APRIL 21 — A couple of days back, I read a Bernama report where compulsory garbage separation was set to be introduced in September, if I remember rightly.
According to the article, separation was to start in several states nationwide, on pain of a severe fine.
A commendable step, and not a moment too soon.
Hopefully, they will introduce it everywhere.
Garbage separation is one small thing people can do to help the environment.
In Japan, they don’t have much of a choice when it comes to waste disposal.
The country has no room to put it and they can’t dump it at sea, because it just floats back.
The need to reduce waste is so acute that you have to separate glossy paper waste from newspaper waste, from card and cardboard.
Plastic bottles will also be marked to tell you what kind of plastic it is and, thus, to be separated from other kinds, not least removing the label and cap before disposal.
You even have to buy special stamps to stick on unusual or outsized waste, like large electrical appliances, to tell the garbage men you have paid for them to take it away.
And woe betide you if you get it wrong, first a stern letter from your building manager then an even sterner fine from the council.
OK, so there is also the Japanese obsession with cleanliness and hygiene, but thinking about it, how is that a bad thing?
Wouldn’t you rather have a nice sparkling place to live in than a literal cesspit?
Talking of which, in many countries people are now expected to clean up after their dogs.
Now, they’re not expected to scrub clean every lamp post, but they do have to take their canine’s No 2 to designated bins.
And here’s the thing for the entrepreneurially minded: Waste disposal is also a huge industry, where people can make money from recycling and recycled goods, so indeed, the economy would get a much welcome boost and people could also find gainful employment.
Where there’s muck, there’s brass, as they say in the north of England.
And, in terms of dog muck, the man who invented the poop-a-scoop all those years ago is sitting pretty, most likely on a tropical island far away from all that, er, poop.
But it’s more than that. Disposing of your waste properly is a civic duty, a social responsibility even.
I remember the last time I deliberately tossed something away with carefree abandon.
When I turned around — the nonchalant turn of a child secretly up to no good — I was greeted by the high-velocity plate-sized hand to the side of the head from a father who knew full well his child was up to no good.
It may not be our property we’re ejecting our refuse on to, but it is most certainly our planet.
Besides, how filthy do you like your house, and are the rats and roaches pests or honoured guests?
Oh, of course, wait for it, come on, please do hit me with the age old excuse: I am but one person, what possible harm can I do to the planet?
Glad you brought that up, because when 30 million inhabitants here think the same way, then you really should forgo that five-star holiday to the Gold Coast or Europe and take a trip to the mouth of your local river.
Sungai Klang is a prime example and a breath-taking experience, for those of you with the guts to take your hand away from your nose.
Forgive me if your lungs start to rot, but then what harm can one person’s rubbish do? Multiplied several million times over.
Then again, if you’re really daring, then perhaps a nice refreshing swim, but probably best to have the stomach pump handy if you make it out alive, eh?
Some may find this a tad extreme but when you walk down streets paved in people’s discarded waste, past eateries built on open sewers and rotting garbage crawling with vermin not a few feet from diners so zoned in on their taste buds that nothing else matters, you do begin to wonder.
So, introducing separation is a step in the right direction.
It will teach people to be more aware of what it is they are throwing away but, in all honesty, it might be a step too far.
People have to learn what a litter bin is for, first.
* Gareth Corsi is news editor at Malay Mail. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GarethCorsi
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
