Begging is a common sight in Malaysia, where both the young and old rely on the kindness of strangers to get by each day.
However, not all beggars are as destitute as they portray themselves to be, as a group of Social Welfare officers found out during one of their rounds.
Thought beggar was deaf and mute
In a lengthy Facebook post shared by the Social Welfare Department (JKM) in Maran, Pahang, the officers were conducting spot-checks to eradicate begging activities at the Sri Jaya night market where they saw a beggar clad in a jubah and kopiah standing near one of the stalls.
They then approached the beggar and asked him the reason for him begging in the area but got no reply, leading them to assume that he was deaf and mute.
They also noticed that he had several RM notes inside the paper bag he was holding, where he ‘earned’ it by begging from passersby.
When the officers continued to press the beggar in producing his identification documents, they were surprised to hear him speak and realised that he was perfectly normal except for suffering a disability in both of his hands.
Shocked to find beggar owning a Proton X70
When the officers followed the man to his car to retrieve his OKU card, they were astonished by the sight of a Proton X70, where they later discovered that it actually belonged to the beggar.
Upon further probing, the officers discovered that the beggar, who resides in Balok, Kuantan, would visit night markets to beg for money from the public.
They also discovered that he had been receiving a monthly financial aid of RM450 from JKM for his disability since 2001.
According to the beggar, his daily earnings could reach as high as RM500 after spending 4-5 hours of begging at night markets.
Towards the end of the post, it stated that the beggar was issued a verbal warning before being let go. It also urged the public to make sure that their alms go to those who really needed it.
Read the post here:
Last month, it was reported that foreign beggars were earning at least RM10K monthly in Johor:
