Two PDRM officers came across a homeless family of five in a public toilet on KESAS highway during patrol duty on Wednesday (9 December).
The family were reportedly showering in the public toilet and planned to stay there for the night before they were approached by the police, as said in a Facebook post by Penang My Hometown.
Once the officers heard about the family’s precarious living situation, they immediately called Uncle Kentang, also known as Kuan Chee Heng who helped arrange for the family to stay in a hotel at Bandar Puteri.
No place to live with 3 young children
Kuan told Sin Chew Daily that he received a call from a patrol officer at 11pm on 8 December. The officer said that a couple and their three young children were showering in a public toilet and were even prepared to stay a night there.
“I immediately went to the place to assess the situation for myself. The couple had three young children, the youngest was only around one-years-old. They had no place to live. They didn’t even have milk formula to feed their baby,” said Kuan to the news publication.
He then arranged for the family of five to temporarily stay at a hotel and took care of all the fees. He also asked his friend to help buy milk formula for the family.
Kuan soon discovered that it wasn’t the first time the police had encountered the family. Apparently, the patrolling officers found them in the same place the previous week and suspected that the family had been evicted from their residence. Nonetheless, they still offered to help them by finding a place to stay.
Still homeless
Despite Uncle Kentang’s kindness, the family was still homeless after their night at the hotel. Kuan then handed the family to another volunteer known as Albert Chung who told World of Buzz a little more about the family’s situation and what netizens can do to help. “They checked out in the morning and as I was hanging out with Uncle Kentang at night, something in my gut told me to call them and get an update on their situation,” he said.
Chung discovered that the family had returned to another R&R in Awan Besar to shower and sleep at a laundromat nearby. “I immediately told them to come back to Puchong to meet me and Uncle Kentang so we could arrange for them to stay at another hotel. I said, no matter what happens, just update me on their situation but because they feel shy and blessed by what they did before this, they didn’t call me back,” told Chung to World of Buzz.
After much convincing, the family agreed to return for another night. The next day, Chung took the family out for breakfast and spent the whole day trying to find a job for the father and a place for the family to stay. Thankfully, they managed to find a cheap room to rent and stay in temporarily and the father managed to get a few job interviews to attend today (14 December).
We asked Chung how the public could help out this struggling family and he said they could reach out to him to provide for the family’s urgent basic necessities. “Hopefully the public can help by perhaps giving the father a job offer, or by buying milk formula and diapers for the children.” Donations to help with their housing situation are also welcome.
AKHIRNYA MEREKA ADA TEMPAT BERTEDUHTerima Kasih kepada seorang lelaki bernama Kelvin kerana membantu kami mencari…
Posted by Albert Chung on Thursday, December 10, 2020
In Chung’s most recent update, it looks like the father managed to secure a job from one of his interviews! Hopefully, this is the start of a better season for this family.
Kudos to Uncle Kentang, Chung and all parties involved for their kindness to this homeless family. You can reach out to Chung on Facebook if you’d still like to help them out.
Also read: “She’s a strong woman” Ustaz Ebit Lew Meets Viral Foodpanda Aunty & Helps Repair Her Car
