Most people would save up enough money to cover their travel expenses before travelling abroad. Rather than save money to support themselves, some people would rather go “begpacking” in another country to earn some cash.
These “begpackers” species are known to ask for donations on the streets at popular tourist attractions (e.g. Bukit Bintang) or hotspots to sponsor their next trip but it looks like Malaysians are now fed up with them.
A couple of days ago, the Bintulu Info Facebook page posted a photo of two Russian “begpackers” on the side of a road in Bintulu, Sarawak with one of them holding up a cardboard sign that says, “We are Russian travellers travelling around the world without money. Please support our travels. Thanks”.
From the photo posted, it was clear that these tourists were hoping to receive donations from the cars passing by as one of them was seen holding a cap in his hands to collect the money. The Facebook page’s admin was very much against the idea of tourists begging for money from locals to sponsor their next trip. “If you don’t have money, please don’t travel. Go work instead,” the admin wrote.
The post has since gone viral with many local netizens agreeing with the admin that people (especially those from Western countries) should not be travelling without any financial preparations. Most criticised the foreigners for their actions with one even suggesting that they should work for their money rather than beg for it on the streets. A few even tagged the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Malaysian Immigration Department and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Malaysia in hopes that they’d take action against these travellers.
At the time of writing, there has been no information on whether the two Russian men are still in Sarawak begging for money. PDRM has also yet to release a statement regarding the issue. Let’s take this as a reminder that while travelling can be fun, begging for money from the country’s locals to sponsor your trip can leave a sour taste.
Source: Facebook
