Uncommon Sense

IRWAN ABDUL RAHMAN FOR a place we all visit to conduct the most important "business" of the day, the toilet sure doesn’t get the respect it deserves. How many times have we gone into a public toilet, at rest areas, petrol stations, restaurants or even hotels, and caught ourselves letting out a quiet, angry but helpless yelp, upon seeing – or worse, coming into contact with – some other people’s toxic waste? I bet we’ve all experienced it: Having to gingerly hose the leftover doo-doo down the hole or wipe the golden grime off the seat, and having to do so while our bladder or belly is impatiently screaming for the signal to discharge. It’s an unmentionable torture we go through just for a relief, a necessary ritual before the Great Escape. It’s probably no longer a big deal now, having heard the same complaint over and over again. We’ve grown so used to it, as if dirty toilets are a charming part of the Malaysian culture for tourists to discover. Bad toilet habits and even worse toilet conditions are a dime a dozen in Malaysia, despite all the cleanliness campaigns and calls for better enforcement. Our expectations of public lavatories are so low, that finding a clean, pleasant-smelling and fully-functional toilet would be the highlight of the day, an exciting anecdote we share with our loved ones over dinner after a long, hard day. Why is it so hard to maintain a hygienic and fully functioning toilet here? Why is finding the unflushed bowl "normal"? A leadership guru once said, “The best way to judge a person or a company is actually by visiting their lavatory. It is a reflection of their most personal values. If they take good care of the seemingly most insignificant room on their premises, then they’d take good care of the more important things.” Treating the toilet with respect, despite its lowly function as a place where you dump all the dirty things in life, reflects how one would treat himself and other people, and on a greater scale, how civilised we are as a society. So what does that say about us Malaysians in general? Many companies have started realising the importance of maintaining a good lavatory and how it reflects on their brand. In fact, they’ve realised the atmosphere in their premises not only affects the morale of their employees, it also affects their brand in the eyes of their clients, vendors and visitors. This is even more so for service industries such as restaurants and hotels, who invest quite a bit on making sure their lavatories are properly maintained and beautifully decorated (PLUS highway’s many newly refurbished toilets in the rest areas are an example — they look like gardens of Eden with their open air concept, green landscape and generous space!). To illustrate how toilets affect business, imagine yourself picking a mall to shop in or take your family this weekend — would you choose the one which you know has poorly kept toilets? Naturally, the responsibility of ensuring cleanliness of public toilets mainly fall upon the premises owners, who should invest in the best quality appliances and fixtures (so that they would last long and resist the daily usage and abuse of so many patrons), perishables (hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, toilet cleaning and water supplies) and manpower to keep the restrooms in tip-top condition. But the duty also falls on the laps of users themselves — the public, who in a supposedly civilised society like ours, SHOULD know how to behave in a toilet. I used the term ‘should’, because I think we can all agree that at current, we’re not behaving as we should. Many of us still cannot tell the difference between the floor-based ‘squatting type’ toilet bowls with the elevated ‘seat type’. If not, we would not be discovering shoe prints on the toilet seat! It must have been a real acrobatic act, balancing themselves as they squat on the elevated 'throne' in such confined spaces — all while trying to answer nature’s call. It’s absolutely disgusting finding yellow stains all over the place, particularly on the toilet seat which is supposed to come into contact with our skin (which probably explains the problem of people squatting on the elevated seats). This issue, as can be expected, isn’t limited to only the fellas of course, judging by the stuff I’ve heard my wife and female friends have relayed to me. Women’s restrooms do also have their bag of problems, but let’s not get into the gory details – that wouldn’t be ladylike (Girls are supposed to be all sugar and spice, and everything nice anyhow, no?). Ultimately, toilets and washrooms are places that should be some of the most comfortable rooms to be in. The toilet, from bathroom types to the small cubicle, is a place where a person is at his most honest with himself. It is his most basic, most private comfort zone and when he is at his most vulnerable.

