THE inside workings of Hongkong's public toilets will be revealed to an international audience in Japan later this year.
Urban Council chairman Dr Ronald Leung Ding-bong has been invited to present the ins, outs and U-bends of the territory's conveniences to the International Toilet Symposium to be held in Kobe in June.
Delegates from as far away as France will be closeted away for a 45-minute discourse by Dr Leung on the changes Hongkong is making to the standards of its public toilets.
The intimacies of the smallest room may not seem a suitable subject for a five-day seminar, but after five years campaigning for lusher latrines, Dr Leung dismisses such delicate sentiments.
''Everyone uses toilets so it is important they are as clean and hygienic as they can be,'' he said yesterday.
''People are very concerned about toilets. The Urban Council did a survey and found that hygiene and toilets were the things people were most concerned about. They should be as good as possible.'' Japanese and Hongkong experts know each other's facilities well, having made several visits in recent years.
In 1991, volunteers from the Japan Toilet Association, organisers of the Kobe conference, sought relief in 10 of the territory's toilets, while an Urban Council mission to Japan last year took in the Good Toilet Expo in Edogawa as well as individual privies.