National University of Singapore (NUS)

SE3222
Gender in Southeast Asia

Gender issues in Just Follow Law:

What shapes it? What is its significance?

Name: Galvez Victoria Francesca (U060290Y)

Tutor: Dr Pattana Kitiarsa
Tutorial group: DW1
Tutorial day and time: Wednesday, 10am 12pm

Introduction
Satirical, Just Follow Law humourously explores the intricacies of office politics
in the Singapore civil service1. Through the eyes of Lim and Chew, the film depicts the
inflexibility of government rules, and the manner in which civil servants respond to it.
They follow the rules to a fault, because of their powerlessness to alter the laws and for
the sake exploiting them out of self-interest. Thus, Just Follow Law is reminiscent of the
colloquial Singlish saying just follow lor a nonchalant and resigned attitude of
complying with orders without questioning why.
In the film, Lim and Chew meet with a freak accident, causing them to switch
bodies. Then, Lim2 experiences life as a blue-collar male worker and Chew3, a female
scholar and Vice President. Towards the end of the film, they attempt to recover their
original bodies. Failing to, Lim and Chew decide to marry.
Objective of Study
I employ a social constructionist approach4 in analyzing three gender issues: the
master status of class over gender in the work hierarchy, the presidency of the essentialist
model of sex/gender over the theory of gender performativity, and the objectification of
both genders. Asking What shapes it? I contextualize/explain the three on a macro level
by dwelling into their history/origin (economic modernization theory, Western model of
sexuality, and sexual exchange system), and highlighting the role of institutions
(Singapore government/state, medical establishment, and exchange system in marriage).
1

It is not my intention to concentrate on Just Follow Laws critique of the Singapore civil service. Instead, I
wish to touch on gender issues that emerge in the film.
2
Lim refers to Chew in Lims biological body after the Switch.
3
Chew refers to Lim in Chews biological body after the Switch.
4
Steele (2005) writes that social constructionists locate social issues on macro (historically, culturally and
via social institutions) and micro (daily interactions) planes, deconstruct them to unearth meanings, and
believe they are man-made, created through human interaction in society (5-6).

Supporting these accounts are snippets of micro everyday interactions between Lim and
Chew. Such a link between the macro and micro evokes Mills (1959) sociological
imagination a way of looking at the world that illuminates connections between the
apparently private problems of the individual and important social issues (Marshall,
1997:420).
Of What is its significance?, I examine how society invents meanings/effects
(gender as background identity, Asian conservatism, and patriarchy in the workforce)
which ensue gender issues. Thus, I argue that gender issues are created (on the macro and
micro dimensions) and sustained by human interaction (through meanings/effects). They
provide a symbolic framework with which we screen ourselves and the social world.
Master status of class over gender
Before I touch on the master status of class over gender, I introduce multi
marginality. It implies a situation in which an individual carries multiple identities
which disadvantage him simultaneously from various sides (Leong, 2008:5). These
identities stem from his position/status in relation to social structural variables such as
class5, gender and age.
In Just Follow Law, both Lim and Chew face multi marginality. Lim is
marginalized by his class position; he has little cultural capital. He completed only
primary school education, receives low wages for work, and has little formal work and
linguistic skills he cannot speak and write in English and Mandarin, but converses in
dialects. His age is also a liability; he is a middle age man. Correspondingly, his identities

I operationalize class to be the cultural capital of education, skills, income and language, and ones
position in the work stratification system.

impose upon him multi marginality; being a middle age, blue-collar male worker impedes
job prospects of promotion.
Contrarily, Chew is favoured by her class status. She is a scholar with elite
education, hauls in a high income, has honed formal work and linguistic abilities she
speaks and writes fluently in English and Mandarin. However, she is marginalized by her
age and gender. A young and inexperienced female worker amidst an all male top
management, Chews assertion of authority comes across as dogmatic and out of line.
Within positions of multi marginality, one variable stands out: class. It is the
master status of Lim and Chew class overpowers all other statuses (including gender),
becoming the defining feature of Self (Marshall, 1997:399). Thus, although both endure
multi marginality, Chew is less disadvantaged by gender than Lim is by class. Chew, in a
highly skilled occupation, commands a superior position in the work hierarchy. She is
the boss. She has the ability to order Lim around and punish him when he fails to fulfill
tasks she sets for him. Lim, on the contrary, is powerless. A lower class technician, he sits
beneath Chew in the work stratification system. Typifying the just follow law/lor
worker, he has little choice but to obey Chews authority.
What shapes it? Economic modernization model
Historically, Peoples Action Partys (PAP) adoption of the economic
modernization model laid the foreground for the master status of class over gender in the
contemporary work hierarchy. In 1965, the model held that development results in the
creation of laws and institutions, these ameliorate social inequalities based on race and
gender (Goodkind, 1995:342). Dismal social conditions needed such
development/amelioration: British military withdrawal caused a loss in employment and

