Malaysian Toilets

Malaysia
Lots of squat toilets but I had prepared for this by practicing at some Singaporean bathrooms. I was extremely perplexed the first few days as the cubicles usually consisted of a squat toilet, a hose, a bucket, and NO TOILET PAPER!. Due to my mother’s habit of always carrying tissues in her handbag, I had learnt from a very early age to stuff every pocket and every bag with tissues (a godsend during the Melbourne winter months when carrying around a bad case of the common cold), so luckily I was never caught out with no toilet paper, THANK GOD. I had also ‘taken’ the roll of toilet paper from the Singapore hotel before I left and tied it to my backpack – like a hobo, for emergencies.

After seeing our uni friend in KL, I broached the subject of the ‘mysterious hose‘ in the toilet. She told us it was to wash the front and the back, and all of a sudden it made complete sense. Except for the fact that you would have a very wet backside once finished. But I tried it out in the Perhentian Islands, and it wasn’t too bad. You do get clean, and as long as you still carry some tissues to dry off, it’s fine. I don’t like the wet bathrooms in hostels though -shower heads usually hover over the toilet, so everything gets completely wet. And public bathroom floors are completely flooded; I have to hike up my pants so they don’t get wet and I shudder every time my thongs squelch in someone else’s bum water.

Most likely, you will need to pay between 30 – 50 sen (cents) for the pleasure of using a wet toilet in public spaces. Toilet paper is very rarely supplied – even at hostels, so be prepared to bring some.

I wish they would sell a 1 pack of toilet roll (not rolls) at supermarkets…