Using children to do it

ELAN PERUMAL provides a first-hand account of his close encounters with vagabonds over a two-month observation period.

I WAS surprised to find beggars and their children all over the place when I first entered their “territory”.

They were in the thick of action and I realised that they were well known among the petty traders and shopkeepers in the area.

Things were so intense that I was almost immediately approached by the young beggars.

Working partners: Sofinah and Salim taking a break after a long day of begging.

But they soon began to sniff something amiss – it was as if they knew that they were being followed and photographed.

Several traders even asked me why I had been photographing the beggars. They were worried that the beggars’ “livelihood” would be affected, and that enforcement action would follow.

From my observations, I learnt that the beggars operated under various modus operandi, depending on the age of their children.

The ones with babies would normally use a more “direct approach” by moving around in crowded areas to attract sympathy.

One of the mother beggars whom I thought was the most “hardworking” was identified as Sofinah.

She does not only operate along the terminal at Jalan Pos Baru but often gets onto buses to plead for money.

But after she kept seeing me, she disappeared.

Sofinah was afraid of me after I started taking her photographs.

She seemed to be the only one who was accompanied by her husband, Salim, who was physically handicapped. This guy only begged on the buses.

After several hours, Salim would go and enjoy teh tarik at a nearby restaurant while his wife continued to beg. The couple often sat next to each other at the bus stop.

Other beggars with very small children would wait at strategic spots such as the back lane near Plaza MPK. They would make their children sit in front of them, holding a bowl.

On weekends and public holidays when human traffic was heavy, the mothers would leave their children at a strategic point before moving to another location to beg. But they would often return to watch over the young ones.

Beggars with children who were independent sat along the pavement in front of shops or under trees near the terminal area.

I noticed that many of these mothers had more than three children.

There were those with five or six children “working” alongside them.

I witnessed how the children would run to their mothers with their collection. The mothers would quickly insert the coins into a pouch which they kept in a sling bag.

For the children, the area is not only a place for them to help their families eke out a living but is also their “playground”. They take time-off to rest and play with their friends.