Two senior citizens die in rush for free food coupons

Published: Jan 28, 2019 6:27 PM | Updated: Jan 28, 2019 6:56 PM

The women were at the ICC Pudu complex to get the free coupons being distributed.

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Punk minister n old man PM, shame on you. This malay proverb comes to mind- Kera di hutan disusukan, anak sendiri di rumah mati kelaparan

Lau ah pek09:41 AM, 29 Jan 2019

Idiocy, please don't politicize every issues. This is a about proper organization need to be tactful when organizing event like this and consider human factors when it involve elderly people or young children. It's just the organizer being unprofessional. The intent was good though.

Eric Chua09:25 AM, 29 Jan 2019

This is heart wrenching. Why should this be DAP's problem? Is anyone implying that this is the only party that cares for the people's welfare? I hope we are not trying sick racist insinuations? This is the government's and every Malaysian's problem.

08:16 AM, 29 Jan 2019

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Punk minister n old man PM, shame on you. This malay proverb comes to mind- Kera di hutan disusukan, anak sendiri di rumah mati kelaparan

Lau ah pek09:41 AM, 29 Jan 2019

Eric Chua09:25 AM, 29 Jan 2019

08:16 AM, 29 Jan 2019

Why are the poor & old subjected to such treatment for charity handouts Shouldn’t such charity good deeds be carried out in a humane manner Last time there was stampede & chaos & destruction of food in the supermarket when RM 3 K for food items was given out . Do we need Senior Citizen rights to ensure that the elderly get their share like the ketuanan rights & how effective is this !!

NB Sudhakaran06:47 AM, 28 Jan 2019

Who will look after the urban poor ?? PH ? BN ? or they have to die silently

TAN JEE CHIN10:56 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Malaysia needs a system where the poor and needy have access to quality healthcare, adequate food and shelter. We should have a system where the poor are registered with a govt agency and 1/10th of the budget allocated to feed them and provide them the means to overcome poverty. Instead of focussing on black shoes and world class infrastructure we should set up a system to address this urgent need so the needy dont fall by the wayside. Very few Malaysians would share even a small portion of their earnings to help these unfortunate. Too many are only interested in the acquisition of wealth and indulging in their wants. LIfe should be more about each of us doing our part in raising those fallen. Govt should focus on the quality of living not comfort and riches. PH has yet to show any tangible policy to address poverty. There is no central authority focussing just on the care of the poor and unfortunate. An advanced society must be one that positively contributes to higher quality of living measured by equal access to quality food shelter education justice and healthcare. We are so keen on making sure all have equal access to high quality bandwidth and entertainment and not that which matters for life. Malaysians have unequal access to justice healthcare food and education. Only the haves have fair access while the poor are forgotten. Exacerbating this is the entitlement attitude of certain segments of our society who believe that because they are the first they have the right to everything even to the extent of taking the benefit of another’s hardwork and denying others access to scholarship grants etc simply cos they are not of a particular race while ‘needs based’ is paid lip service in determining the beneficiaries.

mikugoh10:54 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Appum28/Jan/2019 at 9:37:51pm, just kick Bersatu out of PH! Pull Warisan in. Then PH can function freely and normally!

lee choon kheng10:48 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Fake news? I thought the govt presumes all Chinese are as rich like Tan Sri Vincent Tan; Tan Sri Francis Yeoh. In fact, I thought all Chinese are Tan Sri billionaires that doesn't need govt aid so why are these 2 senior citizens queuing up for food coupons?. Must be fake news.

wan dos10:18 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Who says there’s no poor chinese??? Where is NEP for citizen like Ah Nang & Ah Po??

HK Tee09:54 PM, 28 Jan 2019

So sad to see this sad reality happening in KL, I know there are many similar senior citizens in Penang too. PH government really need to speed up the efforts to help those really in need, reducing cost of living and many other fundamental needs.

