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Free Malaysia Today
6 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Soup kitchen feeds the needy, as access to food is everybody's right
The needy queue up for free vegetarian meals from a staff member of the Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen. (Andrea Rhiannon Edmonds@FMT Lifestyle) KUALA LUMPUR : It's about 7.30am on a bright and sunny Monday morning, and members of the Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen are already hard at work, washing and cutting vegetables for the day. Founded in 2024, this noble initiative located in Jalan Air Panas Baharu here, has been preparing free home-cooked vegetarian meals to be distributed to needy and underprivileged communities across the Klang Valley. What stands out about this soup kitchen, according to coordinator Arwind Kumar, is its emphasis on healthy and high-quality food. 'Vegetarian meals can also be unhealthy if you add too much salt or preservatives. Here, we don't use onions or garlic, and all our spices are sourced from suppliers who we know are ethical,' Arwind told FMT Lifestyle. 'Our vegetables here are all from an organic farm. And everything is fresh, nothing is pre-kept here. We don't believe in that. Everything is cut and cooked on the day itself.' The Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen is an initiative by the Kriyalakshmi Mandir Shree Sai Gurukul Charitable Society founded by GuruMaa Annai Shree Kriyalakshmi Deviyar. 'All this is because of a single person's vision and endless determination. You just cannot put out her fire,' Arwind commented. Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen coordinator Arwind Kumar believes everybody has a right to food. (Andrea Rhiannon Edmonds@FMT Lifestyle) A typical day at the kitchen starts around 7.00am, when members of the soup kitchen start work on the 600 to 1,000 meals they usually cook just in time for the lunch hour. The meals usually consist of rice and curry, with vegetables such as spinach, cauliflower, pumpkin, long beans, carrots and capsicum. Hygiene in the kitchen is maintained at high standards, Arwind added. Many who work here are family members of students from a nearby school, also run by the Kriyalakshmi Mandir Shree Sai Gurukul Charitable Society. Arwind said this was a good way to help underserved members of the community, while equipping volunteers with useful kitchen skills that could help them with employment later. 'Besides, who knows better about home cooking than mothers themselves?' Arwind quipped. He added that members were encouraged to mix things up and add variety in what they cooked: their mission is to make vegetarian meals fun and interesting. The soup kitchen maintains a high standard of hygiene and safety at all times. Andrea Rhiannon Edmonds@FMT Lifestyle) Once cooked, the food is packed, and transported by van to various locations all over the region. The kitchen has a list of about 40-50 locations they often visit, including homes and houses of worship. They also serve the marginalised, including migrant workers and members of the transgender community. Arwind commented that there were many other organisations in the Klang Valley who wished to carry out similar acts of charity. However, they were bound or restricted by bureaucracy. 'By the time you complete background checks, people are already starving to death. Our idea is not to judge or decide who deserves to eat. GuruMaa's idea is if you need food, come and take it,' Arwind stressed. 'It shocks us in this day and age, there are still school students who don't have enough money to get something to eat. And we hope we can contribute towards ending this problem. Food is a right, not a privilege.' Currently, the soup kitchen only serves meals during the lunch hour, but they hope to expand the scope of their operations in the future. Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen staff pack the day's food, under the watch of (left) founder GuruMatha Annai Shree Kriyalakshmi Deviyar. (Andrea Rhiannon Edmonds@FMT Lifestyle) For Arwind and staff members of the soup kitchen, knowing they have helped to feed someone and make their community a little bit better is the most rewarding part of their efforts. He emphasised that you don't need to operate on a big scale to create positive change: just start small, and the ripple effect will take care of the rest. 'We did not start this kitchen off this big. We started feeding 10, 20, about 30 people. You don't need to assume that to do things like this, you have to immediately jump the gun and feed 500 people,' Arwind said. 'If you can just cook for your neighbour who's in need, you're on the right path, you're doing the work already!' Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen 68, Jalan Ayer Panas Baharu Taman Ayer Panas 53200 Kuala Lumpur Follow the Brahmarpanam Soup Kitchen on Instagram.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘Such a clear message': homeless community kitchen told to move last-minute during Sydney's Vivid festival
