In late January, Singapore’s social media scene became a battleground for a divisive debate: should people take showers in the morning?
Most netizens appeared to stand on the side of ‘Team Morning Shower’, berating those who didn’t wash themselves before leaving the house.
According to one Singaporean content creator’s poll, 74% of her followers are affected by the stench of those who don’t shower.
Others, however, gave a variety of arguments for why it was unnecessary.
In a recent poll on Answers.sg with 2,188 respondents, 24% — or about one in every four people who voted — shower once a day.
18% of respondents showered in the evenings and 6% washed themselves exclusively in the morning.
Meanwhile, the majority — 70% of poll respondents — showered two to three times a day.
The final 6% of respondents did not care about the frequency of showers so long as they didn’t smell bad.
A common argument by the 18% who don’t shower in the morning was that they slept in rooms with air conditioning.
Alex, who works in the media industry, is aligned with this logic.
He told MS News that he would shower late at night and go to bed soon after in an air-conditioned room.
Source: Sorapong’s Images on Canva, for illustration purposes only
As such, Alex maintained that he would still be clean in the morning and not require another rinse.
He added that it meant he didn’t have to wake up even earlier.
This explanation resonated with many netizens online. One user claimed that the local working culture left little time for sleep or much else.
Source: TikTok
“I relate,” Alex said about these comments.
Furthermore, he felt confident in not smelling bad, adding that he would shower if uncertain.
In his experience, stench on public transport came not in the morning, but rather from sweaty kids returning home from school.
Alex ultimately felt that the recent online debate was just people “making an issue out of nothing”.
45-year-old writer Matthew provided an opposing perspective, saying he showers once in the morning and once in the evening.
He told MS News that he would occasionally encounter a smelly commuter when taking public transport.
However, he couldn’t tell if the stink originated from a lack of shower or poorly dried clothes.
A netizen noticed the latter issue too, suggesting the stench really came from attire that didn’t dry properly, especially after rainy days.
Matthew did not personally feel offended by such people, saying he would just move away from them without judging.
For him, morning showers are a way to wake himself up for the day ahead, not so much a social responsibility.
Matthew explained that he has been doing so since childhood, and not showering in the morning thus leaves him feeling self-conscious. He said:
I am so used to it that I don’t think I can stop the routine now.
When asked about the ‘lack of time’ argument, Matthew said he respected the reasoning but noted that time could be “managed accordingly if needed”.
This proved to be a common response online, with netizens noting that showers don’t take very long.
Source: TikTok
Some people, however, never considered the act of showering once a day to be an issue.
“I actually never realised morning showers were so commonplace, the social norm even,” said Sam, a 24-year-old leather craftsman.
He added that he didn’t tend to ask people about their personal showering habits and only found out when the TikTok trend happened.
“Evening showers just make so much more sense to me personally,” said Sam. “I felt like I didn’t need to think about it.”
Sam explained that as someone very active, he would quickly get sticky anyway and likened morning showers to preventing the inevitable.
“I really thought evening showers were the status quo,” he said.
On top of that, Sam gave another rationale for his habit — he feels that showering twice a day is a bit too much as it strips his skin barrier.
A 2021 article posted on the Harvard Health Publishing website, for example, notes that over-showering removes natural oils and may lead to skin problems.
Source: MilanMarkovic on Canva, for illustration purposes only
Furthermore, he feels that showering too much would disrupt the balance of microbes on people’s skin.
Owing to his concern about his skin health, Sam also personally uses specialty soaps.
He admitted to previously showering once a week for the alleged skin health benefits but gave it up after three days due to an awful head itch.
Ultimately, Sam thought the debate on the number of showers came down to personal preference.
He claimed that people smelling bad wasn’t a big issue in his daily life but acknowledged that he might be used to it, being an active person.
While there have been papers and studies saying that bathing too much might not be beneficial for you, some medically reviewed articles note that the choice boils down to one’s lifestyle and environment.
For example, those working laborious jobs may need to clean themselves more often compared to office workers who are typically sedentary.
However, for those in tropical climates such as Singapore, bathing often may be the norm as it’s easier to break a sweat.
Also read: MS Explains: Is showering daily necessary? Experts say bathing too much might also be an issue
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Featured image adapted from MilanMarkovic on Canva and Ivan Oboleninov on Pexels, both for illustration purposes only.
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