Down and out in Chow Kit and Chinatown

Kuala Lumpur can, to the casual visitor, seem a bit sanitised – a laid-back stopping point between Indonesia and Thailand, a place for travellers to arrive, get a stamp on their passport, and then head off to Angkor Wat or Chiang Mai (or home).

Our round alone gave out over a hundred meals

After spending time with Sharon Saw and her family, though I’d say they’re missing out. Even if our days have followed t

he same pattern as the rest of the trip – our nights have been enlivened (if that’s the word) by tagging along with our hosts’ insane timetable of volunteer activities. Our only ‘tour’ of the city, for instance, was joining them on a feed the homeless drive between one and three in the morning.

It was organised by Kechara, the Buddhist charity that employs Sharon. The homeless in Kuala Lumpur take to the streets because of mental illness, drug addiction or trouble at home (not poverty as you might assume); so rather than simply giving handouts the charity aims to give them a second chance in life, giving them counselling and legal advice and replacement identity papers.

Not just another plastic bag.

That requires trust though; and that trust is built up with the food deliveries. Hence our tour of bus stations, doorways and skyscraper service entrances, dropping off food in distinctive orange bags. The deliveries have to take place at night, to ensure the recipients are actually homeless.

By the way, you won’t get to see a video of Sharon once this trip is over – she’s from Cambridge (it’s a joint Oxford-Cambridge society here, which explains why she hosted us), and our remit only runs to Oxford grads. Cambridge alumni department, if you are reading this, the ball is in your court.

- Tom

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