An evening with the homeless in KL

On March 15, about forty of us from The Edge and related companies spent an evening with Kechara Soup Kitchen, handing out food to more than 800 homeless folks in and around Kuala Lumpur.

Everything was well organized and volunteers from Kechara have impressive knowledge and familiarity with these people. Their sincerity was admirable.

What touched me most was the fact that there were so many kids involved and some of the elderly were in very poor health.

I will not attempt to articulate the reasons for homelessness. The various Government agencies and support groups such as Kechara are best equipped and they do an excellent job.

But I would recommend spending an evening with them. It does give life a little better perspective.

I would add however, that homelessness in Kuala Lumpur is neither unique nor worst than elsewhere. I was in Taipei and as I walked the park in the early hours, there were many homeless there too. And in Vancouver, despite excellent social safety nets and the very cold weather at times, there are many homeless folks too.