Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was so impressed by the European countries he visited recently that he is now convinced 'we are far from being the civilised society we claim to be'.

Addressing the state convention of the Kerala Karshaka Sangam in Kottayam on Friday, Pinarayi shared his experiences from the tours of Norway and London as part of an official delegation earlier this month.

"I met members of a Malayali association in Norway. There, a little kid, probably a second-grader, stepped forward and told me how she couldn't find a dustbin to drop a candy wrapper when she was in Kerala on a vacation," Pinarayi said.

The CM said that even though he promised the kid that it would be taken care of, he explained how the incident made him realise a harsh truth.

"We claim to have advanced as a civilisation but we have these shortcomings. We need such a culture, we have to stop littering. These things appear so trivial, but they are actually very important."

Pinarayi also expressed his shock over being told it was safe to drink water straight from a tap in Norway. "Here we wouldn't do it for fear of falling sick," he said.

The Kerala CM said he was also amused to find a large number of Malayali students in London working part-time in hotels.