I visited Vietnam with a few friends in June this year. We went for a boat ride to visit the islands and tourist attractions there, when I had the chance to observe the Vietnamese people that were with us on the boat.
For some reason, the Vietnamese on the boat were "tourists" too, and there were many of them. Like how many Singaporeans are unfamiliar with tourist attractions in Singapore, me included. Anyway, they had loads of fruits with them, probably because there were many roadside stalls selling a large variety of fruits everywhere. The boat crew also served fruits to those on board. I saw that the Vietnamese were happily throwing all their seeds, fruit skins and whatever trash they had out of the boat into the water. I did not notice any trash bins on the boat, maybe that is why they had to dump everything out of the boat. After a while, I followed suit and threw my rubbish out into the water too, including my chewing gum.
In the Singaporean context, if something like that was done, we would start getting slapped with fines and Corrective Work Order. Hence, it was interesting for me, not only to observe this behaviour, but to participate in it as well. Some other people may be offended by such acts, especially the environmentalists.
This is probably a cultural thing not only for Vietnam, but for many other parts of the world where there is no strict control over the way people manage their litter. In our perspective, we probably see it as ruining the environment and image of our country. In their perspective, they probably see it as their way of life, their means of disposing of litter since they do not see the point of holding on to it.
Hey Junxiong
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting you brought up the subject of littering as an intercultural observation. However I am curious to know is this really part of the Vietnamese culture or that the people are plain considerate.
In my opinion, I feel that reason this behaviour would develop into a "culture" is due to the lack of education,i.e being ignorant of nature and the damaging consequences that it will do to mankind in the future.
However, this is a very interesting story nevertheless and I like it!
hey Junxiong!
ReplyDeleteYour experience reminded me of my trip to KuKup, Malaysia. At the Kelongs, which are houses built on concrete stilts on the seas, people tend to dump their rubbish into the sea. There is no proper sanitation as sewage is simply released into the sea.
I do agree with Melvis that these actions might have result through a lack of education of the environment impacts. However, I would say that it is still considered a culture of the place. After all, a culture is shaped by our values and action and vice versa too. Hence the way of disposing rubbish is part of the local culture too.
Hey Melvis, I believe its due to the lack of education which led to such a "practice", and it eventually entered into their culture. Not sure if every local there does that, but it was my observation during my one and only boat ride there.
ReplyDeleteHey Jonathan, I've heard of those kelong stories before too. They probably lack the proper facilities to dispose of their waste properly, hence they simply dump everything into the sea. Makes me wonder if that is the reason why their fishes are much bigger than those in Singapore, haha.
hey Jun Xiong!
ReplyDeleteyour story reminded me of a time when I was sailing in Sabah. It was really an awesome experience sailing from island to island, and come to think of it, I was doing the same thing as well! Everytime we were done with our food, ie bones, peels, apple cores etc, we will just throw them off board to reduce the amount of trash on our boat.
To us, it seemed perfectly fine at that moment because everything was biodegradable, and it might help in providing nutrients to the fishes instead of polluting the sea! I guess that might be the perception of the Vietnamese when they threw their rubbish off board as well!
I guess it will be good for us to be informed of our actions. Who knows, the rubbish might actually help our dying biodiversity!