JP/Ika KrismantariNaning Adiwoso stands out in this country of millions, for she believes the key to a great nation is not a charismatic leader nor a good government but a clean toilet.
Is she joking? Well, actually she is not.
The 60-something-year-old even founded the Indonesian Toilet Association (ITA) 10 years ago to prove how serious she was about promoting hygienic restrooms for a better Indonesia.
But, being the one and only person who has full faith in clean restrooms bringing change to the country, Naning has encountered opposition and even mockery from others.
The architect shared a story about when her friends laughed at her when she started the ITA.
“What are you doing, dealing with other people’s feces and urine?” she said, quoting people’s responses to her initiative.
Luckily, she decided to ignore such spirit-crushing comments and went ahead with the association’s projects and plans.
But, believe it or not, Naning’s struggle for clean toilets did not begin deliberately.
It started when a number of friends asked her to attend the World Toilet Summit in Japan in 1999.
At first, the interior and environmental design graduate did not want to go, thinking the subject was a bit unusual.
However, the open-minded lady decided to attend the conference, hoping to gain new knowledge that might be useful in the future.
And, her wish came true.
Naning said she got many things out of the conference and admitted that it changed the way she saw the 1x2-square-meter room called the bathroom.
“The role of the toilet is very important for people in the future. A lot of important issues like population growth and climate change are related to toilets,” Naning said in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post.
Clean toilets, she said, were very important to minimizing the spread of disease, with risks continuing to increase as people become more and more mobile.
Nowadays, viruses can travel from one place to another easily with people’s increasing mobility. The toilet then becomes an important element that society needs to pay attention to because it is the perfect place for transmitting diseases, as everyone uses them.
“We try to close the loop and stop the spread of disease with clean toilets,” she said.
Not only that, big issues like climate change can also be tackled with good toilet design that applies green technology, Naning said.
The chairwoman and founder of the Indonesian Green Building Council believes that green toilets with environmentally friendly designs can reduce threats brought about by climate change, especially water problems.
Apart from disease and water issues, the co-founder of the World Toilet Association thinks clean toilets are also important for the future of a nation.
“If we don’t have clean toilets in this country, what happens? People get sick and they don’t go to work, productivity will drop and no one wants to invest here,” she says.
Therefore, she tries to promote hygienic restrooms not only because of health and environmental concerns but also for the nation’s economy.
Despite the rough start, Naning has finally managed to convince others to join her clean toilet campaign after 10 years of hard work.
“We have seen a lot of improvement in toilets at airports and gas stations and people have started to realize the importance of having clean toilets,” she said.
ITA programs like campaigns and clean toilet awards have helped to increase people’s awareness, Naning said.
The association, together with the Culture and Tourism Ministry, has been giving out awards to the international airports in Indonesia with the cleanest toilets.
But despite such positive progress, challenges still remain.
The government, according Naning, still demonstrates little support for clean public toilets.
“I have been talking to the Jakarta administration for years to provide public toilets, but still no change [has happened],” Naning said, referring to the absence of public toilets in the city’s infamous mass transportation network, the Transjakarta Busway.
But it is not only the government. Naning has also identified similar ignorance in designers and the public.
“We have a mind-set that undermines the existence of toilets. We can see it with the terms Indonesians use to mention restrooms. It is either ‘back room’ or ‘small room’,” she said.
Many architects still do not pay much attention to applying the concept of clean and green toilets in building designs, while people are still clueless about the proper way to use and treat toilet facilities, leading to poor maintenance. Those are the two main things that hinder Naning’s work, she said.
Despite these challenges from the government, the public and designers, Naning remains committed to her mission to promote clean toilets for a better society.
And, the woman doesn’t seem to care if she needs another 10 years to accomplish her mission. Even old age cannot stop her from working hard.
“I plan to retire soon, but I hope I still can take care of this toilet thing,” said the woman, who plans to take care of her plants and elderly mother during her retirement.
It is really hard to imagine a woman as active as Naning retiring.
The Post met her at her office in Pondok Pinang, South Jakarta.
The lady, who wore a pink batik top during the interview, looked younger than her age, and she did not have any makeup on.
She told the Post she did not have much time for the interview because she had another appointment in less than an hour. However, the interview was saved because the lady is a quick talker and likes to give straight and direct answers.
She is used to a tight daily schedules, starting her day at 7 a.m. and going until 9 p.m.
She travels frequently for her work, flying to various countries and regions in Indonesia.
That may be her secret — to think one step ahead of everybody.
Her great mind has so far given birth to two great concepts, on clean toilets and green buildings, when everyone in the country was still clueless about the issues.
When asked about her tendency to think ahead, the lady gave a short reply: “[Designers] design for the day of tomorrow,” she said.
