theSun | TUESDAY DECEMBER 2 2008 11

speak up!

Put CAT
assembly has begun
an inquiry. This is
inappropriate. While
there is no doubt that
the assemblymen are
qualified and sincere,
their time and energy
pose no threat to the
World Heritage site
inscription because the
guidelines have been
complied with. The
controversies could be
the result of selective

into action
THERE is still much
confusion about the
four high-rise projects
and the failed tennis
tournament in George
Town. The main reason
is that the people making
the news were not
directly involved while
those who were, the
officials of the Penang
Island Municipal
Council (MPPP), have
chosen to remain silent.
Making things
worse, most of the press
statements were geared
towards scoring political
points rather than
providing clarifications.
The interests of the
ratepayers have been
largely ignored. Unless
the people responsible
are identified and the
reasons for their actions
explained, similar fiascos
will happen again.
Fortunately, Penang
Chief Minister Lim
Guan Eng has adopted
CAT – competency,
accountability and
transparency – as the
guiding principle of
his administration. As
competency was suspect
leading to the tennis
fiasco and the heritage
controversies, the people
involved must be held to
account for their actions.
Equally important, the
truth must be told.
In the case of the
failed tennis tournament,
there is a need to explain
LocalCounsel
by Goh Ban Lee
why Padang Kota was
allowed to be dug up
without an agreement
with the tournament
organiser. Why was the
RM2 million deposit
waived? Was the
MPPP officer in charge
ignorant of his duty?
Was he negligent?
Was he overruled? If
there was interference
from state officials,
the persons should be
identified and the exact
nature of interference
should be made public.
As a rule, state
executive councillors
have no direct
jurisdiction over the
day-to-day working
of MPPP. Requests
from them should be
treated as appeals by
ratepayers and can be
dismissed. Directives
should be considered as
interference and must be
reported to the Anti-
Corruption Agency.
The Public Accounts
Committee of the state
should be on the affairs
of the state government.
The tennis fiasco is
a local council matter
and MPPP is not a
department of the state
government. If there
is a need for an official
inquiry, it should
be conducted by the
councillors.
In the case of the
four high-rise projects
that might cause
problems to the World
Heritage inscription,
the approving authority
was also the MPPP,
specifically the Town
Planning and Building
Committee until April
2007 and since then
the One Stop Centre
Committee. Besides
the MPPP president
sitting as chairman of
the committees, the
councillors and officers
also played a role.
In the approval of the
projects, the committee
should have been
informed of relevant
building and planning
guidelines. Did the
officer responsible
point out the heritage
guidelines? Indeed,
was he or she aware
of the details in the
documents submitted
to Unesco for World
Heritage site inscription?
Did the committee
ignore the guidelines?
Was there interference
from higher-ups? The
names and actions of all
involved should be made
public.
It is possible that
when all explanations
are given, the four
projects are found to
reporting made worse by
politicians indulging in
the blame-game.
Even if there are
projects contravening
the guidelines, the
solution is level-headed
negotiations among the
interested parties and
certainly not through
accusations in the
newspapers.
The controversies
can have some positive
results if all those
responsible are held
accountable. It will
instil the importance
of good governance,
especially the elements
of competency,
accountability,
transparency and
compliance with rules.
But this also demands
that the local council
officers do not succumb
to interference from state
or federal leaders.
The recent revelation
by former state
executive councillor
in charge of local
government Datuk Dr
Teng Hock Nan that the
controversial Seberang
Perai Municipal
Council building in
Bandar Perda was the
decision of Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim when
he was the deputy
prime minister is mind
boggling! If true, what
is the point of having a
three-tier government?
Dr Goh Ban Lee is
a retired academic
interested in urban
governance, housing
and urban planning.
Comments: feedback@
thesundaily.com.

Queerying heterosexuality
by Ng Tze Yeng
THE recent ruling against women who
have “the appearance and mannerisms
similar to men” to prevent lesbianism
sends out a message that women
should be punished for how we dress,
for how we identify with our gender, for
whom we love and for how we control
our bodies.
It assumes that one has “feminine”
traits because one is born female, and
femininity involves being attracted
to “masculinity”. This assumes that a
way to prevent women from being in
a relationship with other women is to
eradicate “masculine” women. This is
flawed. I have short hair, dress in shirts
and pants, but won’t describe myself
as feminine yet I am in a heterosexual
relationship. I know of women who wear
dresses and exude a gentle demeanour
yet share their lives with a partner of
the same sex, with the same manner-
isms. I also know of “masculine” looking
women who are happy couples.
But society tells us that these varia-
tions of living are “wrong”, offering only
a binary model where being biologically
female equates to adopting a “feminine”
gender role; and being biologically male
means playing a “masculine” role. This
rigid understanding organises society in
the “masculine-he” plus “feminine-she”
equals happy heterosexual couple and
later, heterosexual family model.
This heterosexual norm works to
uphold patriarchy through its assump-
tions that the role of a woman is to be
heterosexual, submissive in marriage,
with sex as something done who are ostracised. It is
out of duty to her husband. women and men of dif-
This is evident in the refusal ferent faiths and ethnic-
to legally acknowledge mari- ity. Laws like 377 of the
tal rape; the idea that women Penal Code criminalise
follow the male leaders in homosexuality and the
family life and in society; and Minor Offences Act is
women’s “ingrained” duty to used against cross-dress-
be mothers – among others. ers. Last year, the Higher
Pressures and disap- Education Ministry stated
proval greet women who it would not recruit effemi-
fall out of this heterosexual
norm. Women who decide
Freespace nate men as teachers.
Perhaps the real reason
to have sex before marriage Where young views rule for suppressing what isn’t
have no access to the state’s normal ... is not just about
contraceptive services. Single mothers women wanting to behave like men, or
are often disparaged in Parliament and men behaving like women, or a person
policies, from being ridiculed as gatal who doesn’t want be either. It is about
women to proposals by the Malacca us having to question the assumptions
government offering men RM1,000 to of heterosexual norms that we live with
marry single mothers as second wives. and perpetuate, and the fear that comes
The further a woman moves away with the disruption of this patriarchal
from the heterosexual ideal, the more order. It is wrong to let our fear deny
she is punished through society’s hos- the rights of people. Defying norms
tility and state laws. Sex workers are has always been the cornerstone of
demonised and punished by the lack of progress: Galileo proved the sun was at
laws and policies to address the very the centre of the solar system; the suf-
exploitative and abusive systems they fragists claimed the right for women to
work in, with our lawmakers unwilling to vote; the Malayan left realised it wasn’t
move beyond the prohibition discourse. normal to be ruled by white people and
As for lesbians, the very idea that a called for self-rule, and the list goes on.
woman would choose another woman History has shown that what is nor-
over a man threatens this patriarchal mal is always changing. Isn’t it time we
order so much that lesbians are denied queried if this hetero-normal world we
their existence. Lesbians being vis- live in, isn’t queer?
ible through the assumption of being
“masculine” women, are outrightly Tze Yeng would like to thank Alina
prohibited. Rastam and Julian Hopkins for their
It is not just Muslim women who invaluable input in writing this piece.
transgress these heterosexual norms Comment: letters@thesundaily.com.