Spitting, tops Asian peeves<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Hong Kong<\/p>\n
Spitting in public, cutting into a queue and bad driving top the
\nlist of irritations for most Asians, according to a survey
\nreleased by Reader's Digest on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Poor service in shops and restaurants also got on the nerves
\nof 82 percent of 3,600 people surveyed around Asia, said the
\nstudy due to be published in next month's edition of the
\nmagazine.<\/p>\n
Respondents in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the
\nPhilippines and Thailand meanwhile ranked bad driving as their
\nnumber-one annoyance.<\/p>\n
Poor personal hygiene, dog mess in the streets and parks,
\nlittering, swearing, smoking and noisy neighbors also made the
\nlist -- but the survey found there was lots more, too.<\/p>\n
Lack of punctuality, computer crashes, crowded public
\ntransport, telemarketers, internet pop-up ads and people talking
\nloudly on their mobile phones were cited.<\/p>\n
Although spitting is a common practice in China, it proves to
\nbe an extreme offense for more than nine out of 10 people in
\nShanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan.<\/p>\n
Editor-in-chief Jim Plouffe believes the Severe Acute
\nRespiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis raised public awareness of
\nhealth concerns in the country.<\/p>\n
"Although spitting is common in China, since the SARS crisis
\npeople have more knowledge about public hygiene and they are more
\naware of it," he said. "I think this is a new trend."<\/p>\n
The survey quoted one young man in Shanghai who said: "Every
\ntime I step out of a car, I see a blob of something on the road.
\nIt's not just disturbing, it harms the image of our city."<\/p>\n
Some people also named parents who don't control their kids in
\npublic, leering old men and dirty toilets as their annoyance.<\/p>\n
"I've been amazed by the results we've got. I expected
\ncomputer crashes or crowded public transport would be on the top
\nof our list," Plouffe said.<\/p>\n
"But I guess this survey proves human behavior was more
\nirritating. There are things that people do to each other that
\nare annoying, but we can't do anything about it."<\/p>",
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