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Yeah, that all seems like a great idea. I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach thei

Yeah, that all seems like a great idea. I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach their problems. It's almost as though they actually want to solve them. In the mean time, in the US, we can't have nice things because reasons. It's sort of like how Japan has toilets with warmed seats. In the US, we don't have that because...honestly I have no idea; it's a great idea that we're simply missing out on. P.S. To be fair, I think part of the reason Japan has this is that a lot of homes lack house-wide heating systems. They have things like kotatsus (heated tables) or space heaters. So it actually gets really cold in the winter. Having a warm toilet seat then seems like more of a necessity. But still...can't we just have warm toilet seats?

Baeocystin 5y ago
Interestingly, the pandemic seems to have greatly spurred the speed of bidet adoption, which includes such things as heated seats. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toilet-paper-sales-coronavirus https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toi... I've had one installed in my house for years, and am 100% going to install one wherever I live in the future. The hygiene and comfort improvements are phenomenal.
ValentineC 5y ago
> I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach their problems. Singaporean here. Some of us think that there's a fair bit of legalised "corruption" and cronyism in the public system. :) (For the sake of avoiding any potential defamation suits that Singapore politicians are so famous for, this is entirely my opinion.)
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  I think there is an inevitable trade off between getting stuff done in a corrupt way, and not being corrupt but being unable to get stuff done. And I would argue that historically you see this. Saudi Arabia modernized with a lot of corruption. The US modernized with a lot of corruption -- the period of American industrialization and modernization was called "The Gilded Age". Now there are huge bureaucratic processes, checks and balances, all sorts of oversight -- and it's extremely hard to get anything done.

Baeocystin 5y ago

Interestingly, the pandemic seems to have greatly spurred the speed of bidet adoption, which includes such things as heated seats. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toilet-paper-sales-coronavirus https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toi... I've had one installed in my house for years, and am 100% going to install one wherever I live in the future. The hygiene and comfort improvements are phenomenal.

ValentineC 5y ago

> I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach their problems. Singaporean here. Some of us think that there's a fair bit of legalised "corruption" and cronyism in the public system. :) (For the sake of avoiding any potential defamation suits that Singapore politicians are so famous for, this is entirely my opinion.)

rsj_hn 5y ago
I think there is an inevitable trade off between getting stuff done in a corrupt way, and not being corrupt but being unable to get stuff done. And I would argue that historically you see this. Saudi Arabia modernized with a lot of corruption. The US modernized with a lot of corruption -- the period of American industrialization and modernization was called "The Gilded Age". Now there are huge bureaucratic processes, checks and balances, all sorts of oversight -- and it's extremely hard to get anything done.