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Luisa Tam
SCMP Columnist
My Hong Kong
by Luisa Tam
My Hong Kong
by Luisa Tam

Frequent bathroom breaks seen as a sign of laziness in China – but that’s not why a company fined shift workers for using toilet more than once

  • A firm in China faced backlash after it fined workers for a second toilet break in an eight-hour shift. Frequent toilet use makes you a shirker, Chinese say
  • That’s not all that Chinese believe about toilets. Keep the bathrom door open and you could lose your fortune, as feng shui equates water with wealth

I cracked up laughing when I came across a piece of news about a company in Dongguan, southern China, that fined its workers 20 yuan (US$3) each for taking two toilet breaks during their eight-hour shift.

My reaction wasn’t because I was unsympathetic. In fact, I was amazed and rather shocked that there are still such unreasonable employers around when we are supposed to be moving towards a more just and equitable society.

This company bans staff from taking repeated toilet breaks and also requires them to register their absence before they are allowed to answer the call of nature.

It claims that the loo rule is to prevent employees being distracted at work, although I have never thought that going to the toilet could be such a worrying distraction. Conversely, I think it would be rather difficult for anyone to concentrate on their work while trying to hold it in.

A company in Dongguan fined its staff US$3 for using the toilet twice in a working day, believing they were being lazy. Photo: Shutterstock

But the company claimed that many staff have been taking long toilet breaks to do other things like smoke, chat or play on their phones. Therefore, the company saw it as grounds to enforce a single bathroom break during an eight-hour shift.

After sharing my disdain with others, I was surprised to discover that it is not uncommon for companies in China to ban employees from going to the bathroom more than once during working hours. In this particular case, the employer eventually decided to reverse the fine after facing a public backlash.

Sheer madness: would you use Tokyo’s transparent toilets?

It may sound strange, but the Chinese believe that taking frequent bathroom breaks is a sign of laziness. One of the reasons is because they think lazy people use the pretext of going to the toilet as a way to avoid being asked to do something; it provides a convenient escape path.

In a Chinese household, when the parents try to ask their child to do something or ask them a difficult question, like why they have performed so badly in the school test, the best way for the child to dodge the bullet is to duck out to the toilet.

That’s why you often hear Chinese parents make negative comments when a child goes to the toilet frequently.

The bathroom as a whole is important in feng shui. Photo: Shutterstock

But don’t underestimate the power of the water closet, which plays a significant role in feng shui. Don’t overlook the significance of this little room in your house if you want to protect your health, improve wealth, and family harmony.

Put simply, the Chinese believe water is synonymous with money, prosperity, life, growth, vitality and what have you. And since water features heavily in bathrooms, or any varieties of them such as a shower room or water closet, it makes sense that feng shui practitioners place such significance on this room.

It is believed that paying particular attention to this room can improve your wealth and health. For example, you don’t want your water (ie your wealth) to be flushed away – you need to take steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen. That’s why you often see the bathroom door in a Chinese household shut.

Keep the bathroom door closed to stop your money flowing away from you. Photo: Shutterstock

In many Chinese homes, it is considered common sense to close a bathroom door to contain the circulation of water, which reads money, so that it will not flow away from you.

And I suppose on a practical level, you are taking steps to prevent germs – and certain smells – from flowing through the rest of your house.

A few years back, I was advised by a feng shui master that I shouldn’t have placed my bed directly facing my en suite bathroom because it would have a negative impact on my health. So, what did I do? I repositioned the bed as instructed. I don’t live strictly by what a feng shui master says, but I do believe that it’s better to be safe than sorry.

To stay healthy, make sure your bed doesn’t directly face the bathroom door. Photo: Shutterstock

Believe it or not, after I followed his advice my health improved and my sleep also improved shortly afterwards. I am not telling anyone to be superstitious, but if small changes to your home ensure good feng shui and create little inconvenience to your living arrangements, then why not try it? The result will help me ensure no bad feng shui or vibes would negatively impact my life.

The Chinese always pay attention to leaky pipes, taps, or any water outlets because they don’t want their money being flushed away.

And perhaps after the year we’ve all had, people have become especially conscious of their financial situation.

But then again, this is also the year that we should not only take stock of what we have, but be grateful for what we already have.

So, as the new year begins, rather than reflect on what we have lost – be it financial, material, or emotional – we can find solace in the people and things we hold dear.

Happy new year, everyone.

Luisa Tam is a Post correspondent who also hosts Cantonese language video tutorials that are now part of Cathay Pacific’s in-flight entertainment programme

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