Mall's toilet
ban for construction crew raises a stink
An Orchard Road shopping mall has not only banned construction
workers from using its public toilets, but also threatened them
with fines and expulsion if they disobey.
Wisma Atria has put up signs outside the men's toilets on five
floors telling construction workers to use only the toilet in the
carpark on the fifth level, behind the cargo lift.
The signs, printed on paper in English and Chinese, warn that
those who flout the rule will be fined and "immediately banned"
from working in the mall.
Full-time volunteer Hoh Jian Yang, 26, spotted the signs while
shopping at the mall last Sunday. He told The Straits Times he felt
the signs were discriminatory.
He said: "Denying certain classes of people access to public
amenities encourages the view that they are, in some way, lesser
human beings.
"That these amenities were almost certainly constructed by
workers themselves adds a new layer of perverse irony."
A spokesman for YTL Starhill Global Reit, which manages Wisma,
defended the signs, saying: "The restriction was to ensure that
shoppers enjoy a conducive shopping environment within the
mall."
He said the restriction arose because shoppers complained about
the workers showering in the toilets or washing their tools in the
sinks.
He added that the restrictions have been in place since Wisma's
last major renovation in 2011. He declined to disclose the size of
the fine levied or how many people have been penalised to date.
Construction workers The Straits Times spoke to at the mall said
they had not noticed when the signs went up, mostly because they
were aware of the restriction, so did not use the toilets
anyway.
A 33-year-old Bangladeshi doing renovation work on the mall's
fourth floor said: "Every morning at the safety briefing, they
remind us not to use the downstairs toilets. Our shoes are dirty
and the public doesn't like it."
An Indian national in his 30s said: "There is a CCTV outside the
toilets and if they see us go in, the penalty is to my company. So
we cannot do it."
Both men declined to be named as they feared reprisals against
their employers.
While some workers said the carpark toilet was "okay for
workers", others found it far from ideal. A 31-year-old Malaysian
carpenter, who gave his name as Nicholas, said in Mandarin: "It is
really very hot. There is only one tiny fan. Especially in the last
week, when it was so humid, it was not very nice."
Singapore Contractors Association president Kenneth Loo said it
was the mall owner's prerogative not to have workers using the same
toilets as customers, but there might be a cost factor involved in
sending them to a toilet not close by. "If the worker has to walk
very far, then you lose productivity."
Advocates for migrant workers - who typically comprise a large
proportion of construction workers - said a blanket ban might be
going too far.
Transient Workers Count Too executive committee member Debbie
Fordyce said workers should be advised against behaviour such as
changing clothes openly or showering with the hose, but she did not
think shopper complaints should have dictated an absolute ban.
"If the complaints are that they are making the floor dirty,
they're not doing it because they're sloppier people. It's just the
nature of their work. They were asked to work in that area and they
have the same physical needs that other people do."
Said Mr Hoh: "They could just have easily have put up signs
cautioning workers against showering or washing tools and told them
to do it at the fifth floor toilet.
"Instead they decided that a policy of segregation was better. I
feel it's a disproportionate response."
-- ST