uncommon sense

Uncommon Sense

IRWAN ABDUL RAHMAN FOR a place we all visit to conduct the most important "business" of the day, the toilet sure doesn’t get the respect it deserves. How many times have we gone into a public toilet, at rest areas, petrol stations, restaurants or even hotels, and caught ourselves letting out a quiet, angry but helpless yelp, upon seeing – or worse, coming into contact with – some other people’s toxic waste? I bet we’ve all experienced it: Having to gingerly hose the leftover doo-doo down the hole or wipe the golden grime off the seat, and having to do so while our bladder or belly is impatiently screaming for the signal to discharge. It’s an unmentionable torture we go through just for a relief, a necessary ritual before the Great Escape. It’s probably no longer a big deal now, having heard the same complaint over and over again. We’ve grown so used to it, as if dirty toilets are a charming part of the Malaysian culture for tourists to discover. Bad toilet habits and even worse toilet conditions are a dime a dozen in Malaysia, despite all the cleanliness campaigns and calls for better enforcement. Our expectations of public lavatories are so low, that finding a clean, pleasant-smelling and fully-functional toilet would be the highlight of the day, an exciting anecdote we share with our loved ones over dinner after a long, hard day. Why is it so hard to maintain a hygienic and fully functioning toilet here? Why is finding the unflushed bowl "normal"? A leadership guru once said, “The best way to judge a person or a company is actually by visiting their lavatory. It is a reflection of their most personal values. If they take good care of the seemingly most insignificant room on their premises, then they’d take good care of the more important things.” Treating the toilet with respect, despite its lowly function as a place where you dump all the dirty things in life, reflects how one would treat himself and other people, and on a greater scale, how civilised we are as a society. So what does that say about us Malaysians in general? Many companies have started realising the importance of maintaining a good lavatory and how it reflects on their brand. In fact, they’ve realised the atmosphere in their premises not only affects the morale of their employees, it also affects their brand in the eyes of their clients, vendors and visitors. This is even more so for service industries such as restaurants and hotels, who invest quite a bit on making sure their lavatories are properly maintained and beautifully decorated (PLUS highway’s many newly refurbished toilets in the rest areas are an example — they look like gardens of Eden with their open air concept, green landscape and generous space!). To illustrate how toilets affect business, imagine yourself picking a mall to shop in or take your family this weekend — would you choose the one which you know has poorly kept toilets? Naturally, the responsibility of ensuring cleanliness of public toilets mainly fall upon the premises owners, who should invest in the best quality appliances and fixtures (so that they would last long and resist the daily usage and abuse of so many patrons), perishables (hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, toilet cleaning and water supplies) and manpower to keep the restrooms in tip-top condition. But the duty also falls on the laps of users themselves — the public, who in a supposedly civilised society like ours, SHOULD know how to behave in a toilet. I used the term ‘should’, because I think we can all agree that at current, we’re not behaving as we should. Many of us still cannot tell the difference between the floor-based ‘squatting type’ toilet bowls with the elevated ‘seat type’. If not, we would not be discovering shoe prints on the toilet seat! It must have been a real acrobatic act, balancing themselves as they squat on the elevated 'throne' in such confined spaces — all while trying to answer nature’s call. It’s absolutely disgusting finding yellow stains all over the place, particularly on the toilet seat which is supposed to come into contact with our skin (which probably explains the problem of people squatting on the elevated seats). This issue, as can be expected, isn’t limited to only the fellas of course, judging by the stuff I’ve heard my wife and female friends have relayed to me. Women’s restrooms do also have their bag of problems, but let’s not get into the gory details – that wouldn’t be ladylike (Girls are supposed to be all sugar and spice, and everything nice anyhow, no?). Ultimately, toilets and washrooms are places that should be some of the most comfortable rooms to be in. The toilet, from bathroom types to the small cubicle, is a place where a person is at his most honest with himself. It is his most basic, most private comfort zone and when he is at his most vulnerable.

peekaboo

Hey why couldn't I see my marks? So, is that what you're thinking? Fyi, I've taken out your marks for speaking test. Confidentiality policy.

