I said it before and I’ll say it again: you can almost quite accurately judge a country’s social and economic status from the state of its public restrooms.

Where I come from, public restrooms are, nine out of ten, unsanitary. Ten times out of ten, the people who use them, aka the public, don’t care. We use and abuse with nary a thought because someone else is paid to clean up our mess. And if noone is, we avoid using these places as much as we can.

And scoot over to the hotel across the road.

In the US, with only two exceptions - the Asian market I mentioned called 99 Ranch, and a cinema we visited yesterday right between shows - every public toilet I’ve visited is so clean you can sleep on the floor. Even the toilet in a gas station. And this was the same in LA as well, which we visited a few years back. I was pleasantly surprised then, and I am still amazed at how conscientious Americans are when it comes to their public property. I know this may not apply in certain states, but I am willing to bet that the ratio of dirty, poorly maintained public restrooms in Malaysia outnumbers those in the US.

Which is why when I visited the toilet at 99 Ranch, I smiled and frowned at the same time. The floor was blackened with water and grime. Lighting was poor. Tissues were everywhere. And I don’t mean just in the restroom. Outside in the carpark, rampant littering was evident. Which was why I said it really was like Giant. And it felt like home.

Are Asians, with the exception of perhaps the Japanese and Koreans (and ABCs?), SO incapable of respecting public property?

When we visit a foreign country, such as the US, we leave evidence of our existence almost everywhere we go. The times you don’t notice it, are the times we struggle to keep our dirty habits in check. Like to drop or not to drop that piece of tissue paper on the floor when noone’s looking. Or to ‘forget’ cleaning our own trays after we eat at a fast food joint. Or to refuse someone leeway in traffic. Just the other day, someone did that to me, and guess what? He was an Asian (looked Malaysian too, but I’m biased).

Visit the public toilets in any Southeast Asian country, including China, and you will see what I mean. It’s like because we’re a developing country, we can’t be bothered to keep clean. I understand when you’re Cambodia or poor parts of India and the last thing on your mind is hygiene. But if we can build the tallest buildings in the world and the most modern airport in the universe, we sure as hell can keep our public property properly maintained!

More next time on my restroom ‘tour’.