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<!-- headline one : start --><TR>Shamed by state of our public loos
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I READ with interest about public toilets in Singapore - and could not agree more with Mr Eric J. Brooks ('Shameful state of our loos spreads to malls', Aug 2).
I recently returned to Singapore while on nine-month maternity leave in Britain, and I have a four-year-old and a five-month-old baby.
Each time I go out with my older daughter, I dread the thought that she will ask me to take her to a public toilet - she drinks so much water in this heat. The main reason is they are never clean, especially those in old coffee shops or old shopping malls. Luckily, I always remember to take packets of wet wipes and tissues.
As an overseas Singaporean, I always promote Singapore to friends, but now, seeing the state of our public toilets, I can't help but feel ashamed. Apart from no toilet paper provided - or provided at a price - there is the stench and rubbish left behind. Some toilets are flooded too. I wonder if there is a 'cleanliness person' from the Government to check toilets in such places.
Having said all this, I must commend the public toilets in Ang Mo Kio Hub, which are clean, and the mall even provides a wonderful babycare room which many malls don't. There is always a cleaner on standby outside the toilet on each level.
The lack of babycare rooms is another thing I have noted. I am surprised that many malls (or fast-food restaurants) do not provide such rooms. Have they forgotten to meet a basic need of mothers with young children? Most toilets for the disabled are either not in use or very dirty.
I hope to see some improvement in the public toilets when I return next year for my annual visit to this wonderful and friendly country.
Lilian Thomas (Mrs)
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'I saw an elderly man taking a toilet roll from a public toilet. He claimed he was not the only one doing it.'
MR JEFFREY LAW: 'While mall owners are partly to blame for the sorry state of their loos, the real culprits are the inconsiderate users. At a Hougang mall recently, I saw an elderly man taking a toilet roll from a public toilet. He claimed he was not the only one doing it. Why would operators restock toilet rolls only to have them disappear so soon?'
'A cleaner said his supervisor told him to provide soap dispensers only when customers ask for them.'
MR ZAINUDDIN MOHAMED ISMAIL: 'It is not possible for restaurants and coffee shops to have clean food if the toilets used by their workers are lacking in the basic facilities and hygiene. I was shocked when a cleaner at a shopping complex said his supervisor told him to provide soap dispensers only when customers ask for them.'
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<!-- headline one : start --><TR>Shamed by state of our public loos
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I READ with interest about public toilets in Singapore - and could not agree more with Mr Eric J. Brooks ('Shameful state of our loos spreads to malls', Aug 2).
I recently returned to Singapore while on nine-month maternity leave in Britain, and I have a four-year-old and a five-month-old baby.
Each time I go out with my older daughter, I dread the thought that she will ask me to take her to a public toilet - she drinks so much water in this heat. The main reason is they are never clean, especially those in old coffee shops or old shopping malls. Luckily, I always remember to take packets of wet wipes and tissues.
As an overseas Singaporean, I always promote Singapore to friends, but now, seeing the state of our public toilets, I can't help but feel ashamed. Apart from no toilet paper provided - or provided at a price - there is the stench and rubbish left behind. Some toilets are flooded too. I wonder if there is a 'cleanliness person' from the Government to check toilets in such places.
Having said all this, I must commend the public toilets in Ang Mo Kio Hub, which are clean, and the mall even provides a wonderful babycare room which many malls don't. There is always a cleaner on standby outside the toilet on each level.
The lack of babycare rooms is another thing I have noted. I am surprised that many malls (or fast-food restaurants) do not provide such rooms. Have they forgotten to meet a basic need of mothers with young children? Most toilets for the disabled are either not in use or very dirty.
I hope to see some improvement in the public toilets when I return next year for my annual visit to this wonderful and friendly country.
Lilian Thomas (Mrs)
<HR width="50%" SIZE=1>
'I saw an elderly man taking a toilet roll from a public toilet. He claimed he was not the only one doing it.'
MR JEFFREY LAW: 'While mall owners are partly to blame for the sorry state of their loos, the real culprits are the inconsiderate users. At a Hougang mall recently, I saw an elderly man taking a toilet roll from a public toilet. He claimed he was not the only one doing it. Why would operators restock toilet rolls only to have them disappear so soon?'
'A cleaner said his supervisor told him to provide soap dispensers only when customers ask for them.'
MR ZAINUDDIN MOHAMED ISMAIL: 'It is not possible for restaurants and coffee shops to have clean food if the toilets used by their workers are lacking in the basic facilities and hygiene. I was shocked when a cleaner at a shopping complex said his supervisor told him to provide soap dispensers only when customers ask for them.'