national revenue; 1964 race riots stemmed from tension between Malay and non-Malay
populations; 1965 expulsion from Malaysia meant the loss of a potential common
market (Chua, 1995:17-18).
Chua (1995) notes the model emphasized an ideology of survival: if Singapore
were to survive, the population must be tightly organized and highly disciplined, pulling
in the same direction with public spiritedness and self-sacrifice in national interest.
Complementing was an ideology of pragmatism: practical solutions to problems posed
by economic realities were sought; any process that contributed to economic growth
was practical (18). With PAPs construction of economic growth as the only necessary
reality, ideologies of survival and pragmatism gained ground (19).
Survival and pragmatism drove 1965 Singapore to industrialize. Chan (2000)
highlights the effects of industrialization: Singapore womens education (literacy rate),
employment (percentage of economically active women aged 15 and above, and types of
occupations) and health (life expectancy) improved (40). Edwards (1996) agrees:
womens conditions education, employment, longevity and marital power - in
Southeast Asia have bettered (81).
As discussed, PAPs economic modernization model (ideologies and
industrialization) not only reduced inequalities premised upon social structural variables,
but enhanced womens status. Contemporarily, it forms the basis of the Singapore Civil
Services stance on meritocracy: we believe in the best person for the job best being
defined as one's own ability and performance, not one's race, religion, gender, wealth,
social class, or connections. Consequently, workers receive reward for work
(http://www.cscollege.gov.sg/page.asp?id=61). Combined, these play down gender in the

work hierarchy. Assigning reward (a higher position in the stratification system), class
as a master status presides over gender as a marker of Self/identity and power.
What is its significance? - Gender as background identity
The master status of class over gender renders the latter a background identity.
Ridgeway and Correll (2004) advance that sex categorization - the sociocognitive
process by which we label people male or female - is too general in figuring out who Self
and Other are in any concrete context to manage that situation and act. People continue
categorizing in multiple other ways, according to culturally important and situationally
relevant (class) identities/roles such as boss and employee (515).
Institutional and culturally more specific (class) identities/roles are in the
foreground of individuals contextual definitions of who Self and Other are. Therefore,
gender operates as a background identity: it is an implicit, cultural/cognitive presence
that colours peoples activities but is rarely the focus of what is going on in the situation
(516). Hence, gender does not come forth strongly for Lim and Chew; both categorize
Self and Other against prominent class identities/roles of the work hierarchy and respond
correspondingly.
Presidency of essentialist over gender performativity theory
Steele (2005) points that essentialists believe sex is a core, fundamental essence
that inheres in humansis fixed and has an objective reality. Independent of culture
and human discernment, sex is biological, natural and genetic. It operates in a binaryone is either male or female (6). Most importantly, essentialists conflate sex and gender
(4). As a result, gender takes on the characteristics of sex.

