Kuala Lumpur, Apr 22 (Sin Chew Daily) — Since the start of the movement control order (MCO), many homeless people, elderlies and those working on daily wage basis suddenly find themselves trapped in a dilemma: they have no food to fill their stomachs.

E-hailing driver Zhan Jia Wang has been working with friends to deliver food for the underprivileged groups in front of SJK (C) Kung Min in Pudu since the first day of MCO.

But with the MCO extended several times now, more and more people have come forward to receive the free food. The cost of supplying food keeps increasing.

After Liang Xie Qiang from the Malaysia Chapter of Buddha Light International Association learned about the situation, Fo Guang Shan stepped in to offer a hand by raising funds to buy food and cook for them.

Liang said when he first visited the place to distribute food, people ignored social distancing rules and crowded the food-carrying vehicle from all sides.

Due to the chaotic situation, health officials and police warned that no one would continue distributing food if precautionary measures were not taken.

For this reason, Fo Guang Shan requested the civil defense department to visit the site on April 18. On site-disinfection was carried out at least twice a day, and safe distance marks were drawn on the floor. People had to line up orderly in order to get their food.

Liang said Fo Guang Shan hopes that everyone can have a meal. Since the group started distributing food, the volume of food keeps climbing—from 50 packs to 320 packs—as more and more homeless people have come. Over a hundred pieces of bun have to be prepared for distribution, too.

Each day, Fo Guang Shan prepares a different set of meal for the homeless and elderlies as this can be the only meal they have for the day.

Liang said as more people have come to know about the food distribution, many have offered to donate. Citing an example, he said when the shop owner learned that he was buying mineral water for the homeless, he offered not to charge him anything.

Liang also encouraged Zhan to go on with the good work when the latter was encountering the problem of continuing the food supply due to the increased volume required.

Fo Guang Shan starts to distribute food in front of the school at 10:30 each morning. After Fo Guang Shan has joined in, the queue has been getting even longer. Many have walked several kilometers to receive the food!

All the lunch packs would have been distributed by 11. Each recipient is also given a face mask as well.

Liang said the lunch could be their only meal for the day. Some sat on the floor to eat right away after getting their food.

Zhan told Sin Chew Daily he saw some people lying on the roadside when he once drove past the area, and decided to pool the resources with several friends to buy bread for them.

Zhan and friends later sought assistance on the social media for food donation, and he personally drove to the restaurants to pick up halal food for distribution.

He started to look for help after distributing the food for over 20 days as it became financially taxing for him to continue distributing food.

Fo Guang Shan came in to support after a friend told Liang about him.

One of the food recipients, Liu, 50, said he worked at a restaurant earning on daily wage basis, but had been left with no income since the first day of MCO.

He walked one and a half hours to Pudu to receive the food, and was grateful to the good Samaritans and Fo Guang Shan.