Rubbish of a World Cup final

Yes, the final was a poor one, with Argentina not even having a shot at goal in 90 minutes. But what was more disgusting was the tonnes of rubbish Malaysians left behind after watching the game.

THE World Cup final on Sunday – early Monday morning here – was a load of rubbish.

Only one side played football, the other failed to show up. There were some 50-odd fouls, yellow cards and a red card.

There was just one goal but several brawls, and the controversies have not ended with social media, as usual, full of lies and hate.

The trash talk is still going on.

The game, however, was not the only load of garbage.

Malaysians watching the game at Dataran Merdeka also put Argentina to shame with their trash.

More than 25,000 people had gathered there, at the “open-air stadium”, from as early as midnight although the match only started at 3am.

When they left at about 6am, the field was one huge garbage patch with tonnes of waste left behind.

But what was surprising was that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), instead of being angered, was almost apologetic.

Every taxpayer, Hannah Yeoh said, deserved good service and thanked the council workers for swooping in and sweeping up very quickly.

She “advised” people about not leaving rubbish behind and making a good impression on others.

But the big question is: What about the Anti-Littering Act that came into force early this year? It allows for a RM2,000 fine for littering, even if it is just a chewing gum wrapper, and 12 hours of community service.

The law was enacted with much fanfare.There was a rash of arrests. Ministers made bold statements about how even foreigners and children would not be spared if they were caught littering.

Offenders – mostly people who had stubbed out cigarettes or had discarded paper wrappers – were made to openly sweep streets and clean up public spaces.

The media was called in, and these offenders – they seem almost like victims now – had their stories told, their humiliation made public. It was to be a lesson for would-be offenders.

It was embarrassing for these people, but sometimes these stories have to be told so others will learn the lessons.

But Malaysians, it appears, do not learn lessons. The same goes for those in power.

When the people at Dataran Merdeka left behind the tonnes of rubbish on Monday, the powers that be did not act.

No crackdown, no teaching of lessons.Instead, they became almost apologetic.

No one is going to be hauled up over the mass littering.

No one is being held responsible. Surely, there were cameras.

It was an event attended by the Communications Minister and the Kuala Lumpur police chief.

Why can’t at least some offenders be nabbed and made to do community service?

Also, wouldn’t it have been easier to have Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) workers and officers there just before the final whistle of the game, reminding everyone to take their garbage home with them?

They could have stopped many of these offenders right there and issued them with summonses.

Instead, we have ministers lamenting the dirty habits of Malaysians – after the fact. And thanking the poor sods who had to put in hours of overtime cleaning up.

Dataran Merdeka is no ordinary place. It is among places designated as litter-free zones by DBKL to strengthen the image of a clean and orderly city.

The others are Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Tun Perak and the Brickfields commercial area.

DBKL Health and Environment Department director Dr Nor Halizam Ismail has said so.

In fact, as part of Visit Malaysia 2026, she said, they would step up enforcement through regular anti-littering and anti-spitting operations across Kuala Lumpur.

They would go after those who leave cigarette butts and drink bottles in public areas or spit on walkways, she said.

What happened to those operations on World Cup final day?

Littering is a habit that needs to be nipped in the bud. That was the reasoning behind the Anti-Littering Act.

Japanese football teams are known to leave their dressing rooms so clean that the cleaning staff have no work to do.

Instead, the players leave gifts for these workers. Japanese fans clean up at stadiums after every match.

It will be a long, long time before we Malaysians – of all races – can even aspire to such standards.

For now, we can at least leave the places where we gather as clean as they were before.