Muslim Toilets

Remember my review of the Dutch shelf toilet last summer? Now I bring you my thoughts and impressions of the Muslim toilet. 

Every toilet used in our recent travels in both Indonesia and Malaysia were of this design. Often both a squatty-potty and a western style version were offered. What makes them Muslim, is the adjacent hose. Do not confuse this hose with a bidet. 

In many parts of SE Asia, there is an absence of toilet paper in the bathroom stalls. If there is TP, there is nearly always a nearby covered trashcan where the used TP is to be discretely folded and placed. In my research, I found no mention of any sort of municipal treatment facilities in Indonesia or Malaysia. Wastewater goes to individual septic systems, if it is plumbed to anything at all. My research. also found that what is flushed often travels thru a series of irrigation ditches and is used in the surrounding rice fields.   

We Westerners still use the toilet paper, and hopefully remember to toss it in the can and not the bowl. 

Non-Westerners, however, reach for the hose and spray rather than wipe. These hoses sometimes deliver the water with such force, that if you weren't awake before, you certainly are after! Wiping is not necessary. Which is the Muslim way. In fact, our Western practice of wrapping such flimsy paper in our fingers and coming in close contact with our bum and residual poo, is regarded as both inefficient and disgusting.  

And, after having my bum blasted sparkling clean for a few weeks now, I tend to agree. i.e., "You want me to use this flimsy tissue paper and do WHAT with it?" 

P.S. Lest you forget, I spent the last 23 years of my career working in a large wastewater treatment facility. My brain is forever warped by this experience, with a need to know what happens to our poo after we flush.  This may be an off-color topic for some, but there are legions of us sanitary sewer folks (former and current) who find this sort of info fascinating. I write these words for them.