There is no doubt that a toilet would be dirty. You can argue that it can be kept clean if you wash it consistently, but as a place where our wastes are excreted, people would still think it to be a filthy place. So imagine someone using the toilet water to wash something.
Recently, a video of a woman washing bamboo leaves which are used to wrap traditional Chinese rice dumplings (Zongzi, 粽子) in a squat toilet went viral. Netizens expressed their disgust upon seeing the video and were seriously concerned about food hygiene. Shortly after, the store owner came forward to clarify the viral video.
The video showed a woman bending over to clean a stack of Zongzi leaves in a squatting toilet. She can be seen putting the leaves right in the middle of the toilet (where you would normally ‘do the deed’) and scrubbing it with a cloth. Occasionally, the leaves would touch the edges of the toilet, leaving an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of the stomach.
After the video went viral, the store owner, Mr. Tsai, came forward and cleared up the misunderstanding. Turns out, the woman was not washing the leaves in an actual toilet. It was actually a showcase area for toilet bowls in a store that specialises in bathroom equipment. The entire row of squat toilets seen in the video are just samples, they are not real products.
“The water used in the squat toilets is clean and directly supplied, it is not connected to the sewers and is even cleaner than the sinks. I would also eat the Zongzi that was wrapped in the leaves. I’m not concerned about them (netizens). Those who can understand this would understand, there’s no need for further explanations,” he said.
Even after the explanation, some netizens still can’t bring themselves to accept it, whereas others commented that there was no reason for netizens to care so much about this since they are not even the ones eating it.
- “They don’t even sell the rice dumplings, they wrapped them for their own consumption. Let’s skip over the part where they sell bathroom supplies, even if they really did wash the leaves in an actual toilet, that’s not our business, they’re the ones eating it.”
- “Those (the toilets) are samples only, it’s never been used before. It’s actually pretty clean.”
- “I can’t accept this, I won’t buy them (rice dumplings).”
Sources: Oriental Daily, Weibo
This article is contributed by Amelia Er.
