Perhaps one of the more common sights that many Malaysian drivers have seen on major traffic intersections are the emergence of beggars who often wait on the curb before wandering dangerously between traffic to beg for money. Most typically women or young children, these beggars would approach drivers, gesturing with open palms in hopes of receiving some meager amount before the traffic lights turn green and they have to scurry away for safety.
In most instances, drivers would typically ignore these incidents and simply chose to keep their windows wound up and doors locked for safety. And similarly, these beggars often assume a passive air about them and will simply walk past the cars until a driver would be willing to spare some change.
Child beggar aggressively pounds on car door for money
And while many of us extend sympathy for young children who are subjected to extreme poverty in these cases, a recent incident has left many questioning the circumstances that these young children may be facing to have to go to these lengths to survive.
Not too long ago, a video had been shared across a number of community pages in the Malaysian social media space including Inforoadblock and @MalaysiaVirall, that showed two street child beggars meandering between stopped cars at a traffic intersection. While that in itself may not raise too many eyebrows among Klang Valley drivers who have encountered other beggars that operate at traffic junctions, what surprised many was how hostile one child beggar had appeared
Instead of waiting on the driver of the car to open a window, one of the two child beggars decided to take things a little differently. Approaching the car as he was being filmed, he pounded repeatedly on the car’s door before pointing at its occupants in a hostile manner. When the driver refused to open the window, he proceeded to slap his hand on the glass.
Netizens chime in
According to Inforoadblock, the incident had allegedly taken place in Cheras. Netizens have since expressed their disapproval at the child’s actions.
“If you do this at my car kid, I’ll open my window and spit on you.”
“I immediately feel like I need to buy pepper spray, hahha.”
“How rude! But what is also surprising is how there are still those who will encourage this behaviour by giving them money. Why would you want to teach them to beg in the middle of the road? If you want to do good, there has to be a time and place for it.”
However, it is important to keep it mind that we should instead be questioning why instances of child beggars are beginning to appear on our streets, and what we as a society can do to help prevent more children from being subjected to these circumstances.
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