Jack Sim ’s film “Mr Toilet:The World’s #2 Man” will have its world premiere are Toronto’s HotDocs film festival 27 April.
What do you get when you cross an eccentric self-made man with a load of crap? Jack Sim.
To a stranger, he’s a guy obsessed with toilets, but to those who know him, he’s “Mr. Toilet,” a crusader for global sanitation. Born in the Singapore slums, Jack Sim knows firsthand the agonies of not having a proper loo. Now he’s dedicating his life to a crisis no one dares talk about: Shit.
Not having a place “to go” isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a problem that impacts 2.4 billion people worldwide. In India alone, 200,000 children die each year from lack of safe sanitation, while women are regularly raped because they have to defecate in public spaces.
Jack’s kids describe him as a 12-year oldtrappedin a 60-year old’s body. He’s full of jokes and it can be hard to take him seriously. But, he uses humor as his weapon to fight an uphill battle against bathroom taboos. He founded the World Toilet Organization and spent the last 13 years lobbying 193 countries to raise awareness for proper sanitation. He even successfully lobbied the United Nations to create World Toilet Day – the first international day of celebration for the toilet.
Now he is plunged into his biggest challenge yet when asked to secure 6 million toilets for the “Clean India” initiative. But with few resources and no help from the government, his epic project and reputation are in jeopardy. Jack’s once supportive staff begins to doubt him; and when his family bonds start to fray over his obsessive dedication, he wonders if he’s finally met his match.
Mr. Toilet realizes there is a price to pay for being the world’s #2 man, but as a su-poo-hero he can’t quit.
The film is directed by Lily Zepeda. Learn more about it here.
Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organization, achieved financial success through several business ventures at an early age. As he grew older, Jack felt the need to change his direction in life and give back to humanity– he wanted to live his life according to the motto “Live a useful life”. Jack soon left his businesses and embarked on a journey to have a positive impact in the world. In 2001, Jack Sim founded the World Toilet Organization (WTO) to bring the Sanitation issue to the global spotlight and to advocate for clean sanitation for all. After years of dedication to the Sanitation issue, Jack Sim continues to be involved but in 2011, he embarked on a new radical project, that being BoP HUB. He had a vision to “design business to end poverty”. Jack is a firm believer in the economic empowerment of the poor. BoP HUB now serves as a vehicle for partners in every industry and sector to collaborate and accelerate effective social business models focused at the base of the pyramid.
Among his many accolades are:
- Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the year in 2006
- Ashoka Global fellow in 2007
- Asian Development Bank Water Champion in 2007
- TIME Magazine Hero of the Environment in 2008
- Reader’s Digest Asian of the Year in 2011
- Synergos Senior Fellow in 2013.
Jack‘s speaking topics are:
- Breaking cultural taboos: addressing the global sanitation crisis
- How to build a movement
- Unlocking business opportunities at the base of the pyramid
- Entrepreneurship / Social Enterprise
- Leverage model: how to build a global brand at zero cost
- Thinking in a new way
- The Creativity of Re-Inventing the Everyday
Contact us if you would like Jack Sim to speak at your next event.