The Greener Malaysia

[iQing]

<img src=http://www.rydingautobody.com/images/polution1.gif>


although malaysia is already green but the polution is still there...
after living in Germany for a few months I find the contrass difference between the environmental management between Germany and malaysia....

In Germany we use "The Yellow Sack" where we throw recycable plastics stuffs...
u will be shock to find how many categories of rubbish they have in Germany...

there are special bins for :

white glass
green glass
brown glass
paper
cans
old shoes
old clothes
wrappings
bio

and the yellow bag is the most important one .....

from what I see, the recycable rubbish is much much more than rubbish that cannot be recycled....

too bad malaysians just dump everything in one bin ....

in germany there?s even a party for environment (right __earth?)

so what is still lack in malaysia? why is it so? how we can imporve it??

one of the biggest culprit of environmental polution is USA... dang...

[The_Observer]

I think you are wrong there about Malaysians....

We can't even get any rubbish into any rubbish bin!
So much for a 'Denda $500' sign.... :lol:

[naturesimple]

it's hardly to find even a recycle bin around the housing areas n that did not create convenience for those who want to recycle. ppl wont intend to go far just to throw rubbish.

[iQing]

in malaysia I wont even feel guilty of burning papers in front of my house...

opppsss... forgot... paper burning is common amongst chinese...

I mean burning rubbish.....

in Germany washing car on sundays is considered illegal.. reason : it disturbs the quietness of the surroundings.

[tunsrilanang]

so, one can only wash the car at the car wash?

well, firstly, i think malaysians should start having this habit of throwing rubbish in a bin.
THEN only one can expect malaysians to be so rajin to seperate the recycled wastes and throw them to designated recycle bins.

even in the united states, although many places are clean, most of the time, chinatown would be like one of the dirtiest place.

which makes me wonder...why?

sometimes its not about not having enough bins, its because some or many of us are just so lazy to throw our rubbish in the bins provided.

government should ENFORCE a law in malaysia (denda to those who litter and stuff like that) if they want malaysia to be cleaner and greener.
but to expect laws in malaysia to be enforced....agak lambat, dan leceh...i guess the undang undang jalan raya yang paling dikuatkuasa sekarang ni. and also law about fireworks. eheh.

[Randomphantom]

even in the united states, although many places are clean, most of the time, chinatown would be like one of the dirtiest place.
is that so? Err.. does that imply chinese are dirty? Or maybe, the district mayor don't give a damn about chinatownians? If not, then why raise this point at all?

For M'sia enforce something like that is to wait for some celebrity or bigwig to come visit malaysia (eg OIC/ seagames98) and then we will see some major gotong royong. After all, it's the image that counts right?? And so many people still stick to open burning of their rubbish, although I still think its way better then dumping trash in rivers. The worst sights are trash cans overflowing with rubbish.

Anyway, those denda $500 are totally useless-some people mock these signs by throwing rubbish all around it. I heard of one sign that worked miracles though...not one piece of rubbish around it.

It said something like "Jangan buang sampah- nanti kena SUMPAH"

[kelvinlym]

To decrease the waste from recyclable materials like glass, alu cans and plastic bottles, Malaysia should enforce a "deposit" system (called Pfandsystem in Germany).

All drinks or food sold in recyclable packaging will be charged a surcharge of at least 25% of the food itself or more. After finishing the food, the consumer must go to the nearest supermarket or collection center and claim back the deposit.

I think that's the best way. Germany charges ?0.08 refundable deposit per 300ml glass bottle of beer. In bars or events, they sell beer from the tap and serve in plastic cups worth ?1.00. You can keep it if you want or you have to return it to get back your refund. It REALLY reduces the waste as you will never see plastic cups lying around. (I witnessed it myself when I went to watch the Germany-Holland match). My cafeteria serves coffee in mugs or you can bring your own mug and fries in plastic plates. Deposit ?1.00, coffee ?0.80, fries ?1.30.

The secret to this is to have supermarkets act as collection centers and the deposit to be a reasonably high amount for the consumers to bother to return the packaging for the deposit. At parties, I've experienced the deposit being the SAME price as the beer being sold.

This way, both parties benefit as the organisers do not have to employ many cleaning crew and the cost will be passed on to the partygoers.

