Jack's the lad to toilet train the world

TRY using the toilet in Singapore and you could end up spending far more than a penny.

In what is colloquially known as the ''fine city'' for its stringent laws on public behaviour, failure to flush a public toilet is punishable with a S$4,500 fine.

Singapore has traditionally prided itself on the standard of its public toilets, proudly proclaiming them the best- maintained loos in Asia.

Recently, however, while other tiger economies have been grappling with the pressing issue of their economies going down the pan, Singaporeans have identified a far more worrying trend. Their toilets have become rather whiffy.

Enter businessman Mr Jack Sim, a director of toilet cubicle partition supplier Besco Building Supplies, who has recruited 15 local washroom-related companies to establish the Singapore Restroom Association.

Their manifesto is threefold: to educate the public in toilet training etiquette, to assume control of Singapore's annual Keep Public Toilets Clean campaign from the ministry of the environment, and to introduce the concept of loo-scaping by inviting local designers and architects to take part in a build-a-more-beautiful-toilet competition.

''I set up the association to deal with the unpredictable nature of spending a penny. Why, in a country which is supposed to be the cleanest in the world, is this problem able to persist?'' demands Mr Sim.

''Somebody has to take responsibility,'' he insists. ''As a country we are always looking for improvement, yet our toilets are a taboo subject. People don't like discussing their toilet habits.''

Mr Sim took inspiration from Singapore's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, who claimed the measure of a country's social graces was the state of its public toilets.

Fired with determination after years of erratic toilet experiences, Mr Sim has set up a Web site, where members of the public are invited to report on poor public conveniences.

''The idea is not to punish. We have no authority to take action,'' he explains. ''We're looking for self-regulation, not strong-arm tactics.''

Mr Sim hopes to establish a world network of restroom associations, in collaboration with the Japanese Restroom Association, which has been busy spreading the gospel of toilet cleanliness ever since the 1996 World Toilet Symposium in Toyama.
                                                                                     - The Guardian