I was recently strolling through my neighbourhood hawker center, minding my own business and looking for something to munch on.
As I walked around, I had a stomachache and rushed to the toilet.
Note: I had never used the toilets at the hawker centres before because I usually would just go home to do my business but this time it was too unbearable and I really had to go.
Realised that got no toilet paper, luckily I haven’t full blast release
Just when I entered the cubicle and I was about to release, I quickly forced a stop to my release because I realised that there was no toilet paper in the cubicle and also no bidet.
I was completely taken aback by this. I wondered why we had to pay for something that we got for free in the shopping malls.
I quickly pulled up my pants and rushed out to the drinks store to buy a packet of tissues.
I started talking to the stall owners and asking them why we still had to pay for toilet paper in the hawker centers when we don’t have to pay for them in the shopping malls.
Most of them shrugged and said that it was just the way things were. They said that the hawker center had been around for a long time and that’s the way it had always been.
I was a little disappointed by this answer. I thought that in this day and age, we should all be able to access basic amenities like toilet paper without having to pay for them. But apparently, that’s not the case.
It turns out that the hawker centers are not as well-funded as the shopping malls and so they don’t have enough money to provide free toilet paper.
They rely on the income from the toilet paper to keep the bathrooms clean and stocked with supplies.
While I understand the need to generate income, I still can’t help but feel disappointed. It seems like a double standard that we have to pay for something that we get for free in other places.
I guess this is just one of those things that we have to accept and move on. Even though it’s not fair, it’s just the way things are in the hawker centers and there’s nothing we can do about it.
So, the next time you’re at a hawker center and need to use the restroom, make sure you have some spare coins on hand to pay for the toilet paper.
Otherwise, you’ll be in for a nasty surprise.