Another point, clean out the recycling waste bins PERIODICALLY! The bins in front of the library has been sealed off because students chuck rubbish in it. And that's because it's FULL! Not because we are misusing it!

Even the recycling campaign in Petaling Jaya a few years back was a flop. We were given yellow cases to place our recycleables for collection every week. Went on for 2 weeks and then you don't see them collecting anymore. What we need is an incentive. Start charging for rubbish thrown and give a discount for rubbish placed in the recycling bin. That way, to avoid a hefty rubbish bill, everyone will try to put their recyclables in the yellow cases instead. +for rubbish -for recyclable materials.

[libralion]

<img src=http://www.rydingautobody.com/images/polution1.gif>


although malaysia is already green but the polution is still there...
after living in Germany for a few months I find the contrass difference between the environmental management between Germany and malaysia....

In Germany we use "The Yellow Sack" where we throw recycable plastics stuffs...
u will be shock to find how many categories of rubbish they have in Germany...

there are special bins for :

white glass
green glass
brown glass
paper
cans
old shoes
old clothes
wrappings
bio

and the yellow bag is the most important one .....

from what I see, the recycable rubbish is much much more than rubbish that cannot be recycled....

too bad malaysians just dump everything in one bin ....

in germany there?s even a party for environment (right __earth?)

so what is still lack in malaysia? why is it so? how we can imporve it??

one of the biggest culprit of environmental polution is USA... dang...

Hi Iqing! Nice website! The environment issue is very important I think. Go for it!
Johanna :D :D :D
www.libralion.com
www.sarah-brightman.nl

[iQing]

OMG... i never know u will join this website...

thanx for coming.
I hope u will visit ReCom regularly.....
*WARM welcome...*

there?s a SB thread somewhere here... hope u enjoy it!

[The_Observer]

I think it is easier for Germany to implement these sort of measures compared to Malaysia...

Don't forget we are still dependent on medium to large scale industries which are notorious for producing lots of pollutants. Not to mention, we exploit a lot of natural resources like timber and oil. Malaysia is still a developing country...without these industries around, we can't grow economically. Forcing laws on them discourages investment.
Without capital, how is the Government find the funding to spend on maintaining our forests etc etc.....and why am I defending the Government?

Then again, economic wealth at the expense of health and our future is not a good trade-off......

[__earth]

I think it is easier for Germany to implement these sort of measures compared to Malaysia...

Don't forget we are still dependent on medium to large scale industries which are notorious for producing lots of pollutants. Not to mention, we exploit a lot of natural resources like timber and oil. Malaysia is still a developing country...without these industries around, we can't grow economically. Forcing laws on them discourages investment.
Without capital, how is the Government find the funding to spend on maintaining our forests etc etc.....and why am I defending the Government?

Then again, economic wealth at the expense of health and our future is not a good trade-off......

I disagree with you observer. In fact, Germany's system could easily be implemented in Malaysia. It all depends on the legislators.

To encourage recycling, one need to increase the cost of not recycling and the deposit system helps encourage people to recycling due to monetary factor. California also as the same system as Germany where you will only get the back the deposit if you help in the recycling process.

Malaysia should implement that instead of wasting money trying to promote national service and stuff like that.

To fund this system, all you need is to implement a tax (deductible) and let the invisible hand works it way out. Of course, the infrastucture maybe lacking but that is what investment is all about.

At least, the effect of the recycling deposit for certain is good. It has been proven. In fact, this recycling system would help promote first world mentality in term of conservation and hygienic way of life. National service OTOH promotes an obsolete notion of patriotism, if it ever to be considered successful.

On the note, you that environmetal laws discourage investment. Yes but the laws do not have to impede the investment so much. In fact, the extra tax is being imposed on the consumers, not the on the producers. And, the tax is reductible. So, by theory, demand and supply is not affected. And more importantly, the tax is so small that it is negligible.

Therefore, the pursue of environmental laws, at least in this recycling system does not reduce capital for other purposes.

[tunsrilanang]

even in the united states, although many places are clean, most of the time, chinatown would be like one of the dirtiest place.
is that so? Err.. does that imply chinese are dirty?


that is merely my observation which i want to say. it so happens that whenever i go to big cities in the us, chinatown is one of the dirtier places. (well, i didnt go to ghetto places, but i bet those places are quite dirty too)
it's like implying, for asians in general ,loosely speaking, we tend to not be so clean, we tend to not care much abt cleanliness of our place.

it has nothing to do with implying that all chinese ppl are dirty...maybe those many chinese in chinatown(s) are dirty...thats all.

