By Goh Ban Lee.

LIKE city dwellers all over the world, Malaysians, especially the youth and the young at heart, welcomed the New Year in public parks and open spaces. Having enjoyed themselves, they left behind tonnes of plastic cups, bottles and food wrappers. It was reported that they left behind about seven tonnes of rubbish in Dataran Merdeka and Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur. In Penang, about five tonnes were collected from Gurney Drive and a coastal road near Queensbay Mall.

Sadly, revellers in Malaysia have not learnt how to enjoy themselves without littering the very sites they gather to celebrate. Yet the country is expected to become a developed nation in a decade. Even if the Wawasan Merdeka project with a 100-storey tower and Greater Kuala Lumpur become realities and we are able to double our income by 2020, the country cannot be considered developed if the people continue to disregard civic consciousness.

Internationally recognised liveable cities, such as Vienna, Vancouver, Melbourne and even Singapore are judged on liveability and not on the tallest or biggest buildings or the wealth of the citizens.

Yet we blame the local authorities for the poor quality of life. While there is no doubt that they play a big role in making the towns and cities more liveable, the residents must also play their part. In fact, the local authorities have provided the ground rules for building liveable cities by enacting bylaws and development control plans to facilitate the proper development of towns and cities.

Unfortunately, these are not complied with. As a result, open spaces are used as hawker centres, pedestrian walkways become car parks and open spaces, parks and drains are treated as rubbish dumps.

While ignorance of bylaws and too high a standard do cause Malaysians to commit acts of non-compliance, the main problem is the could-not-be-bothered attitude regarding the quality of towns. Many discard rubbish indiscriminately in the town when they would not do so at home. Malaysians must learn to treat their towns or cities as their homes.

Besides the acts of non-compliance with municipal laws and standards, many seem to be oblivious to conduct that is expected of good citizenship. For example, they do not hold swing doors open for the person following behind. They jump queues. How many offer seats to senior citizens or physically handicapped persons despite the many signs telling them to do so?

Despite all the moral and religious studies, the principle that the strong must help the weak is not well practised. On the contrary, there are many instances of "might is right". Examples are lorry and bus drivers tailgating cars to force them to move aside and politicians interfering with enforcement actions of the local authorities.

It is strongly believed that those who discard rubbish or park in no-parking areas or misuse their positions are aware of their irresponsible actions. Some even make speeches heavily loaded with ingredients of integrity and civic consciousness, but then act completely opposite.

However, it is also fair to believe that many Malaysians are not only law-abiding but also hold doors open for others. Unfortunately, it does not take many to do irresponsible things to make the towns and cities less pleasant.

It is tempting to suggest that law-abiding citizens speak out and remind culprits of bad public behaviour to be more civic conscious. But such actions can result in violent reactions or loss of friendship. A public discussion on what law-abiding citizens can do to promote civic consciousness will be useful.

Fortunately, there are also leaders and budding leaders who have shown to have the noble ideal of "might for right". They should be supported irrespective of party affiliation.

If Malaysian cities are to be ranked higher in the yearly surveys of liveable cities, the people must do their part to improve liveability. In the case of celebrating happy events, it is not difficult for revellers to take a few steps to throw their waste in bins. Even if there are no bins, it would not be difficult to take the plastic cups and bottles home and discard them properly.

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