One of the many NGOs on the frontline was none other than Pertiwi Soup Kitchen, whose founder, Datuk Munirah Abdul Hamid, has a firsthand account on the pandemic’s impact on the homeless community she’s helped for over 64 years. “When CMCO came, community centres opened and the homeless were slowly released after being rescued by government aid, and while some of them got jobs as well as accommodation after the programmes, most returned home,” Munirah states. “The ones who are out there now are mostly old folks who’d rather be outside than stay in a retirement home. So I suggested to other organisations that we have a safe house, especially in the Chow Kit area where families are living in cubicles that have neither ventilation nor windows.”

See also: Introducing Asia's Most Influential: The Impact List 2020

As a result of their cramped environments, the children of those families play at the roadside, which endangers their lives and puts them at risk of being exposed to the virus. According to Munirah, a safe space is vital, to not only protect them and their families but the community at large. “Let’s look at the bigger picture,” she explains. “You give culinary classes to a person living in a small, unhygienic environment. You hand them a certificate that indicates their skills, but it’s useless. That's because regardless of that person’s culinary prowess, no one will buy it from them because they’re concerned about hygiene!

“Giving them tools and skills is not enough—they don’t know how or what they should do with them afterwards if you don’t guide them. It’s the same with children, and the sad reality is that they could potentially join the homeless if they’re not provided opportunities. We need a more sustainable model, a certified space where children not only get to learn and have fun, but for people to learn how to create their products according to their interests while being guided on how to sell them.”