You all mati arh.. mess up my toylets

[Apollo]

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story Sep 5, 2008 Good toilets, bad habits Some of the public restrooms here are pretty nice - till the public gets to them By Kimberly Spykerman

 

THE malls here have really great toilets.

 

Those in Ngee Ann City, for instance, are well-lit and have full-length mirrors; Paragon Shopping Centre's toilets have automatic sliding doors - a no-need-to-touch feature that is every germ-fearing person's dream.

 

But providing these gems of toilets might as well be an exercise in casting pearls before swine.

 

Filth in utilitarian toilets at hawker centres and bus interchanges is nothing new, but a Straits Times check showed that even the plants, gleaming counter tops and shiny mirrors in more upscale loos do little to inspire better toilet habits.

 

Mr Sebastian Sekaran, a 42-year-old logistics executive, told The Straits Times: 'It's people's mindsets that have to be changed. So what if the toilets look good? It also won't matter how often the toilets are cleaned if people still make a mess.'

 

He added: 'People know it's not their toilet, so they don't feel like the onus is on them to keep it clean.'

 

The toilets in Far East Plaza and Lucky Plaza went through major overhauls in 2005 as part of the two malls' move to buff their image among shoppers, but the toilets are still not clean.

 

A check by this reporter found many porcelain bowls plastered with wet toilet paper. Floors and toilet seats were spattered with urine, and used sanitary towels sat atop the lidded bins provided precisely to keep them out of sight.

 

In the toilets for 'gents', soiled floors around the urinals could be seen.

 

An exasperated Teo Yong Khiang, 48, a hairstylist in Far East Plaza, made this call: 'Guys, please aim properly!'

 

Mr Wong Chee Meng, 47, who cleans the toilets at Paragon Shopping Centre, said globs of soggy toilet paper in the urinals are his biggest bugbear: 'I have to pick them out before they clog up the urinal and we have to call the plumber.'

 

For Madam Sapariah Kasmadi, 54, a cleaner in Ngee Ann City's toilets, picking up soiled toilet paper is also a daily task.

 

She said: 'Of course I don't like it but that's my job. It would be nice if people could be a bit more considerate.'

 

She makes half-hourly forays into the toilet to clean the cubicles, wipe the dripping counter tops and check that everything is in working order.

Weekends are the worst because of the bigger crowds.

 

Mr Yoges Arumugam, 19, who also works on Ngee Ann City's toilets, has had to clean faeces off the floor more than a few times.

 

He said: 'I don't know why they do this. It makes the whole toilet so smelly.'

 

But despite their unhappiness over the lack of toilet etiquette here, the cleaners know there is little they can do but get on with the cleaning. Mr Yoges said the management would come down on them if the very people using the toilets complain about their being dirty.

 

Madam He Ai Ni, 60, who cleans the toilets in Changi Airport, said: 'Our job as cleaners is just to make sure that whenever someone makes a mess, we take care of the situation at once.'

 

Sales assistant Caroline Shing, 23, pointed out that people are less inclined to keep toilets clean if they have already been soiled by previous users.

Of footprints left on toilet seats, she said: 'It's a vicious cycle. If a seat is already dirty, people won't want to sit on it. They'd probably just step on it.'

 

Smoking in the toilets is banned, but it still happens. Aside from leaving behind the odour of smoke, culprits also stub out their cigarettes on toilet roll dispensers, leaving them pocked with scorch marks and ash-littered.

 

For all the mess they put up with, cleaners seldom get a word of thanks; users seek them out only when there are problems with the toilets.

But Mr Yoges said tourists are more generous with praise. He said he was once tipped $5 by an Australian visitor who relieved her churning stomach. She apologised for the mess as well.

 

The Restroom Association of Singapore has declared its target of making seven in 10 public toilets here clean by 2010 through public education.

Its president Tan Puay Hoon said that though well-designed and decorated loos have definitely become cleaner, toilet habits here need an attitude overhaul:

 

'We believe continued emphasis on good toilet habits by toilet operators (like Apollo) will pay off eventually.'

 

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Additional reporting by Seow Kai Lun

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http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNew...ory_275446.html

[Hondacub777]

KNN,sporeans r the worst lots.i seen a lot of times that the poo is not in the bowl but on the side or edge .i wonder these pple do that in their home.worst still,some parents brought the kids to the toliet,after finishing,walk off without even asking the kids to flush,worst still the parents didnt even bother to do that .

[Chowyunfatt]

Actually should make a sensor...when the person enters the toilet & shuts the door, the sensor will be activated...once the feller open the door to exit without flushing, a siren should be activated to shame the guy & a photo taken...

[Boyboy]

actually there's this thing called auto flush

 

now all they need is auto wash of toilet

[Apollo]

Actually should make a sensor...when the person enters the toilet & shuts the door, the sensor will be activated...once the feller open the door to exit without flushing, a siren should be activated to shame the guy & a photo taken...

 

warouz.. u damn terrible think ofthis type of thing.. esp when u failed to include tat the photo will be automatically loaded to STOMP and if is minah, we wanna know wat is the color of the panty...

[Chowyunfatt]

Wah Lan Ehh...How can Stomp be possibly faster than NKPS?...Even before the camera snaps, NKPS can tell you the colour at the blink of an eye... ...

 

Thats if she is wearing any to begin with...

[Alpha78]

Autowash toilet is already available in Europe and Australia. The catch is, you need to pay to use that toilet, and it's fully automated.

 

Catch no. 2, if your big business cannot be finished within the 10 or 15 minutes, the door opens by itself. And then it starts cleaning by spraying water all over the toilet.

[Shull]

she wear or dont wear...Nkps can smell from miles away..

 

i wonder if he go geylang serai..he will be confused from all the minahs there or not..

[Apollo]

then CNG gas leak how?

 

can still smell?

[Shull]

wrong person to ask lah bro..

 

i am NOT Nkps..nor i have the ability to sniff out undies..or the lack of it)... i rather use my sense of touch..

Edited September 6, 2008 by Shull

[Apollo]

wait u touch below and sekali is one eye snake how?

 

[Curahee]

Can paste something on the wall of the urinal like the T3 urinal, guy tend to aim that thing and minimize anyhow aim.

[Shull]

wah lao..you shattered my imagination..

 

but if really kena one-eyed snake..i'll give it a hard tug..then faster go and disinfect my hands..

[Apollo]

u tug and the snake shoot venom at u.. u'll b dead on the spot.

[Apollo]

it's not nice to use ministar's foto.. i mike b sued for copyright.

 

we aim to plz, plz aim to piss.

Edited September 6, 2008 by Apollo

[Boyboy]

Catch no. 2, if your big business cannot be finished within the 10 or 15 minutes, the door opens by itself. And then it starts cleaning by spraying water all over the toilet.

 

 

 

ok i rather my smelly local style toilet anytime

[Tckrto]

now with so many FT why only blame singaporean?

it's becos of the stupid policy dats why it is even harder to educate each and everyone.