51-year-old Sivakumar Kumarasamy wears a separate pair of shoes for work.
It’s not a fashion choice – the reason is much simpler. It’s just so that he doesn’t have to walk about with drenched footwear. He acknowledges that although his outfit is plain, he finds happiness in simplicity.
For the past 8 years, Sivakumar has been working at Pek Kio Market & Food Centre on Cambridge Road as a toilet caretaker.
It’s a family endeavour, managing these toilets. Sivakumar’s younger brother looks after the toilet at Tekka Market and his wife comes down to work with him on weekdays, with a cousin occasionally dropping by to help.
But today, when we visit him, it’s only him and his cousin. “My wife went to visit my elder brother,” he says.
Sivakumar has no children, just two brothers and a sister, all of whom are married except his younger brother.
He usually works from 6.30am to 6.30pm, seven days a week. Sivakumar works 12 hours day, but the toilets are open 24/7.
Toilets dirty when he gets to work in the morning
The first thing he does when he gets to work every day is to thoroughly clean the toilet.
“Even though I clean it in the evening before I leave, almost every time when I come in the next morning, it is dirty again. There are stains and spit everywhere, so I have to clean as hard as yesterday.”
For the rest of the day, he maintains its cleanliness by hosing it down periodically, and spraying disinfectant on surfaces every 2 hours. “I also make sure that after everything is washed, it must be dry. There are a lot of elderly here, and they are scared of slippery floors,” he says with a chuckle.
“Often when there are water puddles, I tell them to move slowly and clean it up immediately.”
Sivakumar tells The Pride that despite how much he scrubs the washrooms clean, one night is all it takes for both toilets to revert back to square one.
“I sometimes want to throw everything down and quit. I get very angry when every day I come in and it is dirty, like I have never touched it. But I go outside and breathe to calm myself down. Then, I carry on.”
Sivakumar charges 10 cents for entry to the toilet and sells tissues for 10 cents a piece and 30 cents a packet. He explains that he has to do this to cover the cost for cleaning supplies.
According to the NEA, toilets at NEA-run hawker centres are mostly free for public usage. However, some centres managed by town councils usually charge a fee for people to use the toilets, which are cleaned not by professional cleaners but often by hired staff.
“The town council doesn’t supply us with the chemicals and equipment we need, so we need to get it ourselves… and I carefully select good cleaning supplies so that the toilets remain clean and fresh,” says Sivakumar.
“10 cents per person can barely make up for the expensive supplies, yet some people still want to threaten me when I ask them to pay.”
Threatened by angry Singaporeans
Sivakumar is no stranger to being grilled by Singaporeans who get ruffled when he asks them to pay for entry. He tells The Pride that he had been threatened with fistfights and had the police called on him by fed-up patrons, who falsely accused him of using force to make them pay up.
“All this for 10 cents!” he exclaims in disbelief.
“I’m not asking for 50 dollars or 100 dollars. With 10 cents, I cannot buy anything, and I certainly cannot keep the toilet clean with it,” he explains.
It’s worse when children get involved, says Sivakumar. “There was once a mother and her child wanted to use the toilet, but didn’t want to pay. She then called her husband to come down, who tried to scare me into letting them go in without paying. While I was dealing with the parents, I saw the kid’s face and he was very uncomfortable.”
“What are they teaching the kids? Whenever I remember that, I feel uneasy,” he says.
Despite the negativity, Sivakumar remains calm and stands his ground. “When people confront you but you know you are doing the right thing, you have nothing to hide. So you stand strong.”
More at https://pride.kindness.sg/toilet-caretaker-10-cent-entry-fee/
