All hands on deck: Volunteers Farah Ismail (right) and Christina Yoong joining the Malaysia Clean-Up Day 2024 event in Petaling Jaya last week. However, every day should be a clean-up day, says the writer. — MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star
IT’S not a pleasant job but someone has to do it. Since assuming the post of Housing and Local Government Minister, Nga Kor Ming has made cleaning up our toilets and streets among his key priorities.
He isn’t the first to do so, as previous officials from the ministry have also tried. The late Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew, then Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister, took his job so seriously that he was nicknamed the Toilet King during his term from 1990 to 2010.
He was even inducted into the World Toilet Organisation Hall of Fame for his contribution towards improving and promoting the clean toilet culture.
In 2008, the Sarawak politician was quoted as saying that the days of dirty toilets were numbered. But while it sounded good in the media, it was too much of a tall order.
Until his demise in 2010, he failed to flush away these dirty toilets.
To be fair, there have been improvements at most shopping malls, upmarket restaurants, and to some extent, even the rest and recreation stops along our highways, but most of our coffee shops remain an embarrassment.
It is common to walk into these eateries to find toilet rolls missing with spider webs on the walls and grills.
We brag much about our Malaysian food but unfortunately many of the toilets in these food outlets are in disgraceful condition.
There is even a Malaysian social influencer, @marissa.wwc, who does reviews of our toilets on Instagram. It’s called “Berak Bersama Marisa Wong” – our local authorities should check out her videos. They may spot some familiar places, including tourist sites.
We are coming to the end of 2024 and Nga is now a man on a mission. He wants public toilets to be clean, attractive, and fragrant by next year, to improve the country’s image, especially among foreign tourists. For him, a clean toilet must meet the criteria of BMW – Bersih, Menawan, Wangi.
It’s all part of his preparations for Visit Malaysia Year 2026, which is just 15 months away.
Nga must be commended for his efforts, not just to clean up toilets but the country as a whole.
As part of his zeal to fight litterbugs, his ministry is in the process of amending the 1976 Local Government Act to incorporate community service as a form of punishment for serial litterbugs.
“If we receive approval from the Cabinet and Parliament, the new laws will mean that repeat offenders will not only be fined but will also be required to perform community service.
“Those facing these penalties may be required to wear special uniforms and sweep the streets, or even clean toilets for a minimum of two to four hours,” the minister told reporters after launching Malaysia Clean-Up Day: Mega Cleaning Programme in conjunction with World Clean-Up Day 2024 at Central Market in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Malaysia Clean-Up Day is a joint initiative by his ministry, the Federal Territories Department, and Kuala Lumpur City Hall, with strategic cooperation from PR1MA Corporation Malaysia and Malakoff Corporation Berhad through Alam Flora Sdn Bhd.
The mega cleaning and community service programme has been conducted at 649 locations nationwide, involving various levels of organisations, including state governments, local authorities, ministries, schools, fire stations, PR1MA Residences, People’s Housing Project areas, public parks, neighbourhood associations, and non-governmental organisations.
Nga has rightly said that any form of littering is unacceptable, regardless of whether it is done by a child or the elderly.
The big question, though, is how these laws can be effectively enforced given that local governments, especially in the cities, simply do not have the manpower to carry out the checks? There are laws for almost everything, but many exist only on paper.
Haven’t we all seen rubbish piled up right under a council sign declaring fines for littering?
Most people who stay in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will also tell you that many neighbourhoods, especially their back alleys, have become dirtier due to negligence.
If Nga is not to end up as another minister who failed to achieve his target, even with community service punishment, he needs a whole-of-society effort, and solid backing from all Malaysians. It must be a collective responsibility.
It doesn’t help that contractors working for our local authorities are slacking on their jobs. These contractors, who are paid to clean up our streets, are doing a real lousy job.
It is common to see our drains clogged up and strewn with rubbish, while the gutters stink. Malaysia gets a good amount of rain and there is no excuse for smelly and clogged-up gutters.
So why are our alleys and streets dirty? Blaming the local authorities is the easy part but we are all responsible for this pathetic situation.
The fingers should not just be pointed at local authorities but also the residents, restaurant owners, and workers who treat their neighbourhood as a dumping ground.
I really doubt if our elected representatives and local authority officials have taken the trouble to walk along our streets. And how many of us would take the trouble to file a report with the councils, although it can be done easily online now, but prefer to whine or let the media do the job for us?
Malaysians are too polite, and we avoid confrontations.
None of us would walk up to a restaurant owner or cashier to tell them if their toilets are bad, even though we have the right to give them a stern ticking off as we are the customers.
Malaysians take for granted that coffee shops need not provide toilet rolls. The local authorities must enforce all these rules as part of the annual health requirements for their business licence renewals.
Surely this is not too hard to enforce. We also want to make sure that corrupt health and local officials do not use this as an opportunity to make a quick buck on the side.
Nga should also seek the support of mosques, churches, and temples to back his campaign to clean up our streets and toilets because it is the right thing to do – not just to impress tourists.
These places of worship can help campaign for the need for waste management and environmental cleanliness as it is a requirement in all religions.
We could even take a leaf from Rwanda’s playbook.
In the east African country, the people are required to take part in a national clean up on the last Saturday of every month. It is one of the reasons that the country is renowned for its cleanliness. It was one of the first countries to ban single-use plastic bags and bottles, way back in 2008.
In 2018, I visited Rwanda and saw how they keep the country clean and the strict enforcement against rubbish – visitors are searched for plastics in their luggage at the entry points.
Nga’s mission must also get the support of the schools, and start on our young people.
Our children must be involved in collecting rubbish on school grounds to highlight the point that it isn’t just the job of the cleaners.
School toilets remain nightmares because there are culprits who don’t flush while urinals are often overflowing. Nga has rightly said that “everyone may be educated and have good manners, but personal awareness stems from responsibility”.
There are certain realities that we must face – with rapid urbanisation, the waste generated will increase sharply and there must be proper and efficient waste management systems in tandem.
With VMY2026 coming, we will see an upsurge in visitors but are those who manage our tourist spots ready to keep their places clean? They should not wait for 2026.
Awareness campaigns, stricter regulations, and better waste management practices must be an ongoing process. Let’s clean up Malaysia.