[The_Observer]

Are you sure _earth?

Would any investing company want an EPA hounding their every step?
Would they want to spend extra to cope their wastes?
Why not go to some other country like China or some banana republic in Africa where the Government does not pose any 'threat' on environmental issues?

I am not saying we should prioritize economy over environment but that we should not ignore certain consequences that may happen depending on policies.

These companies are looking for places where labour is cheap and the Government are receptive of their shortcomings... see why China grows so fast?

BTW, recycling rocks and so does public transport or carpooling...

[__earth]

Are you sure _earth?

Would any investing company want an EPA hounding their every step?
Would they want to spend extra to cope their wastes?
Why not go to some other country like China or some banana republic in Africa where the Government does not pose any 'threat' on environmental issues?

So, when a waste is being dumped somewhere, who should bare the cost of damage and repair?

It should be the firms. Private waste should be deal by private firm/individual, not by the public. Any environmental law is designed to prevent such cost and externality from being passed to the public. It even acts as a deterrant.

It is unfortunate that regulation comes at a cost, but regulations, if done properly increase overall efficiency and environmental law does just that - it promotes efficiency and sustainability.

If firms are allow to do whatever they like for profit, they will surely promote economic efficiency. However, that only happens if none of their dealings involve public good - efficiency will only occur with respect to public good if somebody, i.e. government impose regulation on the public good. The environment is a public good.

And recall, that the tax is imposed on consumers, not the producers. The producers face no cost due to this policy, theorectically at least.

I am not saying we should prioritize economy over environment but that we should not ignore certain consequences that may happen depending on policies.


And I didn't ignore the consequenses. No green minded person does. In fact, the analysis of returnable "recycling tax" is designed to not interupt the producers' profit. In fact, green philosophy concerns action and consequence to everything, not merely the economy. It includes quality of life and gamut of other stuff.

These companies are looking for places where labour is cheap and the Government are receptive of their shortcomings... see why China grows so fast?

Concerning China, it is just comparative advantage. China's vast population provides tremendous supply and drives labor wages down and that encourages firms to go to China. The effect of environmental law is certainly not a major reason why labor cost less in China.

There is no way Malaysia's 23 millions population could compete with China's 1.3 billion size in term of labor supply's attractiveness. Be careful of saying otherwise because such is contradiction to labor economic theory.

Malaysia is not capable of producing cheap labor. Even Thailand has a better advantage than us as we had over Singapore in the last century. (We still have a comparative advantage over Thailand.)

The only reason why China has risen up against its Southeast Asia counterparts is the dumping of communism and their willingness to embrace capitalism and rational economic policy.

Communism was and is never a rational economic theory.

Thus it's time Malaysia stop producing cheap labor and concentrate on high tech industry. And in order to promote high tech industry, we need to attract high skilled workers and high skill workers won't come if Malaysia's quality of life is low.

Furthermore, China is growing as fast as its human rights and environment record are coming down. Even Beijing is under threat of desertification right now because of the Chinese's govt unsustainable progress. 100 years ago, the desert was miles away. Now, it's just at the footstep of the city. In the future and if the rate continues, Beijing would be indifferent from any Arabian city.

Therefore, what do you pursue? Short term modernization at the expense of the future or long term growth with current growth at a not too fast rate?

I, as a libertarian green prefer long term growth and that means sustainability. California and Germany's returnable "recycling tax" does just that. Even deadweight loss is nowhere in sight if people recycle.

Remember, the tax is merely an incentive for the consumer to recycle, not the firm. This fact is important.

Editted for grammEr

[The_Observer]

Since all the legal niceties have been worked out, all that is left is to change the mindset of the Malaysian ppl.

Boils down to just 1 word: Education
And it must be done from the very beginning like kindergarden or something.

Then again what about their parents?...it's harder to educate older ppl and if they dun practice 'green' measures, their kids will be inclined to follow suit.

[chenchow]

This is an article on current state of recycle in Malaysia.

http://www.ecologyasia.com/NewsArchives/nov2003/thestar_20031110_2.htm

Currently, Malaysians recycle only 3% of their waste and I think most of those recyclings are old newspapers. It is very low percentage compared to other more developed countries.

