Toilets are for the people, not for the privileged: People’s Daily

Li Jinzao, head of China National Tourism Administration, said scientific planning should be used to build restrooms and so-called “five-star” restrooms will be banned, at a meeting held on Monday.

Li’s remarks came as a timely precaution against toilet extravagance in some parts of the country.

Five-star restrooms usually feature costly materials and elegant interior designs, as well as unnecessary luxurious items. They were built under the national “toilet revolution” campaign, which is being carried out to improve public services. But they betrayed the original intention.

The “toilet revolution” is intended to create a better public experience in both urban and rural areas of China. In the countryside, flush toilets were installed at farmers’ houses. In urban areas, more, higher-quality public restrooms were built. At scenic spots, unisex toilets were installed to satisfy more people.

“Five-star” restrooms, though small in number, brought multiple bad effects. Building the luxury toilets requires money and human labor, as does maintaining them.

People expect public restrooms to be clean and convenient and nothing more. Some officials have impulsively spent money on building “five-star” restrooms, and the extravagant toilets are a pure waste of money if they are just to showcase a place’s public facility improvement to superior officials.

Public toilets are for people in need, not for the privileged, nor for inspectors. The money used to build one “five-star” restrooms could be used to build a dozen common but useful ones, for the benefit of more people.

The “five-star” restrooms reflect the wrong work styles of some officials, who failed to learn and digest the real spirit of the “toilet revolution” and took a short cut or even a wrong way to execute the orders of their superior departments.

Though eye-catching, the “five-star” restrooms are also a result of neglecting common people’s needs.

According to Li, the “toilet revolution” will be further carried out across China to improve public services. More durable and convenient toilets should be built in line with local conditions. Playing tricks will do no good; the best way to do the work is always in a down-to-earth manner.