According to Datuk G Palanivel, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development, the Welfare Services Department did a study and found that Kuala Lumpur beggars earn RM70 - RM260 a day (that’s RM1,400 - RM7,800 per month).

And of course beggars don’t pay any income tax, do they?

Factors affecting income are:
- number of days “working”; I assume the guys that earn more money than the salary of an average state government department director are working every day of the month.
- begging location; presumably if you beg at places where there are many people and/or high-class areas you could earn more
- how good they are at facial expressions and body language. If you are very good at putting on a sad face, then you will earn more

They make more than some “classier” professions: a receptionist in KL only earns about RM1,200 / mth.

What makes it a more attractive “career option” is that under provisions in the Destitute Persons Act 1977, no punitive action can be taken against beggars, including those that *pretend* to be one!

Interested? I can already imagine adventurous professionals or financially-desperate ones taking a week’s leave and fly to KL to test the waters.

The social stigma and loss of face aside, you are *not* breaking any laws and this is much better than attempting to solve your financial woes through loan sharks, am I correct?

Before you jump on the next plane to KL though, consider this: in November 2004, the Ministry’s Parliamentary Secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said that the Act would be amended to make begging an offence.

And the amended Act is slated to be tabled in Parliament by the end of this year.

However, unlike some places like Medan, it will still not be an offence to give money to beggars. That means generous people don’t have to worry - it’s only the beggars that have to play hide and seek with the authorities.

Datuk Palanivel does not condone giving out money to beggars, but advised the public to refer them to the Welfare Services Department.

However, I think the number of beggars reported is too low to be realistic. The Department said up to July, there were *only* 284 beggars in the whole of Malaysia. If you think that’s a typo, the next sentence in the newsreport said out of that number, 13 are kids and 60 foreigners.

In the next paragraph, it said in 2006 there were 1,046 beggars in the whole country and in 2005, there were 911.

Source: Daily Express, 20th Sept 2007