Malaysian official told to clean up act after ‘dirtiest town in Asia’ video goes viral
The warning came after the video showed rubbish-choked waters in Semporna, a Sabah town famed as a gateway to Malaysia’s top island resorts
The one-minute clip shows British travel vlogger Ben Frier, who goes by the handle Backpacker Ben, strolling around Semporna, a coastal town in Sabah that serves as a gateway to popular tourist islands like Sipadan and Mabul.
Panning around, he shows rubbish clogging the waters surrounding a jetty where thousands of tourists board boats to the islands each year.
“If only you can smell what I’m smelling. It’s exactly how you can imagine,” he says. “Oh man, what a place. Top five dirtiest place I’ve ever been.”
Holding up a plastic bottle, he adds: “Do you know what’s funny? Myself and Cat [his partner] have been walking around with this empty bottle for about an hour now because we can’t litter. We just can’t do it – but I mean, is there much point? Just leave it on the ground like everyone else?”