A FRIEND from Australia was visiting me in Penang and asked me to view an apartment that had caught his eye.

He was thinking of buying a condo here in a high-rise block of flats.

We entered through an efficient security system and went up to the 10th floor in a clean lift.

It was a corner flat with a good view of the sea on one side and another block was visible on the other.

We sat on the balcony drinking tea and enjoying the cool evening breeze coming over the sea.

All seemed fine till he noticed a chap in the other block throw a lighted cigarette end over the balcony. There was a mother and child on a balcony at a lower level, and we feared the butt would fall into the child’s eye; thankfully, it missed them.

We then started to notice all sorts of other anti-social behaviour: A woman shaking dusty carpets on the people below and a chap with long hair brushing his hair and throwing hair that had dropped off over the side.

By the time another smoking couple lit up, my friend had seen enough.

He said it seemed that each person was oblivious to the harm he/she was doing to the ones below them.

I asked him: What about the top floor and who gets to dump garbage on them if they do it to all those below them?

My friend jokingly replied that the one who throws on them in retribution is not of this world, so they may get a nasty surprise.

But on a more serious note, he said that this anti-social behaviour is an offence where he lives and there are strict laws imposed to protect people from this ignorant lack of consideration for others.

He went home.

DAVID KING,

Batu Ferringhi, Penang.

Source: The Star – January 10, 2008