Jack Sim

In this Chinese name, the family name is Sim (沈).
Jack Sim
沈锐华
Born1957 (age 66–67)
Singapore
EducationInstitute of Technical Education
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (MPA)
Known forFounding Restroom Association, World Toilet Organization, and World Toilet Day

Jack Sim Juek Wah (Chinese: 沈锐华; pinyin: Shěn Ruìhuá, born 1957), also known as Mr Toilet, is a Singaporean entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the founder of the World Toilet Organization and World Toilet Day initiative. He is also the founder of the Restroom Association of Singapore.

Sim started a number of successful business ventures before venturing into charitable work in his early forties. In 2001, he founded the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), an international non-governmental organisation for sanitation. After lobbying efforts with Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the founding date of WTO was later adopted as World Toilet Day by the United Nations in 2012. Sim's leadership of the WTO includes humanitarian, developmental, and advocacy work for sanitation.

Sim graduated with a Master of Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore in 2011. He is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the university's business school.

Early life and education

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Sim was born the second of three children in 1957 to a grocery store assistant and a beautician, Tan Siam Kheng.[1][2] His family lived in an impoverished village in Upper Serangoon without a plumbing system.[3][4][5] He studied at Kim Keat Primary School and Whitley Secondary School, doing poorly academically and later failing his O-level secondary school examinations.[5] He attributes his academic difficulties to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.[6] He later enrolled in the Vocational and Industrial Training Board (now the Institute of Technical Education), graduating with a certificate in hotel management.[5][7]

As an adult, he completed professional courses from the University of Strathclyde and Harvard University.[8] In 2013, he received a Masters of Public Administration degree from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.[9][10] He was thereafter appointed an Adjunct Associate Professor at the NUS Business School and an honorary professor at Shohbit University in Uttar Pradesh, India.[9][11] In 2022, he received an honorary Doctor of the University degree from the University of Strathclyde.[12] He is a fellow of the Singapore University of Social Sciences and the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils.[13][14]

Business career

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After leaving school, Sim worked as a construction site supervisor and salesperson at Diethelm (now DKSH) before starting a business at 24.[15] In 1982, he started Besco Building Supplies, which manufactured building materials.[16] By his early 40s, he had expanded his business portfolio to 15 companies, including a toilet cubicle manufacturer and a $115-million tiling factory.[10][17] He was also involved in real estate investments, at one point owning 15 properties,[18] and was a developer of the Australian International School Singapore.[19] In the late 1990s, Sim watched a speech by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on the social significance of clean public toilets.[20] By the end of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, he sold off a portion of his businesses and began to volunteer with the Samaritans of Singapore.[21]

World Toilet Organisation

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In December 1998, he founded the Restroom Association of Singapore,[22] later launching a rating system for the cleanliness of public toilets in collaboration with the National Environmental Agency.[23][24]

On 19 November 2001, he founded the World Toilet Organization as an advocacy group for global sanitation. In his role as director of the WTO, Sim is a lobbyist and coordinator for sanitation efforts,[25] organising an annual World Toilet Summit,[26][27] and contributing to administrative and policy changes in Brazil, China, India, and Singapore.[10][28][29] Sim also lobbied Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to support establishing 19 November as World Toilet Day, which led to Singapore's first-ever tabled resolution at the United Nations in 2012, which succeeded with 120 co-sponsors.[30][31][32]

Sim raises funds for WTO through hosting the World Toilet Summits and philanthropic grants, including from the Lien Foundation and Gates Foundation.[28][33] He uses emotional branding, humour, and celebrity endorsements to raise awareness of sanitation issues.[34][35] Under Sim's leadership, the WTO launched a series of World Toilet Colleges, which ran the world's first toilet-cleaning qualification programme,[36][37][38] and which currently provides sanitation training for people in the developing world.[39] He provided humanitarian aid for Turkey after the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes.[40]

In 2008, he was appointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council for Water Security and the GAC for Social Entrepreneurship.[citation needed] He was appointed co-convenor of India’s Swachh Andhra Pradesh Initiative in 2015.[41]

For his work, Sim is also known as "Mr Toilet".[4][19] An eponymous documentary about Sim's activism premiered at North America's largest documentary festival, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on 27 April 2019.[42][43] Sim also worked with Singaporean director Jack Neo in developing the 2013 film Everybody's Business.[44]

Other social ventures

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In the early 2010s, Sim ventured into social entrepreneurship as a means to diversify revenue for WTO.[28] Sim founded BOP Hub, a non-profit organisation targeting bottom-of-pyramid individuals at the poorest global income margins in 2011,[45] developing a $10,000,000 building in Ubi.[46] In 2016, the organisation engaged in food relief efforts for migrant workers in Singapore,[47][48] and currently acts as a startup accelerator for social enterprises.[49]

