Politicians think that their political life is like toilet paper. Long and useful.
Would you dispense with the services of a good, reliable, efficient, and conscientious worker whose job is to properly clean toilets, or would you be prepared to relieve the Putrajaya minister of his duties?
Which category of worker do you think is worth his weight in gold?
No matter who you are, rich or poor, old or young, blue-blooded or beggar, girl, boy or LGBTQ+, you will need to use the toilet at some point or other. The less said about ministers, the better.
In recent months, toilet talk has managed to dominate ministerial circles. If only equal emphasis had been placed on measures for poorer families to cope with the cost of living crisis and the worrying escalating food prices.
So, are we throwing money down the toilet by paying ministers a handsome salary, plentiful perks, and a generous pension for life, and their focus appears to be on toilet problems?
At least three of them appear to be flushed with pride, waxing lyrical about their “toilet policies”.
Doing the dirty work
Malaysia’s dirty toilet problem does not need a ministerial, or a prime ministerial solution for that matter.
In response to the letter from a nine-year-old pupil, Maryam, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - or “Uncle Anwar” in this instance - has promised to work harder and quickly resolve the toilet problem at the little girl’s school.
If only “Uncle Anwar” would start the new narrative to persuade more Malay parents to realise the importance of schools in character development, acquiring skills, education, and discipline, and taking part in nation-building.
The West would be a laughing stock if a child were to write to US President Joe Biden or Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting action to resolve their filthy and broken school toilets.
Squat toilets are common in some parts of France, Greece, and Russia. It is not just a feature of third-world countries.
If our ministers and prime minister are having to manage toilet repairs or dictate policy about toilets then something is seriously wrong with the system.
Perhaps, the Malaysian dirty toilet problem is a metaphor for the negative work culture in some of our establishments.
Dirty and broken toilets are the end result of poor communication, a stressful work environment, high absenteeism, poor leadership, boredom or unhappiness at work, a lack of direction, poor instruction, and demotivated employees.
Instead of sacking the worker whose job is to clean the toilets, just sack the supervisor and the line manager.
The worker is more useful and he should be retained but the same cannot be said for the supervisor and line manager. Both have failed to issue good, precise instructions on what must be done.
The supervisor has failed to monitor his workers. The line manager whose overall responsibility is to see that the whole process and outfit, such as cleaners, repairmen, toilets, maintenance, supplies, routine cleaning and a dedicated regular maintenance programme have been carried out, has also failed the school.
Should anyone fail to pull their weight, then they will have to be replaced after two further chances to perform.
Why should we pay our ministers a high wage to do the job of a cleaner? Why should a prime minister be forced to do the job which others below him have failed to do?
Third-world mentality
Meanwhile, the Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming said that his ministry would present the “toilet of the year” award5 to the best public toilet.
He did not mind being described as the “toilet minister” and during his tour of inspection of dirty toilets, was full of praise for a golden toilet bowl of Nam Heong Coffee Shop’s newly renovated washrooms in Ipoh Old Town.
Nga is keen on BMW, meaning Bersih (clean), Menawan (attractive), and Wangi (pleasant smelling) toilets. Does he think that money alone will solve the terrible toilet habits of many Malaysians?
The Madani administration can throw hundreds of millions of ringgit into toilet policies, and install golden toilet bowls in public buildings, but a toilet bowl will remain dirty if the money meant to maintain it and pay the cleaners end up in a dirty civil servant’s or employee’s pocket.
A golden toilet bowl is just a toilet bowl that is gold in colour and, like all toilet bowls, it will not clean itself.
Perhaps, the minister may not realise that there is no point in having first-world toilet facilities if the people in charge of its maintenance have a third-world mentality.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, said that it was a challenge to ensure no leakages with large allocation of funds.
The irony is that the whole nation has been haemorrhaging funds for the past five decades, it is not confined to school toilets.
First and foremost, Fadhlina should stop being a toilet mandor and just show leadership in her ministry.
Fadlina needs to sort out the education system instead of focusing on dirty and broken toilets. A junior ministerial aide can deal with such matters.
Politicians think that their political life is like toilet paper. Long and useful.
COMMENT | Would you dispense with the services of a good, reliable, efficient, and conscientious worker whose job is to properly clean toilets, or would you be prepared to relieve the Putrajaya minister of his duties?
