Old Fashioned Floating Toilet

A lot of people would have no problems answering nature's call in places with good toilet system.

In the more rural parts of Sarawak where sewerage is still rather primitive one can really be surprised by what you get.

There can be toilets with the best flush system in some very modern longhouses where roads have been built and there are some good toilets built inthe rural schools which cost a large amount of money because of the cost of the materials having to travel thousands of miles and some by air!!

Here is one example of a very simple and convenient toilet - a toilet which uses the river to flush the sewer away ...we call it the floating toilet in Sarawak and it can still be found in many places in Sarawak.



I used to be very frightened using one when I was younger. Whenever an express boat passed by the Sungei Igan I was so terrified that the jetty and the toilet and I would be washed away by the backwash!! The Rajang River had fewer of these toilets because of the heavy traffic flow in the river ...

But the floating toilets continue to provide bathing facilities (if the water is not too polluted) as it is more private with four walls. Is it true that as our society progresses we become more inhibited?

But definitely I feel that as the society progresses our government should provide better sewerage systems and public toilets both in the rural and urban areas......at least to prevent diseases. There is definitely a need for Rest and Relaxation along the long trunk roads of Sarawak...and besides we must try our best to reduce the number of floating toilets too.