The Wonders of Singapore's Toilets

During my days of travelling, I’d have to admit that answering the call of nature has always been somewhat of a nightmarish experience for me. Some of the restrooms that I’ve came across has given me enough reason to cast a shadow of doubt and form a negative perception on how “clean” public restrooms can be around the world. Most places I’ve visited, especially popular tourist spots, have often failed to maintain and ensure that the level of cleanliness of their lavatory facility is up to satisfactory standards. One would think that the local authorities would actually pay more attention to the services and facilities offered in these places as it normally has a high number of visitors on a daily basis. You hardly hear from a traveller of his wonderful experience using the public restroom at a tourist attraction. It would either be a forgettable one or a rather disgusting experience to be brought up in any subject of conversation.

Singapore however, proved me wrong.

It’s the only country where you can actually talk about its public restrooms without pulling a disgusted face while you’re at it! What I find to be truly amazing about it is that Singapore may be the only country I’ve known so far to have its public toilets assessed by a special committee to qualify for a five star rating. And you would think that five star ratings are only limited to hotels and resorts! These ratings are usually awarded based on the efficiency, cleanliness and overall environment and creative design of the toilet itself. Singaporeans are pretty serious about the issue of cleanliness. Just taking a look around town and you can hardly see rubbish, fallen leaves or even cigarette buds lying around. Special importance is especially given to public restrooms ever since its former Prime Minister emphasised its cleanliness as a sign of a gracious society. Coming from a country that is one of the founding members of the World Toilet Organization and also started off the world’s first Toilet College, these people clearly mean serious ‘business’!

Singapore toilets cannot be just regarded as a loo. It’s more like a state-of-the art piece! From what I have observed, to Singaporeans, a clean and pleasant toilet does not happen by chance, instead it has to be designed in a particular way to project a clean and presentable image. Many of them are tastefully decorated with indoor plants, flower vase with blooming flowers and equipped with fragrant liquid soap, freshly laundered towels, toilet paper, large sized mirror, perfume, hot and cold running water, soft instrumental music, concealed lighting and sophisticated ventilation system. As I continued my visit to all the popular tourist spots around, I made it a point to visit the public restrooms as well and decided to do a little toilet tour in some of Singapore’s places of interests. 

I found that most of the restrooms were decorated based on various creative themes and adopted different concepts to its design. The restrooms in the zoos and national parks adopt more of an open air concept for a better ventilation system while those at the cinemas have movie posters and advertisements gracing the walls in a creative fashion. One of the best decorated toilets I have come across is the toilets in the Singapore Zoological Gardens. Winner of the best toilet award for many years in a row, this is certainly something to look out for the next time you decide to answer nature’s call. Instead of the usual sterile looking white walls and plain looking toilets, the Singapore Zoological Gardens decided to defy the ordinary and went on to be a little creative with its design by adopting a jungle theme. Part of the toilet wall was removed and shielded by tree trunks arranged around the sink. Green vegetation are planted everywhere around the toilet area. The décor itself certainly gives more meaning to the expression ‘answering the call of nature’!

So the next time you feel the urge to make a visit to the public restroom, rest assured that in Singapore, you wouldn’t have to worry about being greeted by the smells of faeces or facing the horror of empty toilet paper rolls. The experience I’ve gained recently during my toilet tour in Singapore’s finest has certainly restored my faith and perception in public restrooms the world over.  Hopefully, others will learn from Singapore and do everyone a big favour by cleaning up their ‘business’!

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Article Information
This article was written by Pollyanna G. Joseph and was first published 9 April 2007. This article is free for personal and commercial reproduction, with the following terms and conditions.