Personally, I would think that one of the good steps would be to encourage recyclings in schools. I still remember my high school, all societies and uniformed-bodies would be competing for the recycling competition in schools. There were only 2 categories of recycling, aluminium can and old newspapers, but I would say that it was pretty successful.

On average, each week, I would say that easily 2000 aluminium cans and 100kg of old newspapers were collected within my school per week. Although that is a small number, but if every school in Malaysia is doing that, a lot of recycling would have been done. And the money earned from the recycling could help fund some acivities organized by the societies too.

[digimushu]

Education?

I doubt it could change the mentality of Malaysians. When i went back last summer, i still see people throwing away refuse on the road.

My main point is: Malaysians will NOT recycle unless they are forced to do it(not saying that we should force them to do it)

Think of it this way...in the US and Germany, people seerecycling as a part of culture...why?

In WWII, both countries have shortage of rubber/iron/aluminium..etc and they had to recycle everything for the war effort. In short, they HAD to do it out of necessity. Over time, this turn into a culture and hence you have a very good attitude towards recycling.

Personally, i've seen the recycling drives being done in schools but i can assure u..they are not recycling because they want to save the earth. Most of those drives are just competitions or photo ops and the 'civic mindedness' of the students will disappear at the end of the day.

Just my 2 cents...:)

[The_Observer]

Good point mushu...

But do any of us have better suggestions?
Considering Malaysian mentality on this issue that is...
Law enforcement? Better incentives?

[__earth]

education is no doubt is the real solution.

But I believe education takes too much time and thus, it is only a long term solution.

The quicker way for encourage recycling as a culture is incentive. Taxes, subsidies, etc.

The returnable recycling tax is one.

Another, govt could help subsidize the recycling industry or at least give sufficient tax break to the industrial sector that uses recycable inputs/outputs.

[chenchow]

Personally, I think that this issue of environmental and recycling is a very crucial one in our country, and I would like to hear from everyone on how we could create the changes from such a small group of Malaysians, like those of us in ReCom~!

While we may not be able to change the whole mindset of Malaysians, how much do you guys think we are able to do?

For instance in maintaining the cleanliness, what do you think that we could do as an individual? Personally, I believe that if all of us, even if just 10, 20, 50, or 100 people lead by example and start maintaining the cleanliness of the environment, avoid throwing rubbish as we wish, it is a good start. We can gradually influence our friends and family members, as we would be interacting with them... If this is done in the long run, we have a good chance to succeed.

How about recycling? While I think the recycling of old newspaper has been doing decently well, I think the other type of recycling is still at a very poor rate. I would think that we could start the campaign in the school. Recycling was done in my high school, and student organizations were competing for the recycling competition at school level and the effects were not bad. For instance, every week, there would be like 50-100kg of old newspaper and about 500 aluminium cans.

Although this is still a small number, but if each state could have 10 schools doing the same thing, that would mean a minimum of 500kg of old newspaper recycle and 5000 aluminium cans per week. Multiply by just 24 weeks for a campaign of 6 months, that would mean 12 tonne of old newspaper recycle per state and 120,000 aluminium cans recycled.

Multiply by number of states in the country, that would mean more than 150 tonne of old newspaper and 1.5 million aluminium cans recycled per year in Malaysia.

So, this is a possible long term effects. It may not be much in overall, but that would create an awareness among our younger generation, and hence in the long run, provide incentives to the country. The amount of money the school could get from selling those recycle items could be used to fund student activities~!

[Thirdshifter]

even in the united states, although many places are clean, most of the time, chinatown would be like one of the dirtiest place.
is that so? Err.. does that imply chinese are dirty?


that is merely my observation which i want to say. it so happens that whenever i go to big cities in the us, chinatown is one of the dirtier places. (well, i didnt go to ghetto places, but i bet those places are quite dirty too)
it's like implying, for asians in general ,loosely speaking, we tend to not be so clean, we tend to not care much abt cleanliness of our place.

it has nothing to do with implying that all chinese ppl are dirty...maybe those many chinese in chinatown(s) are dirty...thats all.

Well most cities in USA are dirty but chinatown is something else. I think its mainly because of the lack of education amongst those who dominantly run businesses in the district.

Mainly the workers and business owners are 1st generation immigrants from a poor country and their standard of cleanliness is a reflection of them back home.

