The KL Word

Since the unofficial fatwa on so-called pengkids there has been a whole spate of knee jerk responses from various people and institutions trying to define, represent and pin point the actual meaning of what a pengkid is, both from the Left and the Right. From the fatwa protest outside KLCC to the fashion show Tomboys and Angels at the Annexe to Katagender’s tomboy photo project and of course the film, Article 8, which was a response to the prevailing human rights issue and touched on the fatwa, activists and concerned citizens in and outside the LGBTIQ community have campaigned on this issue. One of the criticisms that arose from all of this was the question of ‘representation’. Who were these groups representing? And should a protest/campaign be delivered without consulting the ‘pengkid community’? Does having a campaign without pengkid’s present de-value the protest and is it in fact a problem if the ‘pengkid community’ was not asked what they believed before acting on their behalf?

For me, the fatwa was an affront to all women, gay or straight. It was of course just another way of controlling women by dictating to them what they can and cannot wear, bottom-line. The use of the term ‘pengkid’ seems to just have been a convenient term used both by media and the fatwa council to generalise the people it was targeting and using a colloquial term at that, which neither the fatwa council or majority of society truly understand. The fatwa council should probably have just said – ‘women’. That’s what they really meant. Some gender-based groups who make up most of the opposition have tried to tackle this question, particularly Katagender with their online photo project.

Now Malaysiakini want to make a documentary about pengkids to finally get their opinions to, I suppose, show the ‘other side’, and to give voice to the community which is being targeted. A very noble thing when most media don’t bother to portray a balanced view. But my question is – what or who are pengkids?? Is there such a thing as a community that identifies itself as ‘pengkid’ and if so what are the defining traits? Who will Malaysiakini actually interview to get the ‘real’ story?

I did a quick Google search on ‘pengkid’ and found a few entries like the Wikipedia entry. This was particularly interesting –

1) “Pengkid is girl who trying too hard to act, talk, and dress like a guy.”
Source:
http://wongahbeng.blogspot.com/search

3) “tomboy is:
-those girls that wearing boys outfit but they still have feeling to boys.. means it’s only their “looks” not their feeling.. and they still attracted to boys.. means they are normal =)
lesbian is:
-those girls that wearing girls outfit, looks girly [same like the normal girls] but they only attracted to girls..
pengkid is :
-those girls that think they are boy, they wearing outfit same like boys[some of them wearing "bengkung" just to cover their breast so looks like a real MAN],and they attracted to GIRLS ONLY
gay pengkid is:
-those girls that wearing boys outfit and their COUPLE also are same like them.. both of them pretend as a boy”
source http://209.85.135.104/search

As you can see there is no clear definition. And in fact these definitions sound like possible explanations of the term ‘lesbian’. I don’t know who wrote the above but it does represent the various views I have heard from people about who pengkids are. Are pengkids necessarily lesbians? Are they butch lesbians? Are they only Malay? Defining the term ‘lesbian’ has itself become increasingly hard to define as we can all see. So, who will Malaysiakini interview and profile and what would be their angle?

It is cool that some media are now sitting up and taking note of LGBTIQ issues and on a level, want to give an alternative voice, but I think we need to be careful of using colloquial terms and repeating terms without first anylsing their meaning. Because as soon as terms and words are published and used in popular media it very often becomes popular understanding and therefore, truth. I hope that a documentary about pengkids will explore the term which would make for very enlightening viewing.

And if you identify as a pengkid, please get in touch. I can put you in contact with Malaysiakini if you want to be on tv.

Post Script – In reference to the post above, I just wanted to add that I hope that if you are concerned about this issue and it affects you directly, that you do volunteer yourself as a subject. A film featuring everyday people in the community talking about their lives would be very empowering and a real show of solidarity. One of the criticisms about Article 8 was that it lacked more profiles and that’s because people are afraid to come out and be seen. How can we even begin to criticise society/media (as I often do:) ) when we are ourselves are not brave enough to tell our story?