Nurul Mimsy
& Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah/New Straits Times
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According to New Straits Times, 77-year-old Jusoh (alias) was left with no assets, claiming that his ex-wives had taken all his properties and abandoned him.
The OKU was married nine times but has no children or relatives. Thus, he was left with no choice but to panhandle to keep himself going.
“I have been married to nine women, but our relationships did not last,” he told reporters when met.
“I will never blame God for what has happened and accepted it as fate, although l’m now poor and have no one to rely on.”
“All my wives have left me after l gave them my properties. My last wife took my savings after l become handicapped following a road accident three years ago.”
It was his second day in the city on Saturday.
“I took a taxi from Machang to come here to get some zakat (tithe) from my fellow Muslims here for a living,” he related.
“I did not expect to get caught today.”
During the Beggar Integrated Operation on Saturday, State JKM Enforcement Division assistant director Mohamad Md Nor said they picked up 10 beggars, reported Bernama.
Nine of them are local citizens, while one is a Thailand national. All of them are aged between 50 and 77.
“We would like to remind the public not to be duped and to be careful when giving alms and donations as almost 80% of those arrested are recipients of JKM monthly assistance,” said Mohamad.
“JKM also launched a ‘Bijak Membantu Elak Tertipu’ (Help Wisely, Avoid Being Duped) campaign to raise awareness among the public to offer suitable assistance to beggars because we found that some of them have savings of up to RM20,000.”
Commenting further, he said the number of beggars will increase as Hari Raya Aidilfitri closes in because “more people will distribute alms then”.
Mohamad added that among the nabbed individuals, two of them used fake documents from a mosque to ask for donations.
He said the individuals will be sent to old folks’ homes, given a stern warning, and requested to sign a Letter of Undertaking.