KUALA LUMPUR: A cashless pay-per-use public toilet in Solaris Mont Kiara has been met with mixed reactions from the online community on Reddit Malaysia, @r/malaysia.
A post from 'tetsoru' captioned photos of the entrance to the toilet with "Saw this abomination in Solaris".
"I normally don't have a problem with paying for toilets, but the fact that this has a card reader on it is just so ... mind boggling," the post also read.
"And the fact that a public toilet has a system like this and not at LRT stations is crazy," it added.
As seen in the photos, the entrance comes complete with a turnstile that would require an electronic payment either via debit, credit card or the contactless QR code pay system for access. It charges RM1.20 per entry.
While some seemed to welcome the concept, some others were a little more skeptical– pointing out the charge is more than double that of most places.
"Saw this exact toilet at the exact place lmfao, even had the exact same reaction. Even most atas (fancy) places around KL won't charge you more than RM0.50, all for a mid a** toilet," read one comment.
"Toilets were clean but wet and with no ventilation. Also they only accept debit cards. Credit cards; no. Might as well go to the mamak nearby. Dustier but free," read another.
Perhaps, for some, it strikes as a good business idea.
"Honestly I'm impressed. This is pure evil but also genius from a business perspective," a user commented.
Of course, with a 'heftier' fee, some would expect higher, cleaner standards out of the service.
"That toilet better smell like heaven and you can eat off the floor. Heated toilet seat plated in gold and someone to wash your a** for you," one comment read.
"If it's like this then I'm gonna spend more than an hour there to get my money's worth," said another.
One comment even quipped that it could just be a repurposing of older equipment used during the pandemic.
"Looks like they repurposed the Mysejahtera scanning PKP-era entry turnstiles to recover the costs of purchasing them in the first place. Lol."
There was also a question of accessibility for the disabled (OKU) as the turnstile would not offer much help.
"I wonder how OKU people in wheelchairs can get through the gate to use the OKU stall."
