Parents to blame for littering habit at PPR flats, says report

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 6): Is bad parenting causing the littering problem in the people’s housing projects (PPR)?

Yes, say the residents the PPR apartments in Gombak Setia, according to a report by The Malaysian Insight.

Chairman of the Gombak Setia PPR residents’ association (RA), Sazali Atar, 56 does not mince his words, saying that many parents themselves “need to be taught civic and community-mindedness towards other residents”.

But alas, meetings over the littering problem by the RA have yielded little result.

“We should educate the parents first. We did it before, but it only lasted for three to four months before the habit slowly came back,” he told the news portal.

Sazali said littering was also a problem plaguing other PPR apartments, adding that “most projects are haunted by residents with this kind of low mentality. They can be adults, teenagers, and even kids”.

He said any attempts by the RA or Kuala Lumpur City Hall to stem the littering bad habit “would not be effective unless parents were willing to change and discipline their children”.

According to the same report, PPR Gombak Setia resident, Salmah Mohd Yasah, 57, said it was impossible to chide the parents of the naughty children because they would almost always “side with” their kids who have littered from the high-rises.

“I tried once, because the children were making noise at one area, but I was scolded,” she said.

Salmah has lived in PPR Gombak Setia for nearly two decades.

Meanwhile, Azizah Aman, 63, also from PPR Gombak Setia, said it is now increasingly common to get food and even dangerous objects such as knives thrown from the high balconies in the PPR.

“We see something new every day. Someone even threw a mirror once. I was shocked because the sound was really loud but thankfully no one was near.

“It is near impossible to advise these people. We can tell them what they do is dangerous to others but they never listen,” Azizah told the English-language local news portal.

It was also reported today that a teenager was injured by falling bicycle wheel at the Gombak Setia PPR apartments.

Fifteen-year-old S. Satiswaran was killed at the Pantai Dalam PPR homes less than a year ago when he was struck by a falling chair thrown from one of the higher floors.