KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — As with any celebration, rubbish is sure to pile up after the crowds have gone home.
This was the case of the 62nd Merdeka celebration over the weekend.
Most times, people will leave others to do the cleaning up.
But one young man took it upon himself to pick up the rubbish.
The 18-year-old boy by the name of Aiman Ariffin singlehandedly took on the daunting task of cleaning the waste of thousands of Malaysians, who gathered at KLCC Park in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the country’s independence.
In an Instagram post, Aiman expressed his rage over the irresponsible behavior of those who left their rubbishscattered around the venue on a significant occasion like Merdeka.
"The night of Merdeka should’ve been a night full of joy, fun and laughter but it made me feel internally anguished by our depths of ignorance.
"We’ve built engineering marvels that have mesmerised the world and we’ve defended Islam with our dying breath but at the same time we have failed to defend our country from the ignorance of our own,” Aiman said in his post.
Among the rubbish that Aiman collected was water bottles, drink cans, plastic cups and bags, straws and leftover food.
Shocked to see the irresponsible behaviour of the people, Aiman said he was perplexed by the large amount of garbage that was littered all over the area seconds after people yelled Merdeka.
"This is not the Malaysia that our ancestors had fought for.
"If you need an 18-year-old to spend two hours cleaning after your trash, then how far have we truly come as an independent nation?” he said.
Aiman ended his note by saying that a country’s success cannot be measured by the height of their skyscrapers, the strength of their military or the size of its land, but by its own people.
You May Also Like