COMMENT | Stop being a trashy society

COMMENT | Litter is any kind of trash thrown in small amounts where it does not belong. With time, it piles into heaps. Trash typically comprises fast-food packaging, cigarette butts, used plastic drink bottles, cans, wrappers, old broken furniture, used mattresses, broken computer parts, toys, empty cardboard boxes and food scraps.

In a country like Malaysia, the climate is hot and humid, so trash often becomes putrid, and the stench becomes unbearable within days. Stray dogs and cats scatter trash around urban and suburban neighbourhoods, so the radius of the eyesore increases within days of it being dumped.

Littering is also the practice of throwing items from a moving vehicle, at which Malaysians are very adept. It has been my experience, on many occasions, whereby on seeing litter flying out of a moving car or motorbike, the explanation given is, “must be an ‘Indon’ or foreign worker”. It is clear that Malaysians are embarrassed and in denial. They deny their despicable behaviour and are quick to blame others.

This time, rather than blaming the leadership, I want to take issue with ordinary Malaysians. I want to focus on the public. I need to reprimand regular citizens who could not care less about their surroundings. These are middle-class members of the public, who disregard the communities in which they live...