It’s our mindset that must be cleaned up

 The real mess in Malaysia isn’t on the streets. It’s in our character.

The mess left behind at Dataran Merdeka after the World Cup final screening was not just litter. It was a public confession: too many Malaysians still believe that shared spaces are someone else’s burden.

We cheer, we consume, we celebrate, and then we leave behind wrappers, cups, cigarette butts and excuses. The cleaners arrive after the applause fades, as though civic responsibility is optional.

This is why the outrage matters. It is not about one square, one night or one crowd. It is about a national habit of treating public spaces as disposable.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has already been blunt about the problem, calling out poor civic consciousness and moving to tighten enforcement because littering has become too normal, too frequent and too costly to ignore.

And yet this is happening in the very year Malaysia is supposed to welcome the world.

Visit Malaysia 2026 is not just a tourism campaign; it is a test of whether we can behave like a serious nation in our own streets.

DBKL has already scaled up measures to keep the city clean for Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026). Among them are stiffer fines for litterbugs.

The reason for this greater emphasis on cleanliness is simple: the country’s image now depends on whether we can keep our own public spaces in order.

The deeper problem is not a lack of bins. It is a lack of discipline.

The Dataran Merdeka mess is another reflection of the same ugly truth: public apathy, weak civic habits and the expectation that someone else will clean up after the crowd.

Once that mindset takes hold, every event becomes a transfer of responsibility from citizens to cleaners.

We must stop pretending this is a minor hygiene lapse. It is a moral failure with civic consequences.

Litter clogs drains, damages urban spaces, burdens local authorities and turns celebratory moments into scenes of embarrassment.

In Kuala Lumpur, enforcement has already been strengthened, with fines and community service introduced for littering and spitting. But punishment alone cannot repair a culture that has grown complacent.

Schools have a role to play, and they are not doing enough. Malaysia’s environmental education has been described as being constrained by a rigid, exam-heavy system that leaves little room for genuine civic formation.

If students are taught to memorise facts but not to respect shared spaces, then we are producing clever adults who still behave badly in public.

Take a leaf from the Japanese. If our school students are made to clean their classrooms, toilets and the common areas of their schools, we may see a sea change in behaviour within five years.

Religious institutions must also answer a harder question. If faith teaches purity, stewardship and respect for creation, why are our public habits still so filthy?

Cleanliness cannot be reduced to sermon language or a passing moral lecture. It must be treated as part of ethical life because leaving rubbish behind after a communal event is not just careless; it is disrespectful to neighbours, workers and the environment.

Every religion teaches that cleanliness is next to godliness.

The answer is not to wait for waste contractors to rescue us after every gathering. Organisers must be held accountable from the start.

Every large event should have a waste management plan, sufficient bins, clear signage, crowd marshals and a mandatory clean-up protocol before people are allowed to disperse.

If we can plan the entertainment, the speeches and the screens, we can plan the aftermath too. Marshals should direct spectators to clean up before they leave the site.

Community groups and NGOs can help, but they should not be used as a crutch to excuse bad behaviour.

Immediate clean-up drives, civic pledges and volunteer teams can reinforce good habits, but they work best when paired with enforcement and public accountability for offenders.

A crowd that is asked to clean up its own mess before leaving learns a simple lesson: public space is not private convenience.

The hardest truth is that many Malaysians are not ignorant. They know better and still do worse.

They criticise dirty roads, complain about filthy toilets and mock poor public facilities, yet leave behind a trail of waste when the moment is theirs to enjoy.

That hypocrisy is why this problem survives every campaign, every slogan and every clean-up announcement.

If Visit Malaysia 2026 is to mean anything, it cannot be limited to smiling campaigns, tourist brochures, great eateries, beautiful beaches, majestic mountains and polished slogans.

A nation that wants to be admired must first learn not to humiliate itself in its own public squares.

Cleanliness is not cosmetic. It is citizenship. Until Malaysians understand that, we will keep producing the same shameful spectacle: a country that celebrates like a guest and behaves like a vandal. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.