It is unfair to imply that chinese are dirty or untidy but it is totally correct to say Chinatown, not one but all are very superbly freaking dirty just like the Chinatown in Shanghai and Beijing. All of them! i think its just the charm of chinatown dirty yet very fun to go.

For disbelievers, Go to petaling street. They just spent millions renovating that street and look at it now, it's still dirty as it was.

[ElansarGelmir]

Well, i think most Chinese from China are dirty... imagine, they eat almost anything; civet cats, dogs, snakes, organs, blah blah... someone from WHO scolded China in light of the SARS epidemic, "You Chinese (from China) eat like pigs and spread disease everywhere". And my roommate in Singapore can go on not bathing for a day, and his clothes remain unwashed for days... Many of my friends agree with me about their China's roommates (guys, especially) as well...

[chenchow]

Well, i think most Chinese from China are dirty... imagine, they eat almost anything; civet cats, dogs, snakes, organs, blah blah... someone from WHO scolded China in light of the SARS epidemic, "You Chinese (from China) eat like pigs and spread disease everywhere". And my roommate in Singapore can go on not bathing for a day, and his clothes remain unwashed for days... Many of my friends agree with me about their China's roommates (guys, especially) as well...

I think what you have said would be a stereotype, which could be true or not, but I think we should look at the whole picture.

I am not trying to defend Chinese from China, but I hope that when we try to analyze a situation, we should look at the whole picture, and also try to find ways to help improving it.

ElansarGelmir, do you tell your roommate about your concern diplomatically? Perhaps, you could share with him your concern. Perhaps, he may have some concern about you.

For instance, some tourists from those countries that are very clean, and when they see some of the streets in Malaysia, they may have exactly the same impression as you have had on your China's roommates. And the same, as we go on to compare with other places, where we are relatively cleaner.

I think this thread would be more beneficial, if we could all brainstorm on how to make Malaysia greener, to be more environmentally conscious etc... I really salute what _earth and others, who work relentlessly in this aspect.

_earth, perhaps you could suggest some measurements that we could do, as Malaysian citizens, to help in this aspect. I am sure you have done a lot of studies in this aspect.

[yekban81]

I am shocked. One of the country's world-renowned marine dive sites just off Pulau Tioman is set to be destroyed to make way for a RM40mil marina project despite objections from environment authorities.
Here's the link for details:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/9/6/nation/8833465&sec=nation

[__earth]

Heh!

Lovely isn't it how the local govt in Malaysia thinks. They want to build a marina so that people can enjoy nature but while doing that, little do they know that they are destroying nature.

I don't know whether I should cry or laugh at our govt decision making ability.

[yekban81]

May be they hired a lousy environment-impact evaluator and got convinced that the corals and sea creatures are unaffected by the project. If not, someone by hook or crook, is trying to make profit out of it.

[__earth]

while malaysian environmental law enforcement is lagging, our Indonesian counterpart has improved their standing in the green eyes.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK163266.htm

FYI, this case has been dragging for months now. The latest development is encouraging,

[misled_youth]

Next time you fly into KLIA or any airpot in Malaysia, check out the amount of destruction and smoke.

I hope, that one day, some brave Malaysians would establish Green Party Malaysia (not PAS lah...) which is guided by the principles of sustainability.
________
Park Royal 2 Condominium (http://pattayaluxurycondos.com)

[z]

for all you know, this returnable recycling tax might do the trick.

an incentive system would encourage people to dispose their recycleable goods at convenient locations.

1. the people who truly care about the environment will recycle anyway.

2. the people who care about the money will do their best to get the deposits back.

3. the people who find the money involved insignificant will do nothing on his part (except for contributing to the tax to partially fund the recycling system - collection, transportation, etc.).

4. the people who find the money attractive will run his own recycleable goods collection business (much like the existing "old newspaper" businesses), collecting "trash" of people in #3.

makes sense?

also, anyone has any idea how much it costs to setup such recycling facilities?

[flibbertigibbet]

Hot weather, forest fires, unhealthy air quality, low visibility rate owing to the smoky haze, etc, all these boil down to the question as to why the temperature is rising? The weather is changing for the worse. What's happenning to our world?

Is it because of green house effect?

With the scorching heat surrounding us, we often switch on the air-conditioner for hours without thinking that we are actually contributing more to the green house effect. It's true that the weather now is extremely hot and unbearable. The increasing number of hotspots in Malaysia shows good evidence.

