Despite the many posters put up outside and in public toilets for so many years, the same selfish habits remain among Singaporeans.

I was at VivoCity last week, and visited a women's toilet on the ground floor. The toilet was generally clean, but when I looked inside three cubicles, all three had toilet paper on the floor and unflushed toilet bowls.

It was left to the tired-looking cleaner to pick up the toilet paper and flush the toilet bowls. That was in addition to mopping the floor and cleaning the sinks and taps.

Despite that, she still smiled at me. She appeared to be a foreign worker. I wondered what she thought of Singaporeans.

Separately, I have also seen toilets unflushed at several food centres. Some toilet seats even had footprints on them.

Why have such bad habits not died out, despite our population being educated?

Is it too much to ask for those patronising the premises to throw litter in the bins provided and to check if their waste has been flushed properly?

Should proper use of toilets be made part of the syllabus in school? And should those caught dirtying public toilets be made to clean toilets for a few days as punishment?

Patricia Maria de Souza