The Hypocrisy of Charity with Cameras

Charity, in its purest form, is quiet. In Malaysia’s modern version, it comes with lighting, angles, captions, and a reminder to “like and share.” Welcome to charity with cameras—where kindness is measured not by impact, but by engagement metrics.

These days, help doesn’t happen unless it’s recorded. A meal handed over must be filmed. A donation must be announced. A good deed must be proofed like homework. Because apparently, feeding someone without documentation is suspicious. Did it even happen if nobody saw it?

The routine is predictable. Camera out first. Subject framed carefully—preferably vulnerable, preferably grateful. A handover shot. A soft soundtrack. A caption about humility written in bold confidence. Comments flood in. Applause arrives. Mission accomplished. The poor are fed, the ego is fed better.

And let’s be honest: the camera changes everything. It turns dignity into content. It turns people into props. It turns help into performance. The receiver becomes a backdrop for someone else’s moral branding. Consent becomes awkward. Privacy becomes optional. Suffering becomes shareable.

Defenders will say, “It’s for awareness.” Funny how awareness always needs close-ups. Funny how the same awareness never shows follow-ups, systems, or long-term commitment. Funny how the lens disappears when there’s no applause to collect.

The problem isn’t giving. Malaysians are generous people. The problem is conditional generosity—help that requires validation. Help that demands witnesses. Help that needs receipts in the form of views. Charity becomes transactional: I give, you perform gratitude, the internet approves.

Real charity doesn’t rush. It doesn’t expose. It doesn’t need captions to feel complete. It shows up again when the cameras are gone. It helps without harvesting dignity as content.

If the urge to record is stronger than the urge to respect, then it’s not compassion—it’s branding. And until we learn the difference, charity will keep looking generous while quietly robbing people of the one thing it should never take: their humanity.