PETALING JAYA: A travel vlogger's video describing Semporna in Sabah as one of the five dirtiest places he has ever been to has sparked a wave of reactions from Malaysians on social media, with many conceding that his remarks were not wrong.
User @rgyamani commented: "I am glad someone like you posted this video... and I hope many more would be doing the same... recording the truth and not just all the beautiful things... hopefully this would be a wake-up call to the MPs, ministers and government to resolve the issue in Sabah."
Replying to@rgyamani, @tuaran_girl commented: "I blame it on the government that once let illegals in, from a specific neighbouring country, and let them run (wild) in certain cities/towns on the (Bornean part) of Malaysia."
ALSO READ: Semporna – imperfect and filthy
Some pointed to deeper issues
@baleetong commented: "I’ve been there a couple of years ago, right after some large volunteer clean-up campaign. Two months later, the rubbish was already beginning to accumulate. I see locals living there just littering right in front of their house. What to do when people who live there couldn’t care less about their surroundings?"
@elinaaziz77 commented: "This is Sabah! Shame on the Sabah government. I am a Malaysian and this is so embarrassing! How can you Sabahans stand all this? What are your local government officials doing? Malu lah!"
The one-minute video clip by Backpacker Ben (@backpacker_ben) was uploaded on TikTok on Sept 21 and quickly went viral.
It shows him walking by a trash-strewn jetty and commenting that this was among one of the dirtiest places he had been to on his travels.
The video also sparked a back-and-forth between Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming and Semporna MP Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, the president of Parti Warisan.
ALSO READ: Warisan govt kept Semporna clean, but what has GRS done in five years, Shafie asks
"I saw a video claiming that Semporna is the dirtiest town in Asia," Nga reportedly said in a video clip of his own on Wednesday (Oct 8).
He told the MP "to be more active and go to the ground more often" to ensure the town's cleanliness.
In response, Shafie said the following day that Warisan had done its part to keep Semporna clean when it governed the state from 2018 to 2020.
He blamed exclusionary practices by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah state government, keeping opposition representatives out of the district action committee, for contributing to the problem over the last five years.
"Does he (Nga) expect me to go into town and sweep the road?" Shafie fired back.
He added that governance and community development should not be based on political bias but on service to the people.