Conflation is evident after Lim and Chew switch bodies. They unambiguously
exchange masculine and feminine characteristics. Lim naturally takes on the
mannerism of a female: crying, sitting, speaking and walking demurely. Chew
immediately dons masculine actions: urinating while standing up, digging her nose in
public and rapping out vulgarities in coarse language. These fuse sex with gender. First,
sex/gender is fixed and innate: Lim and Chew as male and female are masculine and
feminine respectively. The Switch merely transfers gender in an unproblematic fashion
from their original sex onto their new bodies. Second, sex/gender is biological: Lim and
Chew see sex/gender as being in their heads/sub-consciousness. Lastly, sex/gender is a
binary: gender transgression into the opposite sex or a third gender is inconceivable
Lim and Chew insist on identifying themselves as female and male, their previous
identities.
However, gender performativity separates sex from gender. Defined as the
process by which difference and identity is constructed in and through discourses of
sexuality, Butler (1990) holds that gender is the discursive/cultural means by which
natural sex is produced (11). Furthermore, one learns or is socialized into gender: one
is not born a woman but becomes one (1). Thus, gender is a performance: gender is
what we do - a performed set of attributes - not what we are. Gender identity is a
personal/cultural history of meanings subject to imitative practices of parody/drag (Di
Stefano, 1991:97).
Although Lim and Chew have an overriding essentialist consciousness of
sex/gender, they implicitly perform gender. They socialize each other: Lim guides
Chew with the application of female beauty products; Chew teaches Lim how to

urinate while standing up. Also, they master gender on their own: Chew learns how to
dress femininely; Lim picks up shaving. Therefore, gender is the discourse through
which Lim and Chews natural/correct sex is produced. It is not fixed or biological;
gender is performed in harmony with culturally ascribed meanings. While the essentialist
presides over the gender performativity theory, actually, gender is constructed,
fluid/flexible and contingent.
What shapes it? Western model of sexuality
Leong (2008) attributes the dominance of the essentialist theory to Singapores
adoption of a Western medical and psychiatric tradition on sexuality (291). Originating
from repressive models of British colonial/Victorian morality and shaped by
Christianity and middle class conservatism, it conflates sex and gender (280). Just
Follow Law agrees: doctors/medical institutions Lim and Chew consult regarding the
Switch dismiss them as having a psychological problem, referring them to the Institute of
Mental Health.
This Western model of sexuality pervades wider society: people whom Lim and
Chew come out to believe they are joking about the Switch. Medics conflation of sex
and gender, though invented/man-made, is taken for granted, naturalized/normalized in
everyday life an argument of social constructionists (Marshall, 1997:609). Hence, the
essentialist theory sinks gender performativity; sex/gender is internalized by medics and
society as a binary, fixed and biological.
What is its significance? Asian conservatism
Presidency of the essentialist over the gender performativity theory fuels Asian
conservatism. In Just Follow Law, medics assert: the fantastic tale (of switching bodies)

is biologically impossible here (Singapore); Lim and Chew are accused of watching
too many Ang Mo (Western) movies6. Then, essentialists represent Singapore/Asia;
gender performativity symbolizes the West. Governing the East-West divide are Asian
values of conservatism, pitted against Western decadence and liberalism (Leong,
2008:301).
Leong (2008) observes that Singapores leaders echo this dichotomy and give the
essentialist model weight. In 1998, Lee Kuan Yew decided that Singapore/Asia by nature
is conservative and orthodox, different from the United States; in 1993, Wong Kan Seng
claimed that homosexual rights are a Western issue, irrelevant in Singapore/Asia (302).
Conservatism and irrelevance arises from the distinction between essentialists/Asia
and gender perfomativity/West, and the dominance of the former over the latter in
Singapore.
Realistically, Asian values are a Singapore ideology: diverse sexualities of India
and Thailand are widely accepted in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the presidency of the
essentialist over the gender performativity theory is an ideology of the status quo
medics and political leaders (303). Then, it conceals and perpetuates existing power
structures and ideas on gender in the name of Asian conservatism, making them
hegemonic.
Objectification of both genders
Thompson (2007) writes: people are both subjects and objects. As objects, we are
embodied beings of physical presence. Socially and sexually, we are objects in

Released in 2003, American movie Freaky Friday popularized the plot of having individuals switch
bodies.

