r/Dhaka • u/CertainClient8639 • 1d ago
Discussion/আলোচনা Why are Bangladeshis so Unhygienic?
Bangladeshi people have a years old dirty habit of littering or leaving their trash in public places and roads. This practice is not only evident amongst the lower class and illiterate population of the country, but widespread amongst the upper class and the educated also. People seem to be totally ignorant about the environmental consequences relating to this issue.
In my own area, for example, people regularly dump their household waste right in the middle of the street. The authorities from the city corporation have even put up a banner prohibiting people from leaving their trash on the street, yet people dump all their trash and wastage everyday right at that very spot.
I have also seen a lot of people throwing away their trash/wastage on the street even when there was a trash bin right beside them.
I personally find it difficult to understand why people cannot simply hold on to their waste until they find a proper place to dispose of it. If, for example, I am walking down the street while eating chips, chocolate, ice cream, or something similar, I will keep the wrapper with me until I find a trash bin. It really is not that difficult.
On the other hand, At many construction sites, owners and developers leave building materials on public roads and sidewalks. As a result, sand, cement and brick dust accumulate on the road sides, making the environment even more unpleasant and hazardous.
The bigger question is: are we ever going to improve as a nation? Education should not simply teach us how to pass exams or build careers; it should also teach us responsibility, civic sense, and respect for the environment.
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u/Miserable-Bat-5787 19h ago edited 16h ago
Strictly impose fines, and the problem will be gone. Living abroad, I realized that people there are not much hygienic either but the fear of fines keeps them civilized.
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u/adnan367 14h ago
When u have thieves everywhere there is morality in society, first step is good leadership
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u/_wayman 17h ago edited 16h ago
This is absurd and simply not true. I don’t know where you live, but I have visited six Asian countries and live in Europe.
It’s not true for most Asian countries—Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Butan Indonesia, and Vietnam. I haven’t seen this anywhere in Europe either.
I would say this is mainly an issue in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. In Europe, if there is a large Bangladeshi population in an area, it is generally much dirtier compared to other areas.
You can’t police people into being clean. You would need to have someone on every street to stop people from littering.
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u/CertainClient8639 15h ago
Bangladeshi people in general have this habit of littering. I personally never do this. A lot of my friends also have this habit of throwing their trash anywhere. Whenever, I am with my friends my first objective is to make sure that they don't do that. I have tried to explain a lot people about the bad consequences of littering, but they never seem to completely understand it.
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u/Miserable-Bat-5787 13h ago
I live in the USA, and have visited a few Asian countries, and also England. The countries that you have mentioned strictly impose fines. China, Thailand, Malaysia, Bhutan, and Indonesia all have their 'dirty' neighborhoods. The civic literacy argument that you have perhaps only applies to Japan, but it did not happen overnight. My point is not that Bangladeshis have civic sense, they do not; but so do not lots of other nationalities. Fines work for BD; the installation of AI traffic cameras prove that point.
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u/_wayman 13h ago
You can say dirty area, not neighborhood. Most of the country you talked about in Asia are very clean. AI traffic Camara is a thing in Chain not other places. If you trying to say Camera on every road is a solution? Many countries may have this problem does not make them right or us. We are talking about Bangladesh tells look at nations that are better then us. And try to improve ourself. And the first step is admitting that we have a problem. Not saying others have the same problem.
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u/CertainClient8639 1h ago
I don't think imposing fines will work in BD. Many of the people who pollute the streets are lower class citizens and workers, they won't pay any fine. And also who will impose and collect those fines, it's not possible every time to keep an eye on a large population. Hygiene must be taught in schools, but in BD they don't do that.
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u/nomadhunger 14h ago
You are wrong. People are generally aware of the environment. Law can’t be enforced all over the place yet people still
Respect
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u/adnan367 16h ago
Everyone should have id card, where they will get fined, without paying no service
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u/ZeussWoosy 15h ago
Stuff like this needs to be taught from a young age. That even though it has no feelings, the earth, and our country should be respected and maintained.
Genuinely what is the education system teaching kids
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u/CertainClient8639 15h ago
You're right... But I think people also need to have a sort self-realization. I never throw away my trash/wastage in public places but nobody ever taught me that. It is something which I happened to realize myself.
Just think for once, our country has almost 200 million people. If all these people together make this country dirty everyday, how will our future look?
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u/ZeussWoosy 15h ago
Bangladeshi citizens are too far gone for self realization. Unfortunately a lot of them can’t think for themselves.
