When it comes to the issue of public toilets in Malaysia, the country has made history as having some of the dirtiest ones around. And amazingly, while the toilets remain dirty as ever, the price to answer nature's call - be it in shopping complexes or at the train and bus stations - has taken a rise.

At one point, it was 10 sen to use a public toilet, then it went to 20 sen and now at some places it is 30 sen. It all depends on what a particular public toilet provides.

Not too long ago, the Putra light rail transit (LRT) train operator enabled commuters to use the toilets located inside its station area.. But some time ago the situation changed and the LRT commuters must now pay 20 sen to use the facility.

Charging consumers to use public toilets might not do the trick in getting them to keep these amenities clean. Some, out of frustration for having made to pay, might vandalise these toilets while others might adopt a nonchalant attitude towards public toilets.

And in cases when consumers pay to use the public toilets, imagine their dismay when they find the toilets to be in a deplorable state with no toilet paper, dirty or broken toilet seats and faulty flushes.

One such example are the toilets at the Puduraya bus terminal. Now, since the service rendered is not worth value-for-money, is there a way in such a case for consumers to get their 20 sen back?

While Malaysians might with a hapless sigh accept dirty public toilets as a common feature, this might not be the same with foreigners who will be shocked to death to find Malaysia home to some of the dirtiest toilets one can find.

DPM's concern not enough

Launching the nation's first ever 'toilet expo' recently Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak recently said a 'toilet evolution' was necessary as dirty toilets kept tourists away which meant Malaysia loses foreign revenue besides the fact that dirty toilets reflected poorly on the country.

He added that the cleanliness and beauty of a country's toilets were a measure of how civilised it was.

Speaking of 'civilised', it was not that very long ago when the issue of faulty toilets in Parliament House was raised and one which caused an uproar when Works Minister S Samy Vellu likened maintaining toilets to that of handling a wife. It certainly seems that civilisation is not a virtue known to everyone.

Still on the topic of civilisation, the common toilets at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur are so small that one can only wonder why they were built in that size, with individuals who are on the large size having no chance to use them at all.

Now that Najib has spoken of 'toilet evolution' and foreigners, it would help the rakyat if he visited this tiny toilets of PWTC and consider adding more space to them.

No doubt Najib's primary concern are the foreign tourists because it is through them Malaysia makes its earnings but he should also empathise with Malaysians themselves who have to face dirty toilets.

Beyond rhetoric on why a country must keep its toilets clean, Najib's statement that the government was willing to tighten laws to force owners of business premises to keep their lavatories clean should not mean that consumers might end up paying more if toilets at certain premises are sparkling clean, adorned with wall paintings and plants.

Cleanliness everyone's responsibility

Looking at the problem of dirty public toilets in Malaysia, one wonders whether cleanliness is a virtue known only to a few. Is personal hygiene something alien to both operators of public toilet who refuse to provide the basics like tissues and running water and to toilet users who cannot be bothered to flush the toilet upon use?

Maybe it is true that a revolution of sorts is needed to make sure the public toilets are always in a good state. But who will undertake the revolution, since the issue of public toilets has now become a national interest news?

Will Najib do so, denying the myth that politicians do not practice what they preach? More so since next year is the Visit Malaysia Year and the government is expecting to attract 20 million foreign tourists to Malaysia.

Hopefully, whatever revolution that Najib has in mind will not cost the country a 'million bucks'. Over the past years many national-level campaigns to educate the public on keeping public toilets clean have been held. What has out of those campaigns which certainly would have cost the government a good deal of money.

If the past record of the national-level campaigns are to speak of the present state of Malaysia's public toilets, than one can well conclude that these campaigns were not effective in that they were not well organised.

Educating people on matters of personal hygiene is not a week or month-long stint but must be an on-going effort.

Before taking on any revolution of its kind, a survey to determine why Malaysia has not been successful in maintaining clean public toilets will help. Spending public money to build state-of-the-art toilets is not going to solve the problem.

Let the survery determine just what is it that stands as an obstacle in ensuring clean public toilets.

There can be two things that the survey might reveal. One, that Malaysians are not civic conscious when it comes to using public amenities and the other that dirty public toilets, for one reason or another, have become a way of life for the people.

JJ RAY started her career with a mainstream publication. A non-conformist, she soon saw the barriers that went up whenever, through her writing, she tried to make the world a home for one and all.