Some of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's female colleagues believe that his "racist grandmother" jibe at opposition leader Jahara Hamid was "inappropriate", but stopped short of criticising him.

Berapit assemblyperson Lydia Ong Kok Fooi said although Lim was right in ticking off Jahara for racist remarks, he should have used the word "politician" to described the latter and not "grandmother".

"We are always angry when some MPs in Parliament behave in a sexist manner towards our colleagues... We hope our elected representatives do not become like them.

NONE"I prefer gentleman politicians who can raise issues in a more professional way," she told reporters today.

However, Ong defended Lim's allegation that Jahara (right) was "racist" for implying that the local councils practiced double standards and selective enforcement against hawkers based on race during the state legislatively assembly sitting yesterday.

Following this, Lim's retort saw him calling the Telok Ayer Tawar assemblyperson an "unreasonable and racist grandmother".

Earlier today, Lim apologised for the faux pas but insisted that he was right in calling her a "racist".

'To err is human'

Meanwhile, state exco member Chong Eng described the remark as "inappropriate", but said she was happy that Lim had made the necessary retraction.

"We hope that every gentleman will be careful when using words with gender connotations," said Chong Eng, who is Padang Lallang assemblyperson.

penang third bridge project signing 061013 lim guan engAsked how Lim, who is serving a second term as chief minister, could have made such a slip, Chong replied: "To err is human. After all, we are only human".

Chong pointed out that Lim (left) is normally gender sensitive, citing an example in his announcement today that there will be equal cash prize for men and women participants of the Penang Bridge International Marathon next November.

On gender sensitivity training for Penang state assemblypersons, Lydia replied that such workshops have been organised for government officers but not state exco members or lawmakers.

"Only state exco for local government and traffic management Chow Kon Yeow had attended the training as it is part of the Gender Responsive Budget project handled by the Penang Women Development Council within the local councils," said Lydia.

PWDC is a state-organised women's council which was set up by Lim's administration during Lydia's term as a state exco member.

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