But ironically, we are the ones keeping the temperature rising. Still we blame it all on the weather.

[flibbertigibbet]

Oops...just noticed the title of this thread is "The Greener Malaysia". I thought it read "Environmental Issues". That means my previous post should not be here...am I right? Ah, confused.

[__earth]

whoa, have you guys read the news about taman cahaya seri alam?

[el_empty]

i don't know if i should be worrying more about the environment in malaysia, or the blatant corruption shown by the selangor menteri besar toyo.

sighh...

[flibbertigibbet]

The news on Taman Cahaya Seri Alam? What about?

[el_empty]

dude it's been headlines the last couple of days.

http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/Taman_Botani_Malaysia.jpg

http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/Templar_Park.jpg

jeffooi has a good compilation of various newsclips:

http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/2005/02/the_khir_toyo_c.php

toyo's corruption exploits
http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/2005/02/can_someone_loo.php

and more newsclips
http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/2005/02/ecology_damage.php

to cut the long story short,

Taman Cahaya Seri Alam, with its 800 hectar of natural vegetation land under the care of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, has been earmarked for preservation as the National Botanical Park by 2007, positioned to be the largest in the world. The park has been termed as the virgin forests and 'oxygen tank' for the Klang Valley.

However, according to Utusan Malaysia, the sanctuary has been made an island as its circular boundaries has been encroached by human settlement projects approved by the state government, severely damaging the ecology system surrounding it.

It is believed that most of the development projects in the area, awarded to 35 property developers, were approved after Khir Toyo was appointed the Selangor menteri besar.

[flibbertigibbet]

Oh hey, thanks for the links. I really did not notice this news before this.

[el_empty]

then again i pay extra attention since i am sitting here watching my home state rot into oblivion.

[__earth]

i think khir toyo should go. Seeing tioman and broga is one thing - at least the development on both issues are at its beginning and opposition could be formulated.

for seri cahaya, everything is already too late and somebody has to pay for that mistake.

[el_empty]

wanna complain?

khir [at] selangor.gov.my

or http://www.mbselangor.net.my/

[__earth]

the federal government is planning to take over taman cahaya seri alam. Do you guys agree?

I think the federal government is overstepping its power. What needs to be done is change in the state government, not by giving the federal government more land.

[Thirdshifter]

the federal government is planning to take over taman cahaya seri alam. Do you guys agree?

I think the federal government is overstepping its power. What needs to be done is change in the state government, not by giving the federal government more land.

I don't think the Selangot state govermnent could care less. After all It seems like the federal govermet is stealing selangor little y little. First it was KL then putrajaya & pekeliling.. in another 40 years selangor would just be something in the pass.

Malaysia has a centralized goverment and the current state goverment we have is a joke. I don't even know why they call themself state goverment when all they function is begging the Federal goverment for money. Might as well cut the payroll to these overpaid bastids and get things done.

Things are cheaper withut the middle man.

[el_empty]

perhaps it's time to bring back the local government elections?

http://www.the3rdvote.org/

Malaysia has a three tier level of government, namely at the Federal, State and local government level. Malaysians has only two votes at the Federal and state when we deserve three. There is no reason why elections cannot be held at the local level if it can be held at Parliamentary and state level.

this letter to malaysiakini sums it all up

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/34377

According to a survey conducted by Transparency International (Kuala Lumpur Chapter), local municipalities have become the most corrupt government agencies. Many local government officials are on the take simply because they have so much power at their disposal.

[Ryosuke]

Well, i think most Chinese from China are dirty... imagine, they eat almost anything; civet cats, dogs, snakes, organs, blah blah... someone from WHO scolded China in light of the SARS epidemic, "You Chinese (from China) eat like pigs and spread disease everywhere". And my roommate in Singapore can go on not bathing for a day, and his clothes remain unwashed for days... Many of my friends agree with me about their China's roommates (guys, especially) as well...

Geez thats a stupid insult.... One day u will eat them as well when there is a shortage of food. SARS ? So u said those who eat pigs will spread disease ? How about Chicken ? So basically we shouldnt eat anything ranging from chicken, duck, pig and so on ? Geez what are u gonna eat ? Vegetables all day ? Fish ? Plz la not all Chinese there is also other races as well. Geez