Like many ‘ang mo’ or foreigners, my first experience of Singapore was in transit in Singapore Airport. For me the first time was back in ‘89 and I remember even then thinking ‘these are the cleanest toilets in the world’. You had no sooner done your business than a cleaner came in to make sure everything was spotless and splashless.
Having lived in Singapore for almost a year now that perception hasn’t changed. All of the toilets I have seen have been spotless.
I had to laugh when seeing the Lonely Planet Six Degrees episode for Singapore where there was a segment about the ‘Restroom Association Singapore‘ and their ‘Happy Toilet Program’. I mean where else but Singapore? If you’re not quite sure how to keep your toilet happy they even have a checklist.
I often laugh when I read the local free daily newspapers and the types of events and occurences that make the news. See Singapore is a pretty safe place and the crime rate is low so what can they write about to fill the papers?
When I first arrived there were ongoing articles about people not standing for elders on the train and then there’s the ‘Ground Zero’ or citizen journalism articles where people write in about some peeping Tom, or someone parking in a no parking bay. One of today’s articles was about people camping on the beach despite there being a no camping sign. Its reassuring to know that everything just works here and there really isn’t that much to complain about. Its actually quite comical reading the paper here.
What made really laugh today though was a half page colour article saying that Singaporeans need to improve their toilet etiquette. Its that bad apparently that the Restroom Association has launched the Lets Observe Ourselves (LOO) campaign.
Thank you Singapore for making life so easy.
