Let’s face it, Kuala Lumpur is not the cleanest town in Malaysia. Nonetheless, we try to keep it as clean as possible by handling our garbage responsibly as we throw them into their designated rubbish bin.
However, over the Raya holidays when almost every Malaysian had already balik kampung, the trash in the metropolitan city saw a gross double in quantity, as discovered by Bernama.
It was revealed that the streets of KL were contaminated by fellow peeps who occupied the city over the absence of a majority of Malaysians during Raya, reported Astro Awani.
Popular places like Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR), Pasar Seni, Puduraya and Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) were filled with rubbish thrown all over the place.
Apparently, many were disposing plastic bottles and rubbish on every street they walked. There are rubbish bins for reason!
Not only that, some were even seen spitting out their leftovers of chewed betel leaves on the streets and pathways whilst enjoying the company of their friends. That’s not hygienic at all!
A local, Majid Adain, said that Bukit Bintang was filled with trash that it ruined the beautiful view of the busy town.
“My eyes hurt a lot after seeing the pilling rubbish and the chewed betel stains everywhere. These were seen after people were hanging out all night [in Bukit Bintang]. This happens every Raya or public holiday,” said the 58-year-old sweeper.
The negligence towards the cleanliness of our city has left many appalled. One lady hopes that everyone, especially tourists, will help Malaysia maintain its clean country image.
On the other hand, 50-year-old KL-ite Shamsudin Nordin wanted to show his wife around his birth city on the second day of Raya but felt rather uncomfortable when touring the place.
He was quoted as saying,
“My wife was excited when she heard about the beauty of KL, so I decided to fulfil her desire and took her out to the city today. However, I was disappointed upon reaching Dataran Merdeka.”
It’s saddening to see people being careless about the cleanliness of our beautiful city as it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep a public space clean, regardless if you’re a local or foreigner.
What we could do is lead by example and practise better ways of disposing even our smallest trash so that everyone else will emulate our efforts to keep the KL streets clean. Hopefully, with this initiative, we will be able to gradually improve KL’s cleanliness and hygiene!
Also read: Tourists Spotted Picking Up Rubbish in Sandakan as M’sians Stood There and Watched