Sanitation

I copied this picture from Malaysia Chronicle. It is said to be taken by a Singaporean near the MRT station at China Town. What the boy was doing is too obvious for us to miss. Apparently the Singaporean tried to tell the PRC woman that she should have taken the boy to a toilet to do his business; instead, the Singaporean was told to mind her business. She also took the liberty to leave all the soiled tissue pieces behind.

This picture reminds me of an article I read in The Economist. It was about India's sanitation, or the lack of it. The article carries the following picture, which is pretty self-explanatory.

I visited the Shaolin Monastery in Louyang a couple of years ago. The nearest town is actually Song-shan. While we were walking along the town's main thoroughfare, I actually saw a young boy doing his business on the road, looked on by his very stylishly-dressed mother. To stares from hill-billies like us, she must be wondering "What's the big deal?".

I tended to make this sweeping statement to friends: People of some of the world's oldest civilisations appear to be the least civilised in terms of public hygiene and sanitation. And this is Century 21st!