Rethink design of the ladies' toilets - World Toilet Organisation

The size of ladies' toilets should be much bigger than the men's toilets due to the absence of urinals.

Founder of World Toilet Organisation Jack Sim said there is a design flaw in most buildings where the men and women's toilets are of equal size.

"You have to give more space to the ladies' because there is no urinal in their toilets.

"For every urinal in the gents' you have to give a cubicle to the ladies," said Sim.

He explained that the design is important to prevent a longer waiting time for the women at public restrooms.

"For example in Singapore, there are no queues because the ladies' toilets are bigger," said Sim during an interview at Astro AWANI's Consider This.

He was responding to a question by the host Melisa Idris about the thinking behind designing girls' toilets at schools to ensure all their needs, including menstrual hygiene are accommodated.

Sim was a part of a three-person panel discussion on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's suggestion that school children should be responsible for their cleanliness of their school toilets.

Also featured during the interview session were Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairperson Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim and National Parent-Teacher Association Collaborative Council President Assoc Prof Datuk Dr Ali Hassan.

Both were supportive of the initiative.

Noor Azimah said students should be given the right tools to clean the toilets and taught how important it is to have access to clean toilets in order for the initiative to be a success.

Meanwhile, Ali added the spirit of taking care of public amenities together should be instilled especially among the young.

"This will teach them (school children) to be responsible in their life as well as their daily duties," he added