Spitting in public should be prohibited

Someone once improvised these lyrics to a popular song:

Toreador, don’t spit
On the floor
Use the Cuspidor
That is what it’s for

The cuspidor is a thing of the past. They were a common sight in the corridors of most public buildings. But they have disappeared because people have learned not to spit inside the buildings – even in cuspidors. But sad to say, the custom of spitting in public places outdoors is very much with us. Only a few days ago, the escape of an elephant to the streets of Manila was highly featured on television. More scandalous than the elephant’s escape was the behavior of an individual who was supposed to take charge of the elephant. He spat on a pedestrian that tried to befriend the elephant. Spitting in public is bad enough. Spitting on a person is about the biggest insult one individual can give another. It is worse than violence, the purpose of which is to physically harm a person. When one spits at a person, his purpose is to totally degrade the person. In short, he is not even a person.

We have many signs in the street that say "Do not urinate here." This is because, unlike cities like Paris, for example, we don’t have enough comfort rooms. Perhaps, we also need signs to inform the people that spitting is a menace to public health.

The Philippines is not the only country that has a public-spitting problem. Other Asian countries have the same problem. Part of this is due to the habit of chewing betel nut, and leaves with lime. The thing is that, to date, people spit in public as if it were a natural act. This is a practice that should be put to a stop. First and foremost, there should be an educational campaign to call the public’s attention on this malpractice. Here media can play a crucial role. Second, the police should arrest people who persist in spitting in public. More than a quarter of a century ago, Hong Kong prohibited spitting in public. What gave the campaign its greatest boost was when a prominent member of the Governor’s Executive Council was arrested for the offense. It became a top story and it made the whole population conscious of the anti-spitting program. The ban on spitting is one reason why Singapore and Hong Kong are considered among the cleanest in our Region. We won’t be under the same category till we implement the ban on public-spitting successfully.

There is no reason why we cannot regain our status of being the Pearl of the Orient. During the American regime, there was a very strong emphasis on public health. That is the first defense against all illnesses. And that is what we are trying to do with SARS today. First, prevent the sickness from even coming in. Once in, cure the afflicted and do everything possible to prevent the disease from spreading. Lastly, wipe out all vestiges of SARS. Even nations that didn’t have any health problems are now threatened with SARS. And SARS has clearly shown how the threat of a disease can affect dire effects on the economy of a nation.

As we said earlier, people no longer spit inside the buildings. That is why cuspidors are past tense. All they have to learn now is to expand the practice outdoors.