He was also involved in bringing Dialogue in the Dark, a global disability social business, to Singapore.[50]

Personal life

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He lives in Meyer Road, Katong, Singapore.[51] His first marriage in the late 1980s ended in divorce after a year. He re-married in 1990 and has two sons and two daughters with his current wife.[5][19][52] He identifies as having "no religion".[53]

Awards

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Bibliography

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  • Sim, Jack (August 2024). The Gumption of Mr. Toilet. Penguin Books. ISBN 9789815144802.
  • Sim, Jack; Cookey, Peter (2022). "Sanitation advocacy services". Integrated Functional Sanitation Value Chain: The Role of the Sanitation Economy. IWA Publishing. ISBN 9781789061833.
  • Sim, Jack (2020). "Chapter". Fifty Secrets of Singapore's Success. Singapore: The Straits Times. ISBN 9789814827751.
  • Sim, Jack (2016). "Elegant toilet culture to boost tourism". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  • Sim, Jack (9 December 2017). "Chinese and Indian toilet revolutions look to Singapore's bottom line". South China Morning Post.
  • Sim, Jack (18 September 2014). "The world toilet crisis can be solved". The Economist.
  • Sim, Jack (2012). "Bottoms Up". Social Space. Singapore Management University. pp. 110–114.
  • Dayson, Karl; Sim, Jack (2010). "Technology to Toilets: Can Microfinance and IT Help Solve the World's Sanitation Crisis?". Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations. 8 (3): 49–59. doi:10.4018/jeco.2010070105.
  • Sim, Jack (2008). "Sleepless in Singapore". Social Space. Singapore Management University. pp. 102–104.

