folks they 'miss'.
We were fortunate enough last night to have, apart from our great normal crew, 11 Ustaz and future Ustaz from JAWI join us as volunteers on the late run.
The reason I say fortunate is that Amin, Ash and I were able to show them a KSK Styrofoam pack at the HSBC/7-11 corner containing a handful of vegetables and a handful of rice swimming in oil.
It smelt off and when I allowed Ustaz to view it he recoiled in disgust due to the smell.
The young scholarship boys with JAWI could not believe that this kind of food was on the street. Our friends from JAWI then spoke to some of the homeless at this location and were told that yes it was KSK food. Yes it had just been delivered to them. Yes they refused to eat it. Yes they ate Reach food as it was hot and fresh.
I am making no comment on this post.
I have made my comments already in previous blogs.
But I only want to say that with each passing day more and more people are having confirmed what I have been stating about KSK, their agenda, and their treatment of the poor and destitute.
And that is why I write about them.
Because the homeless who don't have a voice have one with Reach Out.
And for that I do not apologise!