Then, how are you going to know your marks? I will paste the results of your previous tests (yeah, I mean all->listening, grammar and speaking) outside my room. Ok, stop there, don't come running to my place because i will only post all your marks next week and stop bugging me, begging to get a glimpse of your marks as well. Haha! I will also put all your papers outside my door next week. Pick them up, people. The papers will be there for only a week. After that, i will ask the janitors to take away your papers. Burn, baby burn...!!

Get Your Hearts Thumped Speedily

So you must be wondering how did you perform for the speaking test (i hope). Now you can stop chasing me around like my nephew asking me for another piece of "biskot tiger" and whining for the delay of putting your marks on the notice board. I'm relieved.

So, get your eyes glued to the monitor, people!!...

D1B1 people, yours first...




Next, D1B2 people!!!



Their partners, the D1D2 crews




Not forgetting, the D1D1 bunch...





For those curious people (yeah, you, read between the lines), satisfy your curiosity by checking out the tables. Now, stop nagging like a "makcik", saying that i'm being irrationally secretive about others' performances. You just need to be a bit smarter to check them out (^_~)

So what do you think of your performance?

Marks for Speaking Test

So the marks are ready and as promised, I shall post them here but be prepared to get disappointed. I'm not able to post the marks until everyone has gone through the test. No, no, don't come after me. No need for blood-shed. Bring your firearms, machine-gun, grenades or even keris and chase the one who has not done it yet

Apologies Apologies!!

Hey cuppycakes!! Please be informed that i would get my hands busy these few weeks because i have a lot of things to handle and I'm half-insane right now. So, i might not be able to check your blogs regularly. I'm deeply sorry but i will be more than happy to do it anytime soon. One more thing, if you have any questions, text me for a quick reply. You may also contact me in Facebook or simply drop a line here. Miss Dia, signing off...

I Am A Dreamer

Had I been gifted with extra ordinary abilities, I would love to be able to freeze the time. I grew up watching “Charmed”, the story of three witch sisters who are intelligent, stunning and gifted with different power. Among the three, I’m especially yearning for Piper’s power in which she can freeze the time using her hands. How cool is that!..

Here’s the thing, I move slower than normal people. My friends could finish their 5-6-page assignment in just one night but I would take 2-3 days (depending on my mood) to finish the same thing. Then, when it comes to exam, I always found the time was not enough to finish answering the questions. grrrr….Frustrating. Even now, I wake at 4a.m. hoping that I can go to work before 6.30 because after 6.30, I’ll be having difficult time racing with the other oh-so-scary lorries and motorists in Pasir Gudang highway. Still, I’m always short of 5-10 minutes and hence, I need to face the cruel and inhumane drivers. Think about it, if I can freeze the time, then things would be different and I believe my cgpa would be 4.0 and I can straight away finish my PhD and I can drive peacefully and I don’t have to rush things and..yeah, many things would be different

Besides, I’m always dreaming to be a “jumper” or Hiro Nakamura so that I can teleport myself wherever I need to. I always have this fantasy whenever I’m stuck in a traffic jam or whenever I got lost and I don’t know how to get home. You see, I’m still a loser in driving and memorizing location. If I had this ability, I don’t have to drive (which is the thing that makes me feel hopeless the most) and I don’t have to top-up the fuel for my car. Filling up the tank with petrol scares me a lot. I’m so worried that the tank might explode. Whenever I have to do this, I would hold the petrol trigger with the tips of my fingers only and I would stand really really far from my tank. Somehow, doing that makes me feels safe.

One more thing, I wish to be able to speak and understand a new language just by listening to people who speak the language..Whoa!!! Give me that! Give me that! I have this fantasy when people use other language to talk about me, thinking that I wouldn’t understand. If I have that ability, I can tell them straight to their face that they are not the only ones who can speak the language. Then, I want to laugh at their surprised faces. Huh!

The other super human ability that I wish for is to eat and binge out without gaining extra unwanted kilos. Sigh~~What kind of wish is that.. I know..Still, I wish I can just eat those carbs and high-calorie elements without causing any harm to my health and having flabby areas here and there. I wish.. I wish…


Then, this morning, I woke up looking at myself in the mirror and all I saw is the same powerless Dia Widyawati