Thesun 2009-10-29 Page12 The Stigma Of Public Housing

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theSun

| THURSDAY OCTOBER 29 2009

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

The stigma of public housing

Many are in such deplorable condition that they require massive physical overhauls – from paint jobs, to pipe and tile replacements, to complete wiring changes. It is precisely due to such blatant neglect and a shoddy maintenance culture that there has been a stigma associated with public housing in Malaysia. And in an effort to remove this stigma, the state government has been mullSOMETIME in the late 1960s, ing how to upgrade public Penang embarked on an ambitious housing to have heightened security scheme to provide housing for and amenities – to be on par with low-income people. The idea was more expensive projects. to pack as many homes as possible The origins of these housing woes in cost-effective high-rise buildings, can be traced back to a phenomenon within limited land spaces. that swept across Europe decades Two of the most famous of ago. In a bid to overcome the houssuch buildings were the Kampung ing crisis that emerged from the Melayu and Rifle Range flats, both ruins of World War II, governments in Ayer Itam. The projects inspired TheNutmeg in European countries began buildmany other subsequent buildings, ing apartments on a massive scale to such as the huge Bagan Dalam flats Verses provide homes as fast and as cheaply project in Butterworth. by Himanshu Bhatt as possible. Today, similar projects Forty years on, these estates have are eye-sores not just in Penang, but become epitomes of urban squalor. across the country, with most survivLifts often don’t work, garbage chutes are ing in dismal, almost ghetto-like, conditions. filthy, drains are clogged, pipes are rotting and The Penang government had announced litter is strewn all over the place. The designs in May that it would set up a board to oversee of the buildings seem to have catered more for and resolve problems faced by low-cost housvolume than for healthy living conditions. ing. What it wants to do is look at models used Natural lighting and air circulation within in Singapore, Hongkong and some developed public passageways are often poor, and there western countries, where public housing does are few recreational facilities and sites planned not come with negative connotations. for such places. Take the Kampung Melayu Indeed, by and large, low-cost housing in flats for example. With 966 units packed in Malaysia is seen as being characterised by two huge 16-storey blocks, most homes are so congestion, crime and, as Chief Minister Lim 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 masNow, 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 needmasterplan 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 feat. There are 42 such estates all over Penang. been afflicted by lack of cleanliness and poor

Lim (centre) and state executive councillor for housing Wong Hon Wai (right) visiting the Kampung Melayu flats which are in a state of disrepair.

maintenance, partly due to the lackadaisical approach to hygiene and safety by some residents. So it is also important to boost morale, cultivate a renewed feeling of ownership, to help improve the upkeep of features like lifts and rubbish disposal. And certainly, the estates could do with far less gratuitous graffiti. Interestingly, it also seems that the intended Penang housing board is also meant to eradicate corruption, red tape and over-regulation in the housing sector. The state insists that it wants to tackle any lack of competent and professional development practices in the industry. It would also come up with ways to curb excessive profits made by developers. Lim once warned developers not to make “excessive or obscene money” from their projects, especially those involving low-cost housing. “While we wish to be your friend, make sure you are also a friend to the people of Penang,” he once said. “Make your profit, but give something back.” That’s sound advice. Ideally, low-cost housing should not be compromised in quality, and needs to have the same level of amenities as more expensive houses and condominiums. For the state is afflicted by lack of funds. Would it not be interesting if a major developer – and there

are a few of them – were to come forward and “adopt” a public housing estate, helping the community to revitalise its living environment? If there is commitment, it can be done. It has worked in Singapore, where public housing under the purview of the Housing Development Board is characterised by a high degree of cleanliness, community programmes, regular planting and pruning of trees, and meticulous infrastructure. Some may say there is little point in discussing what went wrong, to generate the stigma against public housing in Malaysia. What is certain is that the authorities have their work cut out for them – in overhauling not just the physical legacy of shoddiness inherited from years ago, but also in rejuvenating a collective morale, a community living spirit, so vital in such dense human environments. Himanshu is theSun’s Penang bureau chief. Comments: [email protected]

Nouveau psychos on the loose was supported with a module of I SAW Psycho when I was a 107-point questionnaire to identify teenager. This was long before I psychos. With such identification could understand English or the module these smooth-talkingcinematic grammar. Obviously, I had Economist-reading-wine-drinking no clue what Psycho was about or psychos could be exposed before who that awful obese-looking bloke they did more damage to society. surrounded by beautiful women “Snakes in suit” describes well was. the many yuppies and stockbroLater in life I found out he was kers in London and Wall Street. I Alfred Hitchcock – a character could cite some “snakes in suits” much maligned by feminists as a that recently have been exposed misogynist. I had a hard time lookRais Whine internationally. Names that could ing for the meaning of “misogynist”. by Hishamuddin Rais shed tears to some and laughter When I found out, I was taken to rest of the world. Names like Raj aback as to why this obese man 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. Reading and researching into these new thoroughly inspect the cupboards and all the findings scared the hell out of me. What about holes, if any, in my room. I would freak out if I those people in power – from Stalin, Mao to found out the hotelier was a taxidermist. Psycho contemporary politicians. Would politicians went deep into my brain. 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-burnBut recent scientific study has shown othering 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 considof 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 psy100 people in the US is now defined as a psycho 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 porknocking 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 Lecter. Yet, subconsciously, I’m contemplating give a damn about anyone could fit Hare’s seriously moving to the Mediterranean if I can psycho profile. Their only concern is food. They find an abandoned villa to squat in. see the world as one large watering hole. Their resources are sex, power and money. This serious peer-reviewed academic paper Comments: [email protected]