12 theSun | THURSDAY OCTOBER 29 2009

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

Lim (centre) and

state executive
councillor for

The stigma of
Many are in such deplorable maintenance,
housing Wong
condition that they require partly due to
Hon Wai (right)
massive physical overhauls the lackadaisi-
visiting the
– from paint jobs, to pipe and cal approach
Kampung
tile replacements, to complete to hygiene and
Melayu flats
wiring changes. safety by some
which are in
It is precisely due to such residents. So it
a state of

public housing
blatant neglect and a shoddy is also important
disrepair.
maintenance culture that to boost morale,
there has been a stigma asso- cultivate a
ciated with public housing in renewed feeling
Malaysia. And in an effort to of ownership, to
remove this stigma, the state help improve the
government has been mull- upkeep of fea-
SOMETIME in the late 1960s, ing how to upgrade public tures like lifts and
Penang embarked on an ambitious housing to have heightened security rubbish disposal.
scheme to provide housing for and amenities – to be on par with And certainly,
low-income people. The idea was more expensive projects. the estates could are
to pack as many homes as possible The origins of these housing woes do with far less a few of them – were
in cost-effective high-rise buildings, can be traced back to a phenomenon gratuitous graffiti. to come forward and “adopt” a public housing
within limited land spaces. that swept across Europe decades Interestingly, it also seems that the intended estate, helping the community to revitalise its
Two of the most famous of ago. In a bid to overcome the hous- Penang housing board is also meant to eradi- living environment?
such buildings were the Kampung ing crisis that emerged from the cate corruption, red tape and over-regulation If there is commitment, it can be done. It has
Melayu and Rifle Range flats, both ruins of World War II, governments in the housing sector. The state insists that worked in Singapore, where public housing
in Ayer Itam. The projects inspired TheNutmeg in European countries began build- it wants to tackle any lack of competent and under the purview of the Housing Develop-
many other subsequent buildings, ing apartments on a massive scale to professional development practices in the ment Board is characterised by a high degree of
such as the huge Bagan Dalam flats Verses provide homes as fast and as cheaply industry. It would also come up with ways to cleanliness, community programmes, regular
project in Butterworth. by Himanshu Bhatt as possible. Today, similar projects curb excessive profits made by developers. planting and pruning of trees, and meticulous
Forty years on, these estates have are eye-sores not just in Penang, but Lim once warned developers not to make infrastructure.
become epitomes of urban squalor. across the country, with most surviv- “excessive or obscene money” from their Some may say there is little point in discuss-
Lifts often don’t work, garbage chutes are ing in dismal, almost ghetto-like, conditions. projects, especially those involving low-cost ing what went wrong, to generate the stigma
filthy, drains are clogged, pipes are rotting and The Penang government had announced housing. “While we wish to be your friend, against public housing in Malaysia. What is
litter is strewn all over the place. The designs in May that it would set up a board to oversee make sure you are also a friend to the people certain is that the authorities have their work
of the buildings seem to have catered more for and resolve problems faced by low-cost hous- of Penang,” he once said. “Make your profit, cut out for them – in overhauling not just the
volume than for healthy living conditions. ing. What it wants to do is look at models used but give something back.” physical legacy of shoddiness inherited from
Natural lighting and air circulation within in Singapore, Hongkong and some developed That’s sound advice. Ideally, low-cost hous- years ago, but also in rejuvenating a collective
public passageways are often poor, and there western countries, where public housing does ing should not be compromised in quality, and morale, a community living spirit, so vital in
are few recreational facilities and sites planned not come with negative connotations. needs to have the same level of amenities as such dense human environments.
for such places. Take the Kampung Melayu Indeed, by and large, low-cost housing in more expensive houses and condominiums. For
flats for example. With 966 units packed in Malaysia is seen as being characterised by the state is afflicted by lack of funds. Would it not Himanshu is theSun’s Penang bureau chief.
two huge 16-storey blocks, most homes are so congestion, crime and, as Chief Minister Lim be interesting if a major developer – and there Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
small they have only one bedroom each, while Guan Eng once put it, “a final abode of those
the remainder have two. who have no where else to go.” The state’s mas-
Now, in an unprecedented move, the terplan is expected to be activated next year.
Penang government is drawing up a five-year But there is something else that is also need- Nouveau psychos on the loose
