This is an interesting article from NST. The views of various religions and also some transgenders were provided. What do you think about this issue?

TRANSGENDERS SPEAK OUT

Fatine Young: “Transsexuals in Malaysia have been treated like freaks or second class citizens for far too long. I hope the community becomes more accepting of transsexuals. “We just want to be what we are. Give us a chance to show that we can contribute to society too.”

Yuki Choe, 33, sales executive: “My biggest fear in the job part is not knowing what they are thinking of when they see me. People are trained to be polite, sometimes you do not know who hates you for who you are. “I hope society would be able to appreciate and accept people who are different, especially gender-wise. People should understand that gender variance is part of life, and not be limited to just strictly boy or girl. “Everyone is taught there are only boys and girls in the education system, all other variances are not acknowledged.”

Sugenya, 33, food outlet owner: “People look at us as if we are a joke. When they see a Mak Nyah, they automatically think ‘sex worker’. But actually we are not all like that. Some of us are highly educated and entrepreneurs. “There are many ‘pondans’ who are not brave enough to ’come out’ because their families beat them. But after they run away from home and with the help of hormone treatments, some families find it easier to accept. “But even then, they are only allowed to visit their family at certain times, in fear that relatives might drop by. “If the families support them by teaching and helping them find jobs, 50 per cent of them will not end up as sex workers.”

Elisha, 30, community sex worker programme manager: “You all have normal and peaceful lives, right? As humans, I want transgenders to have that same right. Don’t equate us to sex workers. “One day I hope transgenders will be able to have government jobs, especially in Parliament. “Myadvice to others out there is to not allow anyone to deny you of your basic human rights.”

Manja, 34, PT Foundation outreach worker: “It’s almost impossible to get a job in the government sector and it’s really difficult dealing with Immigration because the name on my passport does not match my physical appearance. “I believe the problems faced by transgenders is worldwide. All we want is the same rights as other women.”

WHAT THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS SAY

“From a Christian perspective, human beings are created by God, in the image of God. God created everything and He pronounced it as good. However, all of creation has gone wrong because the first human beings chose not to listen to God and since then we have a topsy-turvy world. “We who are not in their situation need to empathise with them and help find solutions rather than to judge them and say, ‘live with what you have’. That’s a simple phrase from this side of the fence, but insufficient. “We must try to understand them and help them as we have helped others in different situations, for we all suffer the consequences of our flawed common humanity. “We can’t sit in the judgment seat as if we are God. Our hearts should go out to them and work on finding a solution for their situation.” – Tan Kong Beng, Christian Federation of Malaysia executive secretary

“In Hinduism, these people are a creation of God. In our religious stories and book, there have been accounts of transsexuals who have been treated with due respect.. “Society accepted transsexuals then, especially because they were able to handle many different situations. “Today, we too have to respect every creation of God, giving them due dignity and respect.” – Dr M. Bala Tharumalingam, Malaysian Hindu Sangam deputy president

“Transsexuals are born like that and our birth is not in the hands of human beings. It’s not the choice of a person to be male, female or a transsexual. “The public should not blame him or her. It’s not like they are breaking rules and laws. They must be given respect just like you and me.” – Harcharan Singh, Malaysian Gurdwara Council president

“There is no such thing as a transsexual, people are either male or female. It is not something you can change. Even if a man wants to be a woman using surgery, it won’t work because you can’t change what God gives. “Some of these people are confused because of psychological reasons. Maybe in their family they were the only boy among nine girls, playing with their sisters and cooking. Those are some of the problems that contribute to this. “People must accept what is given, they should dress and behave accordingly so they are accepted by the public. When a man wears a girl’s dress, people will make fun of him. In Islam, it is haram. You can’t question religion.” – Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, Perak mufti

“In Buddhism, we don’t interfere with personal affairs. At the same time, we respect their privacy and get involved only if they ask for help. We look into the matter and share with them. When someone asks for help, we maintain noble silence. It’s very personal. “In our area of discipline, when someone wants to be ordained, we ask if the monks can check their background. If the person wants to be a woman, we refer to a nun. If the person has unusual behaviour, we allow them to be ordained as a novice monk.” – Kekanadure Dhammasiri, Buddhist Maha Vihara Malaysia monk and counsellor