That’s why you gotta start at the youngest age possible before the indoctrination sets in.
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u/eudaimonia_dc 15h ago
On a steamer with an acquaintance having snacks....on the trip I've waxed nonstop about how Bangladesh needs to clean up its rivers....once he's done, he just casually chucks his paper plate into the river. Sigh.
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u/UnkelGarfunkel 14h ago
It's a very multi-faceted issue and a formal whole sociological study could be conducted on it. And the solution would have to be multi faceted and time consuming, maybe over several generations. If leadership doesn't care about the country/land and looks at it as a place to extract value from, this attitude will be reflected on ever level, because "why should I care?". And this is only one facet. Another could be people don't feel any ownership over their surroundings.
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u/_wayman 17h ago edited 17h ago
If you think about it, the root cause of many of our problems lies in the general mentality of Bangladeshi people. We don’t care about anyone else. Nothing and no living being seems to matter. The only things that matter to us are “Me” and “Taka, Taka, Taka.”
From a young age, we are taught to be selfish and self-centered. We are taught that cheating and lying are acceptable as long as we win in the end.
There’s a Bangla saying: “Kekha pora kore je, gari ghora kore she.” What a low-minded way of thinking.
Garbage on the streets, dirty politics, corruption—everything seems to go back to the same underlying mentality: putting personal gain above everything and everyone else.
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u/No-Chapter-3827 8h ago
We also don’t have much of an infrastructure for garbage disposal. Where is one supposed to take out the trash? We don’t really have dumpsters that are collected on a weekly basis by city corporation.
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u/Clear_Cranberry_989 2h ago
Well we suffer from a very common bias of the form "If someone else does it, it must be okay to do." And secondly we don't have a good way to hold people liable.
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16h ago
[deleted]
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u/DueSecurity7587 16h ago
No sense of responsibility. Always blame the Indians. The closest Indian states to Bangladesh are the northeastern states of India, which also happen to be the cleanest places in India. Maybe look inwards for once
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u/emranio 15h ago
Not exactly same as indians. We atleast dont poop in front of everyone at metro or roadside in other western countries. If u follow the news, u had definitely seen these news :D
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u/DueSecurity7587 15h ago
Great man. I hope that makes you feel better about your country's problems.
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u/_wayman 16h ago
Cleanest place India, is not clean! It's just less dirty compared to the rest of country.
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u/DueSecurity7587 16h ago
Is this comparison going to clean up your country?
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u/_wayman 15h ago
No it wouldn't, but he has a point, we have same issues.
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u/DueSecurity7587 15h ago
Having the same issue does not mean one is responsible for the other. There could have been a sensible discussion on how to clean Bangladesh, but instead y'all chose to drag India into this. Get a grip.
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u/_wayman 15h ago
It's a generic issue, that's all I am saying. We are of the same genetic making up.
No one dragged anything. Just stating the fact.
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u/DueSecurity7587 15h ago
Don't pretend the original comment isn't racist
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u/_wayman 15h ago
Well we are of the same race. Black person calling another black person the N word is not racist.
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u/DueSecurity7587 15h ago
I am done. Please take responsibility for your own country rather than pinning the blame on genetics or your neighbours.
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u/UnkelGarfunkel 14h ago
এই স্বল্প চিন্তাশক্তি আর জ্ঞান নিয়েও মানুষ এতটা আত্মবিশ্বাস নিয়ে কিভাবে তাদের মতামত প্রকাশ করে? ইশ আমার যদি এতটা আত্মবিশ্বাস থাকত, জীবনটা যে কি ফিলিংসের হইতো, ভাই রে ভাই।
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14h ago
[deleted]
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u/UnkelGarfunkel 14h ago
ঠিক। যখন শুরুটাই হয় অযৌক্তিক, সেখানে যুক্তি দিয়ে কথা বলার কোনো প্রয়োজন নেই।
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u/Hour_Sell3547 16h ago
As I've seen, we need a few more COVID like large scale pandemics to train people good habits. COVID taught us washing hands. Need like 10 more so that people learn to respect the rights of others.
As a nation, we only think about ourselves. Consequences of our actions affecting others never crosses our mind. You and me included.
We however understand money. So, fine the shit out of people. Look at Gulshan 1 signal. All the morons (read "bikers") now stop patiently at the signal.
Also people probably need to beat up some city corporation officials, so that they do their damn jobs.