Well, it's actually the month-long Clean Toilets campaign by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
Oh. I don't know. Overall, it is a good thing. It is never too late for something like this, I suppose. Not even a little too late.
But, the fact that such a campaign is being carried out in our mega-city of twin-towers and gleaming over-the-top malls et al, in this century, makes me bristle. Makes me quiver.
But, well. If it's good for the people, it is good for me.
You might have been handed pamphlets about the correct way to use toilets, about the standing protocol and so forth. But, ah... you may not need them because you are not City Hall's target.
I'll bet that you haven't even gone into one of those public toilets in the city.....
I must say that the condition of toilets in the city has improved over the years although there is a lot of room for improvement.
Why... I still remember those days when toilets in the cinema, the gas stations, restaurants were always in a deplorable condition.
That was why, it was standing protocol for us -- as children -- to hit the bathroom before leaving for our outings.
And, as they say... old habits never die, or are difficult to break..
Nuraina,
ReplyDeleteThere ar e certain factors why it is difficult to maintain a clean toilet beside the ignorance of using a pedestal toilet for a squatting one. First to come to my mind is the material themselves which is of low quality, easily stained, difficult to clean and easy to break.
The other problem is the used of water to clean up without first using the tissues make it necessary to use alot of water to the extend of flooding the toilet floor. Some people won't use the bidette even though it is there.
To some people with the mentality as low as the toilet will always think that a toilet is OK to be dirty because that is the kind of toilet they have at home.
Somebody even scoffed at me when I told him that we can even have meals in a clean toilet.
Pak Idrus has a 4 star toilet in his home. I am going to visit it one day and writ e a blog about it.
oh yeah.. calls of "Boy go to toilet, we're heading out soon" still lingers at the back of my mind... =)
ReplyDeleteduhh...really? didnt know about this until i read this posting of yours....
ReplyDeleteSigh! Finally something is done. Better late than never I suppose. Reminds me of the joke about leaving the toilet seat down after use which I find doubly funny because most male Malaysian toilet users who use the toilet bowl as a urinal does not even realise that they are supposed to lift up the seat in the first place!! They always say ...but its already down!!
ReplyDeletePax
Just leave our toilet habits be. That, and our driving styles, are what make us uniquely Malaysian.
ReplyDeleteWe should be proud of them.
Ever notice that every where else, the toilet is flushed after use? We flush before we use it; to clear the crud left behind by the previous depositor.
Then, on to our driving habits which have gained notoriety well beyond our sun drenched shores. In some countries, people drive on the left side of the road, in others the right. Bolehlanders drive in the shade; with devastating results especially during the festive seasons. Another sign of our uniqueness.
And, as history has shown, no amount of leaflets, booklets and campaigning will generate the necessary changes in behavior. Better the government bigwigs use the money to buy fancy number plates for their already fancy cars. Then we just need to transfer the money from one flush, sorry, slush fund to another.
I'm sure Zulhasnan (and others of his ilk) will approve. He of the RM400,000 toilets that self flush and have emergency buttons set in his garden city of lights. And the same he of the RM100,000 auto plates that possibly give him more joy than ordinary Malaysians who still resist paying 20sen to have a ca-ca in those soyuz like contraptions. Or maybe the technology daunts them. Or the contrivances doesn't work anymore thanks to our aversion to maintaining a culture of maintenance.
Hence the need to have month long campaigns on how to do business in the conventional conveniences; campaigns that like all the others before them will be just another case of good money finding its way into some crony's pockets or flushed down the toilet bowl. I believe to honest people, the latter and the former are one and the same thing?
wondering what happened to the RM500,000 toilets? close shop and millions down the drain again? cmpaigns again? what is next, million dollar campaign and then million dollar toilets? I rest my case.
ReplyDeleteSalam. I'm new to the blogging community. I've been following some the famous and resourceful blogs such as yours. But to comments on the political issues is beyond my ability. So i think i just comment on this toilet story. Today's public toilet is better than 10 years ago. Yes the contractors are using low qualities materials to fit their big fat belly, and sometimes i found that the toilet bowl broke into half, i still think we have improve a lot. You know what, the dirtiest toilets are at the dirtiest place such as entertainment centre, pub, discos etc. But overall it seems public toilets are in acceptable condition. If its not, I just leave and find the next one, which is just around the corner. One thing I want to add, if we can educate our young boys to sit down to pee then there will be no miss shot over the bowl.
ReplyDeletelol kak Ena. toilet-talking is a never ending story. I hate it when ppl squat on a seating toilet! dahlah toilet kat msia sentiasa takde toilet paper. Its not all rosy here in the US either. Sadly, i must say tht wherever the asian goes (walmart, target and etc), the toilet will most likely be dirty.
ReplyDeletesomebody shud invent toilet tht will 'scream' "dont squat on me" or "hello! u havent flushed me" or sumthing like tht. hehe.