Malaysia is the latest Asian nation to announce a revamp of not just its public toilets (hardware) but now also a campaign to improve the toilet manners of its citizens.
Strangely but quite predictably I must say, the ‘T’ word – stands for toilet – often pops up in my conversations with fellow Singaporeans who have spent an extended period of time overseas.
Sadly, we all appear to agree on one fact, that Asians – other than the exceptional Japanese and possibly Koreans – generally aren’t quite civic-minded when it comes to public property (especially toilets!) and for some reason or other our toilet manners suck.
Some are quick to advise me that Asia has generally come a long way since SARS particularly in hard-hit countries/cities like China, Hong Kong and Singapore. But much remains to be done with the mentality of the Asian citizen.
Case in point: where else in the world can you find automated toilet flushing systems other than Singapore or now Malaysia?
What makes it so difficult to inculcate in the nationals the habit to flush and clean up before you leave the cubicle for the next person?
As the Chinese saying goes, Zi Bu Jiao Fu Zhi Gao, if the son isn’t well-schooled in his manners, the fault lies with his father. The same could be said about how the current generation may reflect (badly) on their ancestors. I’ve not had the luxury to go in depth in my research on the toilet manners of ancient Chinese or other Asian races. But I do have a nudging suspicion that the entire problem is rooted on a lack of consideration for anything that does not fall under one’s ownership. So that toilet in the market cannot be equated the same status as my private toilet at home, that grass field isn’t part of my own garden and the void deck is a shared area that is under regular maintenance by the town council. So why should I care for public property when it should be some one else’s responsibility? Well, perhaps only when I am fined for not doing so – then again fines don’t really work all the time in Singapore ;).
Ok this post has already run a longer length than expected. Have to stop rambling now. I’ll be listening here if you like to share your thoughts.
Gen X-I 
I’ve got a hypothesis that the state of the toilet in each country is related to its economic development rather
than to the Asian mentality. Japanese have a belief that if you want to check on a person’s personal hygiene
standards, just look to his/her toilet.So Japanese toilets are by far the cleanest in Asia and they are also one
of the most economically progressive.
I’ve yet to test my hypothesis but let’s hope Singapore toilets will improve over time given that we are now a
developed county.
Comment by wc — December 22, 2006 @ 7:37 am
hmm I’m not so sure how far your hypothesis may apply to the Japanese obsession over hygiene/cleanliness. Whitebait may be in a better position to answer this question :).
Comment by fujinitsuki — December 22, 2006 @ 2:49 pm