Which category of worker do you think is worth his weight in gold?
No matter who you are, rich or poor, old or young, blue-blooded or beggar, girl, boy or LGBTQ+, you will need to use the toilet at some point or other. The less said about ministers, the better.
In recent months, toilet talk has managed to dominate ministerial circles. If only equal emphasis had been placed on measures for poorer families to cope with the cost of living crisis and the worrying escalating food prices.
So, are we throwing money down the toilet by paying ministers a handsome salary, plentiful perks, and a generous pension for life, and their focus appears to be on toilet problems?
At least three of them appear to be flushed with pride, waxing lyrical about their “toilet policies”.
Doing the dirty work
Malaysia’s dirty toilet problem does not need a ministerial, or a prime ministerial solution for that matter.
In response to the letter from a nine-year-old pupil, Maryam, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - or “Uncle Anwar” in this instance - has promised to work harder and quickly resolve the toilet problem at the little girl’s school.
If only “Uncle Anwar” would start the new narrative to persuade more Malay parents to realise the importance of schools in character development, acquiring skills, education, and discipline, and taking part in nation-building.
The West would be a laughing stock if a child were to write to US President Joe Biden or Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting action to resolve their filthy and broken school toilets.
Squat toilets are common in some parts of France, Greece, and Russia. It is not just a feature of third-world countries.
If our ministers and prime minister are having to manage toilet repairs or dictate policy about toilets then something is seriously wrong with the system.
Perhaps, the Malaysian dirty toilet problem is a metaphor for the negative work culture in some of our establishments.
Dirty and broken toilets are the end result of poor communication, a stressful work environment, high absenteeism, poor leadership, boredom or unhappiness at work, a lack of direction, poor instruction, and demotivated employees.
Instead of sacking the worker whose job is to clean the toilets, just sack the supervisor and the line manager.
The worker is more useful and he should be retained but the same cannot be said for the supervisor and line manager. Both have failed to issue good, precise instructions on what must be done.
The supervisor has failed to monitor his workers. The line manager whose overall responsibility is to see that the whole process and outfit, such as cleaners, repairmen, toilets, maintenance, supplies, routine cleaning and a dedicated regular maintenance programme have been carried out, has also failed the school.
Should anyone fail to pull their weight, then they will have to be replaced after two further chances to perform.
Why should we pay our ministers a high wage to do the job of a cleaner? Why should a prime minister be forced to do the job which others below him have failed to do?
Third-world mentality
Meanwhile, the Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming said that his ministry would present the “toilet of the year” award5 to the best public toilet.
He did not mind being described as the “toilet minister” and during his tour of inspection of dirty toilets, was full of praise for a golden toilet bowl of Nam Heong Coffee Shop’s newly renovated washrooms in Ipoh Old Town.
Nga is keen on BMW, meaning Bersih (clean), Menawan (attractive), and Wangi (pleasant smelling) toilets. Does he think that money alone will solve the terrible toilet habits of many Malaysians?
The Madani administration can throw hundreds of millions of ringgit into toilet policies, and install golden toilet bowls in public buildings, but a toilet bowl will remain dirty if the money meant to maintain it and pay the cleaners end up in a dirty civil servant’s or employee’s pocket.
A golden toilet bowl is just a toilet bowl that is gold in colour and, like all toilet bowls, it will not clean itself.
Perhaps, the minister may not realise that there is no point in having first-world toilet facilities if the people in charge of its maintenance have a third-world mentality.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, said that it was a challenge to ensure no leakages with large allocation of funds.
The irony is that the whole nation has been haemorrhaging funds for the past five decades, it is not confined to school toilets.
First and foremost, Fadhlina should stop being a toilet mandor and just show leadership in her ministry.
Fadlina needs to sort out the education system instead of focusing on dirty and broken toilets. A junior ministerial aide can deal with such matters.
The minister was tasked to upgrade education, improve the quality of teachers, and reverse declining education standards, not dwell on toilets.
Charity like the proper use of toilets begins at home, or do some households expect teachers to teach their children good toilet habits?
A good education will also teach the young that it is wrong to steal money that is not theirs.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.teachers, and reverse declining education standards, not dwell on toilets.
Charity like the proper use of toilets begins at home, or do some households expect teachers to teach their children good toilet habits?
A good education will also teach the young that it is wrong to steal money that is not theirs. - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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