In search of a public toilet
JAKARTA (JP): Rubiyah's face turned red. She looked out of the window of the public bus but couldn't see what she needed on the streets. Her whole body began to sweat. The 16-year-old wanted to relieve herself but couldn't find a toilet.
As the crowded bus to Kota in downtown Jakarta zigzagged down Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin, Rubiyah tried hard to control herself. When the bus arrived in front of Monas park in Central Jakarta, she jumped off in search of a public toilet.
After 30 minutes of holding in the nauseating feeling, she found a pay toilet on the other side of a pedestrian bridge. But her anticipation of relief quickly disappeared as she went to open the door: the toilet was locked and nobody was around! The burning sun made her feel even worse. She clutched her stomach, turned back and quickly got onto another bus heading the opposite direction.
After standing in the crowded bus for an hour with her gut ready to explode, she arrived at the Blok M terminal in South Jakarta. She ran to a toilet booth near a small park. There, she had to queue behind two men. Ten minutes later, she took her turn and left after paying Rp 300 (12 US cents).
"I felt relieved but too tired to continue my trip to visit a friend of mine in North Jakarta," she said. She finally went back to her employer's house in Pondok Indah, where she works as a maid.
It was her first encounter with such a "critical" state after three months in the city. Rubiyah only knew about the toilet in Blok M because she had used it once shortly after she arrived in the capital. She learned about the toilet at Monas when her boyfriend, a mikrolet driver, took her for a date at the park on New Year's Eve.
Self-esteem
Rubiyah's experience differs significantly from Sukat's.
This 23-year-old salesman of household products confidently says he always uses toilets in office buildings, hotels and shopping centers.
"Besides being free, the toilets are always clean, well- equipped and smell good," said Sukat, who lives in the slum area of Tanah Abang.
"The key to getting into hotels, for example, is self- confidence, otherwise you'll be thrown out by the satpam (security officers)," he said, adding that he sometimes ventures up to the upper levels of a building to take advantage of the semi-luxurious toilets meant for employees.
However, most citizens of average means lack the courage and initiative of Sukat. Many fear the satpam and have no choice but to go through Rubiyah's experience or, worse, resort to the primitive way of doing it behind a tree or bush. (bsr)