The straits times special feature - transsexuals

I was quite surprised at today's The Straits Times' special feature on transsexuals.

The GLBT (stands for Gays, Lesbian, Bisexuals, Transgender) society has traditionally not been put in a good light by the local media. Sometimes I'll read a few comments or articles which are positive (which I deem that the media finds it necessary to maintain a balance) but largely, it's still mostly unbalanced.

The special feature in the papers talks briefly about why transsexuals want to go for the sex change op, the problems transsexuals face in our society and there are also a few interviews with some transsexuals. Most importantly, the article brings home the issue that transsexuals have always existed in our society, whether we like it or not, and that we should not discriminate them.

I do hope that the report will open the eyes of many people in the society who do not know much about transsexuals and simply assume that they have a problem. Although our society is termed as one of the more advanced societies in terms of tech and economic development, some areas are still lacking in progress. Because of the various laws and checks and unseen boundaries, there is still a degree of homophobia in our society today.

I think that transsexuals would face more problems more than gays, les and bis. The op will change their lives forever as it's not reversible. Doing the op means out-ting to everyone what they are feeling and threaten them from being thrown out by families and severing of ties with friends who do not understand them. Not like gays, les and bis who can choose to be closetted and to lead a second live at night. Also, there's the high cost of the operation and how society looks at them.

In fact, even gays, les and bis may not understand how a trans feels, what more about straight people... I myself have known more about trans through the report. Kudos to The Straits Times for it.

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My home has been very slow in upgrading our cable to digital.

Now when everyone is going for HubStation, we only start to upgrade from analogue to digital. I was a bit embarrassed in the Starhub shop when other customers brought their digital set-up box to exchange for the HubStation, while I brought my old black analogue box to exchange for the digital set-up box.

One reason for delaying our upgrade is that my fanily members are already accustomed to using the old box. The digital one can prove to be a bit hard for them to use, and indeed, it's abit complicated...

Now, still in the stage of switching channels. And determining if the box is on or off.