Toilet Of The Year Award Makes Grand Debut, Ipoh’s CawanMu Bags Eatery Category
Minister Nga Kor Ming notes that this initiative is to enhance the nation’s reputation among foreign tourists.
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The 2023 Toilet Of The Year award made its debut at the Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam. The ceremony, which was officiated by Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming, awarded the best toilets in the country RM10,000.
This initiative, which was Nga’s idea, is aimed at boosting national public toilet cleanliness for the purpose of enhancing the country’s image among foreign tourists ahead of the Visit Malaysia Year 2025.
“From this year, the Local Government Development Ministry has taken steps to change the public’s perception of public toilet cleanliness in the country.
“This will be done by improving management and comfort, which was previously unsatisfactory, to BMW (‘Bersih, Menawan, Wangi’) – standard public toilets,” said Nga when officiating the awards night ceremony.
Hence, the ceremony is crucial to promote BMW standards for local toilets, especially in the private sector.
He added that this is especially important since the global market value of the toilet equipment industry is RM80 billion, and it is expected to grow by 7.6 percent annually.
“My vision is not only to ensure that the country’s public toilets are world-class but this initiative is also aimed at developing the toilet equipment industry. Just like Korea has Coway and Japan has Toto, we hope that Malaysia will one day produce world-class brands in this industry.
“This industry is rapidly growing due to the global urbanisation trend, which introduces ‘smart home’ concepts that include ‘smart toilets’, as well as increased awareness of toilet hygiene,’ he said.
The winners of the award ceremony were The George, Penang (hotel category), Toppen Shopping Mall, Johor Bharu (Shopping Centre), Elmina South-Bound (RnR), Petron Senai, Johor (petrol station) and Cawan Mu Ipoh, Perak for the restaurant category.
All winners took home a prize of RM10,000, a certificate, and a plaque for their exceptional restroom facilities.
The winners were chosen out of 345 entries by judges from the Malaysian Quality Restroom Association and representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Ministry.
Next year’s ceremony will be more exciting as the government aims to expand the categories and increase the cash prize to RM20,000.
“They include hotels, shopping centres, highway Rest and Recreational (RnR) areas, petrol stations and restaurants. Next year, we will open up the competition to include schools and local authorities as well.”
Brilliant move
Netizens praised the Development Minister for coming up with this award ceremony. Online users deemed this as a great initiative that will not only improve the country’s economy in the long run but also the public’s state of health.
One user wrote, “We always complain that public toilets are dirty, wet and rotten. How can there be humans who can accept dirty toilets as a culture, maybe they are used to it at home.
“Congratulations @NgaKorMing on the initiative to create a clean public toilet. This effort is difficult but not impossible.
Another user, @ty_ricka, tweeted, “Great job YB for this initiative.”
While one user expressed his hope that the government will also look at increasing janitors’ salaries given this new initiative.
But what are your opinions on this new move? Do you think we are on the right track or do you think this is not sustainable in the long run?
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