AK Rockefeller Topics

poverty

Inequality in Bolehland

Inequality in Bolehland

Will there be any improvements to the state of poverty and hardship for Malaysians and migrant workers? What are NGOs and government agencies doing to improve the quality of life for marginalised communities? Or will ...

The Asmat: Cycle of Poverty and Malnutrition

The Asmat: Cycle of Poverty and Malnutrition

The village of Tomor, where rivers weave like snakes through thick forest, is so remote that its 500 residents have no regular access to education and health services supplied by the government. Health officials said ...

Dream State

Dream State

Poverty in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Art and photography by Zashnain Zainal   ...

Capture the Real You

Capture the Real You

Homelessness and urban poverty in Kuala Lumpur. Photography and art by Zashnain Zainal | Malaysia. ...

Dark Side

Dark Side

Shadow is the dark side, Where beings are hidden from plain view. Invisible not just to sight, but also to our other senses, our consciousness, We hope, and pray, that they, those dark beings, do not stir from their ...

A Sinuous Path Through the Slum

A Sinuous Path Through the Slum

There’s no way one can miss the presence of slum neighbourhoods in Bangkok. Urban poverty gets in your face, regardless where you’re travelling in the congested City of Angels. Despite its overbearing pre ...

Time Will Remember Their Perseverance

Time Will Remember Their Perseverance

Bangkok. As I walk on a narrow alley towards my sanctuary, I see no improvements for many urban poor Thai families. They live in slums – often seen as a labyrinth of confusion and destitution. The part where sm ...

Struggling Urban Communities

Struggling Urban Communities

In a realm of loss, individuals are forgotten and neglected by the mainstream doctrine of social development. Photographs by @bedlamfury Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2018   ...

Blinded by the Light

Blinded by the Light

Marginalised communities struggle in Kuala Lumpur, the heart of Malaysia – a capital known as the garden city of lights. But the government and ruling political parties continue to compliment themselves for  ...

Misery Waiting at the Bottom

Misery Waiting at the Bottom

Public agencies and government systems have grown increasingly rigid, often swollen with bureaucracy and stifling with corruption. The poor and marginalised communities continue to live in a pitiful existence – ...

The Curse of a Fine City

The Curse of a Fine City

I have returned to the bustling city, which was once my home. Despite my exhaustion, my eyes feast on the familiar sights of Kuala Lumpur, those lingering memories. Time has been merciless upon this city – a na ...

Communities, Landscapes Shaped by Apathy

Communities, Landscapes Shaped by Apathy

Home Urban settlements, with their self-built structures of mismatched wood, cheap cement and rusted zinc. They’re vulnerable to rain and flood, and now, the dreaded cold. Maze Neighbourhoods, their alleys fill ...

Housing Beyond Reach

Housing Beyond Reach

Economic prosperity is an oddity of some sort, an irony at best, especially for marginalised communities in Thailand and Malaysia. According to experts, the economy is expanding, but based on what I have observed dur ...

Urban Paradise

Urban Paradise

Kuala Lumpur is a developed and successful urban paradise ~ with modern structures, sophistication and elitism. Yet poverty grows unchecked, and apathy is a doctrine worshipped by many. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017 &n ...

Agelast

Agelast

The rainy season is upon us. Yet, in this colossal city, the homeless are still without permanent shelter, exposed to the harsh downpour, unable to escape the sight of lightning and the never-ending flash floods. Ban ...

Solivagant

Solivagant

The unapologetic urban rogue. A lone non-conformist to the predictable, senseless whims of Malaysian high society. Mental health services and outreach activities are dwindling and often inaccessible to those who wand ...

We do not want to see them

We do not want to see them

I grow weary of failed promises… Of housing for the poor. Of a social welfare system that would improve the quality of life. Of protecting the dignity of the underprivileged. Yet human rights and societal value ...

Fall from grace

Fall from grace

Three years of junta rule, no progress in sight. The urban poor continue to grow in cities, and the marginalised are abandoned to the karma that society has unfortunately accepted. Social equilibrium Bangkok, Thailan ...

Angels will rise

Angels will rise

Life is such, the parallel of life and broken promises. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017.   ...

There is no comfort in the truth

There is no comfort in the truth

Every day; the homeless wander, The poor they slumber. Into the night – Then forgotten. Bangkok, Thailand 2017. ...