Mohamad Syafiq Haji Othman09:40 PM, 28 Jan 2019

What does this incident show and tell us? All Chinese are rich? The fact is, there are poor in all the races and there are rich ones too. So PH,especially Mahatir should review his own views about wealth status of Malaysians. We elected the PH Government hoping to change the the approaches towards solving our economy, and "distribution of wealth" through needs basis and not through race or religion, as practised for the last 60 years. Yet we hear that the NEP and the bumi ,non-bumi factors must be retained to solve our problems. This is not acceptable any more. PH must sit down sincerely, especially Bersatu, to act and reconsider new approaches to solve our problems based on a Malaysian template. This incident is not for DAP to study and solve, it is for the Pakatan Harapan Government to solve it rationally. Just imagine with 200 free coupons available 1000 people turned up to "fight" for them. Is this Venezuela or Malaysia? It is high time Pakatan Government show the rakyat with real political will to Change. And with rational and fair implementation, the Malays will not be left out if they form the majority of the poor. Statistical balance will come into play. If Pakatan has no courage to steer ahead following a secular and really a beneficial and result orientated path for the people to see and enjoy then they will be no better than UMNO and PAS. And Pakatan will never be able to overcome and win over the race and religion cards UMNO and PAS is playing. We need a great paradigm shift in our political thinking and action in order for Malaysia to go forward and progress globally. Since the Malays are the significant majority here , they should lead this kind of change . And our current leadership should steer the Malays towards such a change. There is no way the minorities will not accept such a positive change for the good of all Malaysia.

chan Jin yang09:37 PM, 28 Jan 2019

This is expected in Malaysia Baru.

lily09:34 PM, 28 Jan 2019

It is truly heart wrenching to read this piece of news. I hope the families of the two senior citizens will sue the organisers. In future the government must ban any organisation or mall from organising any event that promises "free" handouts in whatever form. It is simply dangerous. More often than not, these "free" promotions are nothing but a gimmick so they are actually cheating the people. "Crushes are very often referred to as stampedes but, unlike true stampedes, they can cause many deaths. Crowd density is more important than size. A density of four people per square meter begins to be dangerous, even if the crowd is not very large."

KS Chong09:31 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Chinese millionaires are busy helping the "majority race" to get cheap publicity and not bothered about their own race.

you hock09:27 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Mahathir needs to open his 2 big eyes and go to the new villages to see for himself the poor among the Chinese and Indians. Not only the Malays are poor. Poverty cuts through race. Why would 2 old ladies come begging for food if they were well off?? Sick of this race card that is always played up.

Seenhau THAM09:24 PM, 28 Jan 2019

When will we learn ? It was not so long ago that an offer of free groceries in Johore resulted in chaos. If someone wants to give free coupons to a limited number of people - identify them by name and only invite them for the distribution of the coupons. So now 2 women die for 200 coupons to be distributed ! Sometimes good intentions can result in bad consequences . A little thought should be given as to how such handouts should be given. There are clearly many people in desperate need of food and basic necessities.

Max Ooi Yeung Aun09:23 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Oh my God. This is happening in our Malaysia. It is very disheartening. What is our welfare Ministry doing . Please help the poor.

Joshua Ho08:39 PM, 28 Jan 2019

This incident points to the fact Dr Mahathir and other ultras are liars when they say the Chinese are so rich "that's why we have to help the Malays!"This is pure bullsh#t! Policies that tax the marginal income of the rich at 70% or more (whether those rich are Malays, Chinese, Indians or others) will help to support the poor ( of ALL races equally) by providing healthcare, minimum wages, social security systems, free Uni education etc.

Dahari Jol08:24 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Playfair, you commented : "Died a beggar's death. Wassalam." Why characterize this as a beggar's death? They were two elderly women over 70 years old. How do you know they were beggars? They may have lived frugal lives, without ever begging, and one way to save is to collect coupons for free food - that isn't begging. Begging is asking the govt to support you forever with tongkats, licenses, govt jobs and so on. Masking this as honorable by saying "We were here first!"is shameful. Just as cheating the people by stealing $2.6 billion and then pretending it was a gift from the Saudi govt - that is so shameful. But they are shameless people. Your comment is disgusting. Repent. But why am I not surprised?

Dahari Jol08:19 PM, 28 Jan 2019

Pity these Chinese old folks 1000 turned up to get 200 free food coupons. DAP should investigate who are they, go look for them and tackle the issue immediately.

Selvaratnam Vijayaratnam08:14 PM, 28 Jan 2019