Indonesians never fail to mess up a toilet, no matter how neat and clean it is. Here in Indonesia, toilet considered proper when it has squat toilet and a bucket of water. The former (perhaps) has something to do with the fact that Indonesian went goes to the river to do the performance. Anyway, you can still spot people in the rural Jakarta doing number one, number two, and at the same time washing the dishes and their clothes in the river.
When there’s no squat toilet available, Indonesians (and their shoes) squat on the sitting toilet and leave a souvenir behind, the shoe print. Even a sitting toilet with warmer (yes we have that too!) could not escape this horrendeous fate. For the non-squatters, sitting in a toilet-with-a-tatoo is inevitable. To minimize the inconvinience, they usually cover the seater with layers of toilet paper. When the toilet paper is not available, they I do the sitting pose without really sitting. In Yoga, we call that the awkward pose.
After the performance, Indonesians clean themselves with water and the left hand. That is why it is considered rude to hand something with left hand, even for left-handed. From a tender age, we are taught that left hand is a dirty hand or ugly hand.
Although cleaning using toilet paper is not common, Indonesians, especially women, still need toilet paper to dry the V area, of course they wash it with water first. Toilet paper is a luxurious thing that many middle class mall does not provide it, or worse put the tissue roll outside the toilet. Apart from that, the demand for toilet tissue is usually come from restaurant (not the fancy one), because the Indonesian put toilet paper on the dining table. Hey, it’s cheaper! Anyway, it’s forbidden to throw tissue in the toilet bowl, because we don’t have the technology to separate toilet paper and water. Indonesians don’t seem to care about that though, so we put it in the bowl and clog toilet or just throw it on the floor.
Despite the global campaign of UNICEF to wash hand with soap, Indonesians do not bother to do it. Data shows that 96% women wash their hand, but if you go to the mall, you’ll notice that many women will rub their hair after using the toilet and walked away without washing their hands. Yikes!
What about the man? For starter, many Indonesian men don’t lift the toilet seater. I guess they think that they have a long P and could reach the toilet, they are mistaken. When going to unisex toilet, you’ll notice the dribbles all over the toilet seater. What is the other thing that Indonesian man does to mess up the toilet? Well, they like to pee on the corner against the wall, so the stench of the urine will stay forever.
Being an Indonesian, I have two unforgettable toilet experience. One was in a small village in Kasembon Malang. I was told that the toilet is located near the well. I was trying so hard to find the toilet until I realised, there was neither toilet nor wall, just a well, so I did the performance next to the well. My other unforgettable toilet was inside the cow’s barn in a small village in South Malang. Toilet is so unimportant that they put it in the cow’s barn! The smell was bad but the hygiene was worse, the cow’s poop scattered all around the floor. Scary! I’m glad for those experiences, because no matter how dirty the toilet is, I can handle it!
By the way, do you know that the UN designates 19 November as World Toilet Day?
Also read:
Things Indonesian Like: Oleh-oleh
Things Indonesian Like: Photography
Ailtje 
Iki opo meneh toh! Kalo gue jadi elu gue gak bakal nulis rubbish article kayak gini! Bikin malu bangsa loe sendiri. Seakan2 loe bilang orang Jawa itu jorok apa! Please there’s still so many things to spread about this beautiful country. Okay!!!
Terimakasih komentarnya Mbak Veronzka, faktanya memang orang indonesia kalau makai toilet jorok. Kalau dulu ngikuti blog saya alm multiply saya pernah mengupas toilet jorok dari dari serambi negeri ini. Kesadaran untuk sanitasi bersih emang masih rendah atau malah belum dapat akses sanitasi bersih. Itu fakta. Malu itu kalau saya cerita hal yang nggak bener, kalau fakta kenapa mesti ditutupi.
Malah harusnya ini membuka mata. Kalau orang indonesia ga jorok, Dahlan Iskan gak jongkok bersihin toilet lah.
Soal tulisan indah tentang Indonesia juga masih ngantri di draft, jadi sabar ya tunggu aja!
hahaha toliet org indonesia itu khas unik, aktivitas dan filosofinya (aihhh). Jadi inget dulu pernah bikin film indie temanya WC wakkakakakka… http://dananwahyu.com/2010/02/26/pip/
Eh itu seru banget filmnya, sungguh menangkap dunia per WC an.
BTW, BAB jongkok itu lebih menekan perut jadi lebih lancar, ada penelitian ilmiahnya. jadi itu bu RT jongkok aja ga perlu minum obat pencahar.
wah, aku baru nyadar kalo blogmu genti jeneng. Top markotob
btw, menurutku tulisanmu ini jujur banget dan aku suka karena memang kenyataannya seperti itu.
Buat yang baca juga jadi pembelajaran kalo yang dilakukan (jongkok di toilet duduk) itu ngga banget. Tapi masih parahan toilet di cina..
Mulai deh menjaga kebersihan toilet dari diri sendiri, kalo sudah bisa tertib ingetin orang lain, salah satunya via tulisan kaya gini.
Lanjutkan ail..
Iya aku gemes lihat toilet di Indonesia dan orang ga peduli biarpun jorok gitu. Aku biasanya kalau basah aku lap biar pengguna selanjutnya nyaman
sama!!!
makanya di tas selalu sedia tisu basah buat jaga2 ngelap bekas kaki di toilet. Klo ada toilet lain yang ngga ada jejak-nya aku mending pindah.
ewwww….
lol pipis deket kandang sapi, di desa2 emg bnyk seh.. untung ga ketendang sapinya >.<
hahaha iya, mau buka celana aja malu sama sapinya, mana jorok pisan. Tapi ya begitulah kondisi nyata negeri ini. Masih banyak yang perlu diperbaiki.
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ada dua macam toilet didesa simbah.pertama di kali,model plunglap.nyemplung langsung dilap pake air kali.
yang kedua model jumbleng.tanah digali trus dikasih papan penahan kaki.disekelilingnya diberi penutup blarak(daun kelapa kering).lebih parah.
The point is the need to educate our very own people.
Eh yang di tanah lebih bagus ketimbang di sungai lho, karena ga mencemari air. Indeed, I agree, kita emang perlu mengedukasi tentang pentingnya sanitasi.
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