Human Writes: Reinventing the humble toilet

You'd feel like an emperor using these public toilets at a tourist attraction in China! At the other extreme are the 10% of the world's population that has no access to any sort of sanitation and has to defecate in the open. Photo: 123rf.com

As a child, whenever I went to a restaurant with my family, I always liked to visit the toilets. I didn’t actually use the toilets most of the time, I’d just go peek to see if they were nice – plus it was an excuse to stretch my restless legs. Many toilets weren’t pleasant. If I found a sparkling shiny toilet, boy, my rating of the restaurant would go up.

I still haven’t quite relinquished my scoring system. My estimation of my family’s favourite Chinese restaurant in Petaling Jaya went up recently after the toilets were improved in a renovation. The food was still the same but, somehow, the place felt more posh with those spanking new toilets.