29 December
The flower festival in PyinOoLwin was undeniably beautiful, but the grounds, littered with garbage indiscriminately thrown by visitors, has made the festival looked very unpleasant. We could see on social networks the breathtaking displays and arrangements of flowers and flowering plants, alongside various types of waste materials littering the lawns, pavements and surfaces of the lakes of the Botanical Garden or Kandawgyi, the site of the event.
In fact, visiting other places on festisvals is good for people, as it improves mental and physical health and offers knowledge and leisure about local areas. But its dark side is litter, especially in our country. Most people in Myanmar think that discarding an empty can, a plastic bag or rubber container on the ground is a normal practice, and they have no knowledge of, or take into account, its terrible consequences. People hold picnics and then discard the rubbish besides them, or a person drinking juice will leave their empty can on the pavement. Every person despises a littered ground. Nobody likes being surrounded by trash. They all loath waste, and that is why they throw away waste they are holding as soon as possible, but in the wrong way.
“I have seen people discarding garbage on the roads. They shouldn’t do this. I would like to request them to end this habit. They should value the country and the environment. I feel annoyed every time I see a Myanmar indiscriminately throwing garbage, because he is our citizen. You know how irritating it is to see a Myanmar citizen making his own country ugly and tarnishing its image. I would not be so irritated if it was a foreigner. But I do not like anyone carelessly throwing garbage. See, our own people are dirtying their own country. That is what I hate most,” said State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in an address she delivered at the inauguration ceremony of Laputta (Pinle-lay )Bridge in Ayeywady Region the other day.
The unruly discarding of waste is a symbol of weakness in discipline and moral conduct. A human society has many rules, ethics and dos and don’ts, apart from waste management. Society flourishes under the rules of the respective sectors, and even monks have their own rules, which are called Viniya. But sadly, our people are ignorant about the environment, and they almost disregard such rules, particularly in throwing away garbage. Weakness in the rules, together with disobedience and undisciplined manners, are not unimportant matters, as dangerous consequences may lie in wait. In fact, we lost our sovereignty once, resulting from our weakness in observing rules. This historical lesson indicates how discipline is important for all of us. We all must understand that the problem of waste is a bad omen for the future.
GNLM
