One of the best jobs in the world

There is one special profession, which doesn’t distinguish whether the interested parties are graduates or non-graduates so long they have the strongest of mind and thickest of skin. However, dynamic acting skills are a pre-requisite to excel in its nature of job.

I’m talking about begging. Begging is ubiquitous in almost all countries, even the United States of America has these “professionals” I’m not wrong at all to label them as professionals because some really work full time as beggars. Who wouldn’t, because in a good day, these professionals can rake in a lot of money? There are beggars who are richer than both you and I combined and this is certainly not an exaggeration.

Apparently, several years ago, it was reported in a local Chinese newspaper on the discovery of a beggar who afforded his children overseas education! Then, there was another one which I saw with my own eyes whilst in primary school, a picture appeared in another Chinese newspaper of an old lady entering a chauffeur-driven Benz. Nothing wrong with that you may think but moments earlier, this swindler queued-up to receive donation from kind donors meant for her fellow oldies living in an old folks’ home.

Of all the different beggars found in Malaysia, no one angers me more than those hiding behind the religious cloak to swindle money from gullible Malaysians. Here, I would like to share tips on how to spot a bogus Buddhist monk from The Real McCoy. To the uninitiated, real monks are only allowed to have several essentials in his possession and they are robe (to cover modesty), alms bowl (strictly for food), razor (to shave their head), a modest shelter and medicine. Any other things not expressed here are considered luxury items, money included. In the olden days, even a pair of slippers was something foreign to Buddhism but times have changed and the religious order now makes allowance for slippers to protect the soles.

In addition to that, monks are expressly discouraged from partaking food after 12 noon. Taking all these into consideration, those robe wearing swindlers are definitely fleecing the unsuspecting public by peddling religious items in their alms bowls when the only item allowed in it is food given by followers. Malaysians who consider themselves Buddhists are partly to blame for allowing this problem to fester due to their ignorance of the very religion they claim to profess. Thais, Sri Lankans, Burmese and Cambodians will definitely see through the impersonators’ ruse because not only do their knowledge of their religion is more solid but back home and by the virtue of being Buddhist countries, the monks there do go out for their alms round every morning to receive food offering from the locals. In Malaysia, monks are not allowed to do that en-masse because of religious sensitivity since ours is not a Buddhist country. So, next time you come across “monks” walking from table to table seeking donation, you may ignore them. In Petaling Street, the “monks” just stand stationary at strategic places. Those are impersonators as well.

Lately, we are also witnessing many old beggars who are Mainland Chinese coming here to beg. These people are definitely brought into Malaysia by syndicates. Here, I would like to stimulate your thought awhile, how can beggars afford to buy plane tickets to come here to Malaysia for begging?

The other type of beggars is the donation seekers representing charitable organisations but these beggars are more dignified because they just have to carry files with a lot of pictures depicting the less fortunate people. I may sound like a cynic to you but I’ve been cheated for far too many times and it is out of civic-consciousness on my part that I am to here to prevent more people from falling victims to these dastardly scams.

If you are still keen on performing good deeds, you might want to consider buying provisions instead of donating money and send these items personally to the charitable organisations of your choice. This is what I do and while I realise even this method is not fool-proof, at least you have some control measures in place.

Otherwise, continue being a gullible fool. Your loss is the conmen’s gain.

Good luck.