Scenes of trash-strewn streets following recent celebrations have reignited debate over a long-standing public mindset, that it is acceptable to litter because “someone else will clean it up”. “Those who are asking the cleaner to clean it, this is the kind of old mindset,” one user wrote. “These are the types of people that normalise the ‘someone else will clean it, so why bother?’ mentality,” said a third. Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia president Rajesh Nagarajan said the “leave it to the cleaners” mindset is fundamentally incompatible with the law. “If enforcement alone is relied upon, without a shift in public mindset, the law becomes reactive rather than preventative.

Source: The Star January 01, 2026 23:21 UTC