masterplan to repair and revitalise government ed, especially in the Malaysian context; and that
housing projects like these. It will be no mean is improved public attitude. Many estates have I SAW Psycho when I was a was supported with a module of
feat. There are 42 such estates all over Penang. been afflicted by lack of cleanliness and poor teenager. This was long before I 107-point questionnaire to identify
could understand English or the psychos. With such identification
cinematic grammar. Obviously, I had module these smooth-talking-
no clue what Psycho was about or Economist-reading-wine-drinking
who that awful obese-looking bloke psychos could be exposed before
surrounded by beautiful women they did more damage to society.
was. “Snakes in suit” describes well
Later in life I found out he was the many yuppies and stockbro-
Alfred Hitchcock – a character kers in London and Wall Street. I
much maligned by feminists as a could cite some “snakes in suits”
misogynist. I had a hard time look- Rais Whine that recently have been exposed
ing for the meaning of “misogynist”. internationally. Names that could
When I found out, I was taken by Hishamuddin Rais shed tears to some and laughter
aback as to why this obese man to rest of the world. Names like Raj
was condemned as a woman hater. Rajaratnam, the founder of Galleon Group hedge
Hitchcock’s Psycho became the common fund, who was recently arrested by the FBI, fits
reference for a psychopath. I became appre- the profile. Bernard Madoff is another profile.
hensive and turned into Inspector Clouseau What about our version, the Labu Peram Scheme,
whenever I checked into a cheap hotel, a chalet initiated by Pak Man Telo that bankrupted a few
or backpacker dormitory. Without fail I would hundred Melayu Baru in the eighties.
thoroughly inspect the cupboards and all the Reading and researching into these new
holes, if any, in my room. I would freak out if I findings scared the hell out of me. What about
found out the hotelier was a taxidermist. Psycho those people in power – from Stalin, Mao to
went deep into my brain. contemporary politicians. Would politicians
A psychopath is defined as a person with volunteer to take the 107-point questionnaire
an anti-social personality disorder, manifested before standing for elections? Such a test would
in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral make our world a better home.
behaviour without empathy or remorse. Blimey mon dieu, “snakes in suits” would
This description was rather cool and apt. It turn Bates and Lecter into sober and mundane
has been worked and reworked by Hollywood neighbours. A shudder crept up my spine. I was
scriptwriters until it became such a cliché that it trembling. Could the new finding be real? All the
no longer excites cinema lovers. From Norman kiasu of the world are actually psychopaths?
Bates to Henry the serial killer – the cinema has That would be shattering news that would
established the grammar and language of how break all Richter scale.
one could spot a potential Hannibal Lecter. Now I fully understood why those bra-burn-
But recent scientific study has shown other- ing feminists branded Hitchcock a misogynist.
wise. From the BBC report that I read recently, He was a bully. Almost all his beautiful female
an academic paper by Professor Robert Hare talents were bullied to tears. Hitchcock consid-
of University of British Columbia, an expert on ered his actors like cows and props to serve his
“snakes in suits”, a new version of psychopath camera. Well, this trait could fit well with Hare’s
– the “corporate psychopath” – came into being. profile of a psychopath.
According to Professor Hare, who spoke at the So, who is not psychopathic if one in every
British Psychological Society, the nouveau psy- 100 people in the US is now defined as a psy-
cho is one who uses arrogance and superficial chopath? I could conclude that there are more
charm, charisma, to scale the top of the ladder, of them outside than in loony bins or eating por-
knocking off whoever gets in his or her way. ridge at Brixton Prison. They are now among us
“White-collar psychopaths will defraud looking absolutely “normal” yet there is a streak
people of their life savings, then quite happily of a psychopathic trait within their personality.
go to the Mediterranean, get a villa and not give I too better start looking at myself in the
it a thought.” mirror. Or visit the shrink or take that 107-point
The worst is yet to come when he estimates questionnaire. But, I have this fear that I might
that one in 100 people in North America is a just fail the test. All this while I may look like a
psychopath. Any person who is self-centred, normal bloke who from time to time desired
grandiose, lacking in empathy and does not a fried human liver a la Coq au vin just like
give a damn about anyone could fit Hare’s Lecter. Yet, subconsciously, I’m contemplating
psycho profile. Their only concern is food. They seriously moving to the Mediterranean if I can
see the world as one large watering hole. Their find an abandoned villa to squat in.
resources are sex, power and money.
This serious peer-reviewed academic paper Comments: letters@thesundaily.com