I had the opportunity to dine in a high school student canteen the other day. What presented itself before my eye was a shocking vision of waste. Leftovers were scattered all over the tables, on the floor, in the sink ... everywhere.

Some dishes were virtually untouched, some steam buns thrown away whole. Really, I haven't seen such a scene for quite a long time. I am very much puzzled how could such a mess have ever happened in a school where future talents are supposed to be brought up in a morally healthy way. The sight appears to be the more disgusting when the campaign to promote quality education is still in full swing nationwide.

Nowadays it is not uncommon to see young students, and college students in particular, having sumptuous feasts in restaurants. They indulge in a drinking spree, littering the whole table with soiled dishes and leftovers. Such wasteful extravagance is contagious.

A news report has it that a group of kids, aged below 10, had a get-together recently for a birthday celebration. Imitating their elders on such occasions, they stuffed themselves with a lot of food and drink, and roared with merriment to the bemusement of all the diners around. This alone already makes us upset and uneasy. However, what was more ludicrous was yet to come. At the height of the revelry, they cried out for the service of a "Miss", meaning girls providing sexual services, even if those nippers might have had very little idea what a "Miss" implies. Is such twisted behavior not serious enough to call for deep thought by society?

This reminds me of a business trip I made to a top engineering company in Germany some time ago. During the visit I was invited by the chief executive to have a dinner with his family. The meal was a very simple one, consisting only of a couple of courses and rice and soup. Plain as the meal certainly was, I enjoyed it very much, being in an exotic family atmosphere.

What took me by surprise however was the dramatic turn that followed after the meal. When we finished, the father summoned his two sons out of their room to eat up what was left over on the table. Mind you: not little children but tall youngsters in their late teens. Not only did they make a clean sweep of everything but they even scraped the plates with bread to soak up the remaining residue. All this was performed in a quiet, dexterous and polite manner. What an eye-opening experience for me!

I had been instructed about good table manners ever since I was a kid. Not until then however had I realized that good table manners not only means a good verbal and physical behaviour, but also involves reduction of waste to a minimum.

Then what has caused the minors of today to have contracted the bad habits of squandering? What has gone wrong? In my opinion, schools should be the first to take responsibility, since they are institutions for teaching and instilling traditional virtues into youngsters who are committed to its charge by society. Unfortunately what is paramount in the minds of the schools and teachers these days seems heavily weighed on the side of academic performance, with the ratio of students admitted by universities as their top concern.

And extravagance and waste prevailing on campus has seldom, if at all, been addressed as a pressing issue. I hear that more often than not even the teaching staff join students in feasting.

Next, the doting parents should also take a lot of the blame for their children's free spending. It is not that they do anything wrong pouring all their loving care into their kids, but an overdose of undue affection, coupled with an excessive flow of pocket money without guidance as to its proper use, will spoil their little "emperors" and "princesses" in the long run. And in some cases, this is probably a mirror of their elders, whose behavior in this respect is highly questionable.

The media should also be held accountable to some extent for not playing a balanced role in its reportage on material enjoyment versus the merit of hard work and thrift. While it sings high praises for the rising living standards we have earned over the years, the media sometimes tends to be too gaudy and profuse in the coverage of the luxurious lifestyle of some rich urbanites, which is by no means representative of the common people.

And we are only too familiar with the extravagant scenes of restaurants and revels that appear on TV and in newspapers. All this may have created a false impression among youngsters and misled them into worship of eating, drinking and enjoying comforts. Teaching frugality seems pale and out of fashion. Stories of this sort, if any, may have been elbowed out of prominent positions they should occupy in newspapers.

Quality education is not an empty call or something intangible. And being thrifty is one virtue children will have to develop in the process of growing up. The more affluent we get, the more important it is to be alert to any form of waste. It is the responsibility of the whole society to do its bit towards fulfillment of this job. Every one of us.

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