relationship to the subjectivity reflective cognition, attitudes and desires which motivate
activity and behaviours - of others (7).
In Just Follow Law, females are objectified as sex objects. This is done in
seemingly conflicting terms. On one hand, female sexuality is sacred: Lim does not
allow Chew to touch her body, blindfolding her while he bathes her; Chew has
the (exclusively female) privilege of screaming molest. These construct the female body
as holy, untouchable and in need of protection.
On the other hand, female sexuality is sensationalized. In a bathing scene,
Chews nakedness is zoomed in upon while Lim remains completely dressed. Also,
Chew is often sighted in bikinis and skimpy outfits. At the office, beach and spa, she
ogles at the other scantily dressed women. Therefore, objectification of females as sex
objects occurs via the male gaze, albeit contradictorily.
Jhally (c2000) backs this contradiction: in objectifying womens bodies, the
media disseminates sexual messages, yet denies them. A female is portrayed as a
baby/woman, virgin/experienced and innocent/sexy. Furthermore, the media silences
women, rendering them passive; females employ not verbal speech but body language to
communicate with the audience. This is true of Chew she does not speak while
flaunting her assets; sensual music plays as she makes eye contact with a male admirer.
Males are too objectified, but as success objects. Lim expresses distress at his
poor credentials; he learns that his low level of education, linguistic and formal work
skills do him no favour in his bid to secure a better job. To upgrade himself, he
pursues higher education. Men internalize the value of success and conform, evident in
their chase of success via socially esteemed routes. Consequently, they are objectified.

What shapes it? Sexual exchange system

Females/males are objectified as sex/success objects due to the nature of the
sexual exchange system. It sees the heterosexual community as a marketplace where
men acquire sex from women by offering other resources in exchange (Baumeister and
Vohs, 2004:339). Women trade sexual attractiveness - an intrinsic resource, part of
ones body and being. Men as success objects offer extrinsic resources - material
(meat and money) and social/cultural capital (status and knowledge) (Thompson,
2007:6). This is reminiscent of the marriage between Lim and Chew: Lim marries to
start a family and for financial security; Chew marries for love/sex.
In this system, sex is exclusively a female resource. Baumeister and Vohs (2004)
note traditional explanations focus on the reproductive system: male investment in
parenthood is zero, females is substantial. Risk of high cost causes a woman to restraint
from having sex; the man must offer her some benefits to offset cost (341). This marks
female sexuality as sacred.
Each gender is differentially motivated to seek sex: men display greater sexual
motivation and are disadvantaged in the principle of least interest a party/female gains
power by wanting a connection less than the other/male. Just Follow Law exhibits this:
female sexuality is sensationalized/empowered via the male gaze.
Contrarily, economics encourage the objectification of males as success objects:
development of economic and political activity occur within the male sphere; wealth and
power are owned by men (342). Mens status is tied to the amount of extrinsic resources
he gains; the more he acquires, the more successful he is seen to be. Just Follow Law

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covers these: the top management comprises males; Lim purses higher education,
seeing it as a means to earn extrinsic resources/success to exchange for the intrinsic.
What is its significance? Patriarchy in the workforce
Thompson (2007) argues: as objects, both genders are a means to an end
sexual/emotional gratification and wealth/resource accumulation. However, differences
abound. First, women as sex objects face embodied/internal objectification. Men as
success objects confront disembodied/external objectification.
Moreover, being success objects leads men into empowering activities sex
objects have lesser access to (7). In Just Follow Law, success driven men occupy top
positions, and take charge of major planning and decision-making processes. Other than
Chew, females lack such power. They don sexual roles which promote disempowering
activities: pregnant mothers-to-be quit work after childbirth for a life of domesticity;
shapely/comely young women are hired only as secretaries. This steers the gendered
division of labour in the workforce towards patriarchy a system where power is
disproportionately held by men. Hence, power is a social relationship it depends on
the interaction between genders and their differential access to resources and lifechances (Marshall, 1997:485;520).
Conclusion
Despite multi marginality, class claims a master status over gender in the work
hierarchy. Thus, Chew commands more authority than Lim; she is less handicapped by
gender than Lim is by class. Of What shapes it?, PAPs economic modernization model
- ideologies of survival and pragmatism, and industrialization - reduced inequalities based
on social structural variables. Forming the basis of meritocracy, it assuages gender and

