Long queues and a lack of loos in Little India

After dinner with friends in Little India on a Sunday evening, migrant worker Venkatesan was walking to the bus stop along Clive Street when he had an overwhelming urge to use the toilet. 

With no public toilet in sight and apprehensive about using the washroom at a nearby restaurant, he resorted to urinating in a drain along a dark alley. 

His experience is not an uncommon one. According to many, the lack of toilet facilities in Little India is a major problem, especially during weekends and festivals. The area gets notably crowded on Sunday, when migrant workers have their day off and shoppers descend on Mustafa Centre in Syed Alwi Road. Crowds tend to gather as well at the open spaces in Tekka Lane and Lembu Road.

Mr Yousuf Rajid, a resident in Buffalo Road, expressed in Tamil a sentiment shared by many: “One side of the carpark at Tekka Centre has become like a public toilet. I can’t walk that way ever; the smell of urine is unbearable.” 

The same problem, according to other residents, also persists at residential estates in Klang Lane and Rowell Road.

Though there are public toilets at shopping malls, restaurants and MRT stations in the area, the overall dearth of toilet facilities proves challenging for many patrons and shoppers.

Aware of the issue, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been providing portable toilets in several parts of Little India since 2009.

Currently, a total of 23 portable toilets are available at open spaces in Tekka Lane, Chitty Road and Lembu Road.

These “porta-loos” are open for use from Friday evening to noon on Monday. Since November, however, the porta-loos in Tekka Lane have been open during weekdays as well.

However, 70 per cent of the 160 people polled by Tamil Murasu (TM) said this was not enough – especially on Sundays. 

At Lembu Road, for instance, though there are 13 porta-loos available, queues on Sundays stretch as long as 15m for each.

“Little India has enough toilets on normal days. However, the number is insufficient for the number of foreign workers who gather on Sundays,” said Mr Rajkumar Chandra, senior adviser from Little India Shopkeepers & Heritage Association (LISHA).

The poll also revealed a lack of public toilets in the vicinity of Klang Lane, Chander Road and Hindoo Road – places where migrant workers gather and dine. 

At Kudai Canteen in Chander Road, toilets are closed at 9.15pm even though the eatery closes at 10.30pm. Diners are then left having to trek to Little India MRT station or Tekka Centre to use the toilet. 

A number of coffee shops and restaurants along Kampong Kapor Road, Clive Street and Perak Road allow the public to use their toilets, but staff at those establishments say their toilets are often damaged as a result.

“Sometimes we get long queues of people just wanting to use the toilet. And our paying customers are inconvenienced by this,” said an employee at a vegetarian restaurant in Clive Street. 

“On weekends, the number of people who consume alcohol is higher, so the need to go to the toilet is also higher. And we understand that the migrant workers don’t have a nearby public toilet they can use.” 

NEA said it plans to increase the number of portable toilets in Little India by more than 50 per cent, especially in areas with high footfall. 

In late October, NEA added two portable toilets at an open field in Tekka Lane. 

Mr Jack Sim, founder of the World Toilet Organisation and Restroom Association (Singapore), said that the entry fee at existing public toilets may deter migrant workers from using them. 

“Some of the toilets are charging 20, 30 and 50 cents per entry, which helps in covering cleaning costs. But due to the fee, people try not to use the toilet and there is a lot of urine suppression,” he said. 

“Also, the portable toilets may be far away and not easily identified. There needs to be sufficient signage so people know where these facilities are.

“The portable toilets are also not maintained or cleaned regularly enough. These plastic portable toilets may not be suitable for such heavy usage.” 

While the porta-loos go a long way towards mitigating the issue, many have issues with using them.  

“The smell makes me nauseous just walking in,” said migrant worker Philip, who said he occasionally has to queue for around 15 minutes just to use the portable toilets in Lembu Road. 

Others said the toilets were difficult to use because it provided toilet paper instead of a hose.

“This poses a problem to many South Indians,” said Mr Mohd Aziz, who works at a phone repair shop in Cuff Road. “Many of us are used to using a bidet or at least a hose after using the toilet.”

The facilities are also often cluttered with litter – paper towels, drink cans and tobacco packets. 

The portable toilets are cleaned twice a day on weekends – but the facilities become dirty within a couple of hours. Most porta-loos are also dimly lit or completely dark at night, making them difficult to use, and the toilet seat sanitizer dispensers are often non-functional, say some workers.

“Cleaning the toilets four to five times is sufficient for a normal day. But on Sundays, they need to be cleaned once every hour,” said Mr Sim. 

“Dirty toilets are, of course, dangerous because of the risk of catching a disease.”