References

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  1. ^ "Skoll | Social Entrepreneurship in 1960s Singapore: The Story of My Mother". Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Humble beginnings". The Straits Times. 9 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Jack Sim". World Economic Forum.
  4. ^ a b "Man of Missions". Singapore Magazine. Singapore International Foundation. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Nanda, Akshita (16 August 2010). "Toilet break; Jack Sim is streamlining his business to focus on the group he founded, the World Toilet Organisation". The Straits Times.
  6. ^ Yue, Reuben (27 October 2022). "Leading with ADHD Strengths: A Shining Light for the Greater Good". UnlockingADHD. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Never too busy to go back to school". AsiaOne. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Social Capital" (PDF). Nanyang Technological University. Harvard Singapore Foundation.
  9. ^ a b "Jack Sim (MPA 2013) Re-appointed as Adjunct Associate Professor at NUS Business School". lkyspp.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  10. ^ a b c "Mr Jack Sim Juek Wah". NUS Alumni Awards 2021. National University of Singapore. 2021.
  11. ^ "Shobhit University India - MEET MR. TOILET: Prof Jack Sim". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Ten distinguished figures honoured by Strathclyde | University of Strathclyde". www.strath.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Fellows | SUSS". www.suss.edu.sg. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Jack Sim". TheGFCC.org. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  15. ^ "'Toilet Man' Jack Sim has the last laugh". AsiaOne. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  16. ^ Leow, Claire (2 December 1991). "When being blissfully ignorant of danger helps". The Business Times. p. 11.
  17. ^ "Jack Sim's big business". AsiaOne. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  18. ^ "From O-level failure to millionaire at 29, on a policy of honesty first". CNA. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  19. ^ a b c Tan, Christopher (29 October 2021). "Mr Toilet drives humble Toyota Camry". The Straits Times.
  20. ^ Teo, Ginnie (11 September 1998). "First restroom association planned". The Straits Times.
  21. ^ Khew, Carolyn (16 November 2015). "He's on a roll to clean up dirty toilet habits; Jack Sim's helping to launch World Toilet College in India to spread sanitation message". The Straits Times.
  22. ^ Kaur, Karamjit (25 November 2001). "Lord of the Loos". The Straits Times.
  23. ^ "Singapore's "happy" toilets to be given five-star hotel ratings". Agence France Presse. 2 June 2003.
  24. ^ Doran, D'Arcy (2 July 2003). "SINGAPORE PUBLIC TOILET LEFT FLUSHED WITH PRIDE". The Independent.
  25. ^ "A Stink Over Sanitation". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Singapore firm eyes profit in cheap toilet market". NBC News. 2 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  27. ^ Bhanoo, Sindya N. (1 March 2010). "For Pennies, a Disposable Toilet That Could Help Grow Crops". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  28. ^ a b c Chowdhury, Imran (2016). "Case Study: From Social Entrepreneur To Social Enterprise". Current Topics in Management. 18: 183–200. doi:10.4324/9780203788394-9. ISBN 9780203788394.
  29. ^ Au Yong, Jeremy (20 November 2005). "Potty parity: New law requires all new buildings here to have as many loos for women as for men, if not more". The Straits Times.
  30. ^ "UN declares Nov 19 as World Toilet Day: Resolution is the first that S'pore has tabled in 48 years as UN member". The Straits Times. 25 July 2013.
  31. ^ Experience Singapore. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2013.
  32. ^ Chan, Robin (24 July 2013). "Singapore's first UN resolution adopted; now, every Nov 19 is World Toilet Day". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  33. ^ Tan, Dawn Wei (14 December 2008). "Clinton gives tips to toilet champ". The Straits Times.
  34. ^ Chia, Audrey; Yee Wei, Lim (2021). "Social Innovators Leading Change in Health". On the Emergence and Understanding of Asian Global Leadership. de Gruyter. pp. 57–64. doi:10.1515/9783110671988-004. ISBN 9783110671940.
  35. ^ Jervell, Ellen Emmerentze. "Ads for Bathroom Products Flush With Potty Humor". WSJ. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  36. ^ "Singapore is offering the world's first lavatory-cleaning training programme; The Bulletin". The Times. 16 June 2006. p. 3.
  37. ^ Toh, Elgin (22 June 2006). "Toilet cleaners to get training to become restroom specialists". The Straits Times.
  38. ^ "Toilet ambassadors help Singapore clean up". The Mail & Guardian. 24 June 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  39. ^ Poon, Linda (19 November 2014). "Toilets 'R' Him: Jack Sim Wants A Potty In Every Pad". NPR.
  40. ^ Tang, Louisa (10 March 2023). "Secondhand clothes donated by people in Singapore for Türkiye-Syria quake victims disposed of, sent to NGO". Channel News Asia.
  41. ^ "Andhra Pradesh Collaborates With World Toilet Organisation for Sanitation Project". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  42. ^ Lui, John (4 April 2019). "Singapore toilet activist's documentary to premiere at festival". The Straits Times. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  43. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (21 November 2019). "'Mr. Toilet' Review: Getting a Handle on the World's Toilet Shortage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  44. ^ Tan, Dylan (6 December 2013). "When Jack Neo met Jack Sim". The Business Times Singapore.
  45. ^ "Tackling poverty through 'social franchising'". The Business Times Singapore. 3 November 2011.
  46. ^ Ho, Olivia (1 August 2016). "Jack Sim: Making it his mission to flush away the world's ills; 'Change maker' Jack Sim out to battle disease by ensuring proper sanitation". The Straits Times.
  47. ^ "NGO steps in to ensure proper meals for foreign workers". TODAY. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  48. ^ "Five contractors keen on providing workers with healthier meals". TODAY. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  49. ^ Chang, Jonathan; Bhattacharya, Lipika (2021). "Base of Pyramid Hub: Connecting solutions". Asia's Social Entrepreneurs. Routledge. pp. 128–135. ISBN 9781003203582.
  50. ^ "DIALOGUE IN THE DARK COMING TO STORE". Today. 15 December 2007. p. 12.
  51. ^ Sajan, Chantal (20 August 2021). "How 'Mr Toilet' Jack Sim turned a ramshackle house into a bungalow worth $13 million". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  52. ^ "Mr. Toilet Wants to Save the World From Drowning in Shit". MEL Magazine. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  53. ^ Abbugao, Martin (27 September 2007). "Toilet talk serious business for Singapore's sanitation evangelist". Agence France Presse.
  54. ^ "MPA Alumnus Jack Sim Received the SkillsFuture Fellowships Award". lkyspp.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  55. ^ "Jack Sim, Tan Lai Yong and Carrie Tan honoured at NUS Alumni Awards 2021". lkyspp.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  56. ^ Nonis, Jamie (11 December 2020). "Asia's Most Influential: Jack Sim, Founder of Restroom Association of Singapore and World Toilet Organization". Tatler Singapore. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  57. ^ McBride, Jake (22 March 2018). "Singapore". Points of Light. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  58. ^ "Jack Sim – 2018 Outstanding Peace Activist — Luxembourg Peace Prize". Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  59. ^ "Stories of past winners". www.nvpc.org.sg. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  60. ^ "Senior Fellow: Jack Sim". www.synergos.org. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  61. ^ "Jack Sim's big business". AsiaOne. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  62. ^ Beech, Hannah (24 September 2008). "Jack Sim". Time. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  63. ^ "Jack Sim | Ashoka". www.ashoka.org. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  64. ^ "Awardees". Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
  65. ^ "Mr Restroom among 6 honoured for green efforts". The Straits Times. 8 June 2004.
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