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accentuates class as a master status of Self/identity and power. What is its significance?
then, relegates gender a background identity. Individuals classify themselves and act
according to institutionally and culturally more specific roles. Class heads the frontline.
Presidency of the essentialist over the gender performativity theory emphasizes
sex/gender as a binary, fixed and biological. It stems from Singapores embracing of a
Western model of sexuality. Taking a psychological perspective on sex and gender, it
fuses the two. Advanced by medics, it infiltrates society, is internalized and normalized.
Prominence of the essentialist model effects Asian conservatism. Essentialists epitomize
orthodox Singapore/Asia; gender performativity, the decadent West. Conservatism is
depicted by Singapores leaders as an Asian ideology. Realistically, it is a Singapore
ideology of the status quo.
Objectification of both genders entail womens transformation into sex objects
and men, success objects. Asking What shapes it? reveals the nature of the sexual
exchange system. Labeling sex an intrinsic female resource and success, an extrinsic
male resource, it holds the marketplace as a site where men acquire sex in exchange for
other resources. Of What is its significance?, men as success objects are admitted into
empowering activities women have no entry to. Disempowerment awaits sexualized
women. Patriarchy in the workforce emerges in the forms of a gendered division of
labour and power as a social relationship.
These ideas point to a central theme: gender issues in Just Follow Law are
socially constructed. Situating them in a macro plane bestows upon them a history/cause
(economic modernization model, Western model of sexuality, and sexual exchange
system) and ties them to institutions (government/state, medics and

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marriage/heterosexual exchange system). Drawing upon Lim and Chews experiences

locate gender issues on a micro/contextual scale. Also, meanings/effects (gender as
background identity, Asian conservatism, and patriarchy in the workforce) are concocted.
Often, these escape unquestioned, assumed as natural/God-given. Only a deconstruction
points to a persistent hierarchy of power (government/state, medics, male dominated top
management). Encompassing back-and-forth human interactions between multiple
dimensions, gender issues are products specific to Singapore society. Neither immutable
nor arbitrary, they are personal windows through which individuals view themselves and
the social world.

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References
Books
Baumeister, Roy F., and Vohs, Kathleen D. (2004). Sexual Economics: Sex as Female
Resource for Social Exchange in Heterosexual Interactions. Personality and Social
Psychology Review, 8 (4), 339-369.
Butler, Judith. (1999). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New
York and London: Routledge.
Chan, Jasmine. (2000). The Status of Women in a Patriarchal State: The Case of
Singapore. In L. Edwards and M. Roces (eds.), Women in Asia. St Leonards: Allen and
Unwin, 39-58.
Chua, Beng Huat. (1995). Communitarian ideology and democracy in Singapore.
London; New York: Routledge.
Di Stefano, Christine. (1991). Who the Heck Are We: Theoretical Turns Against
Gender. Frontier: A Journal of Woman Studies, 12 (2), 86-108.
Edwards, S. (1996). Economic Development Has Improved Lives of Asian Women, but
Cultural Traditions Can Limit Its Effects. International Family Planning Perspectives,
22 2(June), 81-82.
Goodkind, Daniel. (1995). Rising Gender Inequality in Vietnam Since Reunification.
Pacific Affairs, 68 3(Autumn), 342-395.
Leong, Laurence W. T. (2008). SC3219, Human Sexuality in Comparative Perspective,
Lecture notes for Week 6.
Leong, Laurence W. T. (2008). Decoding Sexual Policy in Singapore. In K. F. Lian and
C. K. Tong (eds.), Social policy in Post-industrial Singapore. Boston: Brill, 279-308.
Marshall, Gordon. (1997). Oxford Dictionary of Sociology. Oxford; New York: Oxford
University Press.
Ridgeway, Cecilia, and Correll, Shelley J. (2004). Unpacking the Gender System: A
Theoretical Perspective on Gender Beliefs and Social Relations. Gender and Society, 18
(4), 510-531.
Steele, Tracey. (2005). Sex, Self and Society: The Social Context of Sexuality. Belmont,
California: Thomson Wadsworth.
Thompson, Eric C. (2007). SC2220, Gender Studies, Lecture notes for Weeks 6 and 8.

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Films
Just Follow Law. A film by Jack Neo. (2007). Singapore : InnoForm Media. (VCD).
Killing Us Softy 3: Advertisings image of women. A film produced and directed by Sut
Jhally. (c2000). Northampton, Massachusetts: Media Education Foundation. (VCD).
Websites
Civil Service College. (2006, 26 March). Principles of Governance. Retrieved on 11
April, 2008, from http://www.cscollege.gov.sg/page.asp?id=61

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