A FOREIGN tourist, in a correspondence to a national daily, heaped praises on the development of Malaysia, singling out for special mention the skyscrapers, especially the Petronas Twin Towers, the highways, the foods and the hospitality of the people.
Few would argue with such observations made from the standpoint of someone looking in from the outside. Tourists are usually more appreciative of the host countries than the locals themselves. It is a sight harder looking at local tourism through local eyes. Familiarity, as they say, breeds contempt.
One, however, does wonder how the foreign tourist concerned might have reacted had he found the need to use our public toilets. Would he still have the appetite to chew on his grandiose views of our country after that? Perhaps, but he definitely would have also wanted to forget in a jiffy his encounter with dank grimy cubicles we so conveniently pass off as public toilets.
Indeed, despite numerous awareness campaigns, our public toilets are still flunking the government’s cleanliness tests.
The latest audit shows 3,000 (51.6 per cent) of 5,764 public toilets could only achieve one-star or two-star rating. Just seven per cent or about 400 attained five-star rating (for most satisfactory cleanliness).
The data clearly reflect our backwardness when it comes to keeping our public toilets clean. There is a need to tighten enforcement, and gratifyingly, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has assured this will be done.
Regular inspections, including twice yearly spot checks, will be conducted with errant operators of especially restaurants, smaller food outlets, coffeeshops and canteens to face the music.
Without such action, public sanitation problems will continue to pose health hazards that not only affect the general population but also the tourism industry.
In many European countries, a restaurant will lose its licence if it does not provide clean toilets. Such a deterrent can be adopted here as well.
To promote wholesome toilet habits, schools are the best place to start. But has any auditing been done for school toilets before? It is no exaggeration that conditions in most school toilets are appalling, and many of the root causes are not necessarily student-induced.
Science and moral education are taught in school, extolling virtues like health, safety, cleanliness and good habits but are the students getting the right support to practise such values in school?
Some social scientists regard the double standard of providing separate toilets for teachers and students as going against the grain, suggesting, instead, for the teachers to make use of the same toilet as the students.
In this way, they contend the teachers can propose remedies if they find conditions in the student toilets less than satisfactory.
There are certainly good reasons for public toilets. Using the roadside drain or back alley to do one’s business is the prerogative of cavemen but hardly a condonable alternative for civilized people. Hopefully!
The sticking point is that while the local authorities are expected to provide amenities such as public toilets, most users are downright callous in handling them (amenities) and will only have themselves to blame if and when the authorities stop providing such public conveniences due to uneconomical upkeep.
Apart from the human factor, the main difficulty in maintaining our public toilets is humidity that contaminates the toilet room.
Installing an air drier or its equivalent will see immediate improvement but what’s the point, given the rampant vandalism. It will be just an exercise in futility unless there is a complete overhaul of mindset.
Malaysia which was among the 17 founders of World Toilet Day in 2001, is often regarded as a shinning example for other developing nations and emerging economies to emulate. But our public toilet system is still a big turn-off.
The government is dealing with the issue head on by planning college courses in lavatory management to alleviate the shameful state of the country’s public toilets and sanitary hygiene generally.
The courses are touted as part of a continuing ‘toilet revolution’ in the country. A text message hotline aimed at reporting sub-standard lavatories to the authorities will also be put in place.
Good, clean toilets are associated with good health, good manners, good upbringing, good housekeeping and civilisation. But considering the low civic-consciousness among the populace in the treatment of public amenities, ensuring cleanliness for public toilets is one tall order.
Clearly, nothing short of a national effort will do. Dirty public loos are an embarrassment to the country. A drastic clean-up is not only in order but also long overdue.