A soup kitchen that serves hundreds of meals each week to Sydney's homeless community has been told at the last minute that they will not be able to set up during Vivid, leaving them nowhere else to go. The Alfresco Community Kitchen runs on Tuesdays and every second Sunday in Martin Place, next to the train station in the heart of Sydney's CBD. But on Monday, two of the kitchen's organisers, Tash Sanjay and Carly Hall, were sent an email from the City of Sydney telling them they would have to move. The email, seen by Guardian Australia, said that between Friday 23 May and Sunday 15 June they would have to find a new location. But on Tuesday morning, the area where the kitchen normally serves food was already cordoned off, with concrete blocks placed inside in preparation for an art installation to be placed there for the duration of the annual festival. 'We've been serving in the same spot for years at Martin Place,' Hall said on Wednesday. 'And it's never been a problem, even during Vivid.' With just a day's notice, Hall said organisers had no way of contacting the community to tell them the service needed to be moved, and when organisers arrived on Tuesday night, the area was already cordoned off with metal fencing. 'I don't know whether the City of Sydney thought we were just going to sort of whip around a group email to the rough sleepers, to tell them that the location had to change for the next day,' Hall said. 'That is just not feasible, in any sense.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email She said while the council had suggested other areas in the CBD, such as Queens Square or the Macquarie Street corner of Hyde Park, the kitchen's normal location was crucial because it was known to the community and surrounded by amenities. 'The location is really important and the City of Sydney knows that,' Hall said. 'Some of our patrons have disabilities, physical and intellectual, and this allows them to catch the train. It has lift access. It is well-lit, it has bathrooms.' On Tuesday, the kitchen served food next to the cordoned-off area, but there was nowhere for people eating to sit, Hall and Sanjay said. And during Vivid, they added, it would be filled with tourists. The kitchen partners with North Sydney school Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College and local restaurants and bakeries including Chargrill Charlie's, Attimo and Maggio's to provide high-quality food for those who cannot afford it. They generally provide 200 meals to about 150 people each time. Hall said the Alfresco Community Kitchen had been serving food for more than four years and had always been in the same position. In previous years, they did not have to move their site during Vivid, she said. She said the alternative sites proposed by the City of Sydney for the next few weeks were unsuitable because they did not have enough amenities – and without a suitable venue, they could miss six food services. 'It really does send such a clear message – and such a concerning message – about the priorities of the City of Sydney,' Hall said. 'That a light installation, which could be installed anywhere, trumps the basic needs of food and connection of these vulnerable people, who won't know where else to get it so will be stranded for a month.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Gregory Thurston, who has been coming to the kitchen for more than a decade, said it was not just about getting a meal. 'I've been coming here for years, since about 2013,' Thurston said. 'It's a place where everyone gets to see each other and help each other. They have medical services that come here too. [A Kirketon Road Centre mobile outreach van parks next to the kitchen, offering accessible treatments including flu shots and diabetes medication.] 'We get a chance to help ourselves and keep everybody going.' In a statement, the City of Sydney said it 'was devastating ' but not hosting Vivid in Martin PLace would not 'end the food security crisis'. The spokesperson said Destination NSW, which runs Vivid, had an approved permit to 'activate Martin Place'. 'Due to safety reasons, operators or vehicles not associated with the event who attempt to access Martin Place during this period will be turned away by the event organiser's security and NSW police,' the spokesperson said. 'The state government requires the site for Vivid, which also provides an important function for our city, and we have suggested alternate locations for this food service.' The spokesperson highlighted the city's annual funding of a$1.5m food relief program and $1.4m for specialist services. 'We understand both the level of need, and the service's frustration,' they said. 'The City of Sydney works tirelessly to meet all its responsibilities.'
