hsts in Singapore
by Gogo Yee
In Singapore and most of SE Asia where I'm from... transgirls like
myself mostly start off as gay boys first... and then later branch
away from the gay community to transition as women. It is loosely
termed as the sisterhood here because the girls here hang out together
a lot, both for guidance from older sisters and friendship. Most of us
are young transitioners, starting even as young as 12 or 13, though
the average seems to be 15-16 and later but not usually beyond mid
twenties. (The year of discharge from our army liability normally
marks the latest age range of transition).
Transition is mostly DIY because shrinks are unaffordable and or not
very well informed on gender issues. Very few shrinks deal with GID
and few of us seek psychiatric treatment when the national gender
clinic closed down. It is mostly concerned parents who bring their
children for psychiatric treatment when the signs of GID manifest
themselves, usually at the cusp of puberty. Our estrogen hormones are
obtained from older sisters who go to buy hormones in bulk in Thailand
or from thai markets which normally smuggle in hormones, most commonly
used is Diane 35, which is cheap and effective. Due to street wisdom,
overdose is common and might be the reason why the use of anti
androgens is never practised. The only available drug prescribed for
anti androgenic purposes, cyperterone acetate, is very expensive, 100
dollars for a months supply.
At 18, some may start to see a doctor for estrogen injections which
cost about 7 to 14 USD per shot. The normal dosage is about 4 to 6
shots (estradiol valerate + progesterone unijab), and some doctors are
willing to give up to 8 shots. The threshold is normally dictated by
the pain tolerance (those injections hurt like hell!), some girls are
quite hardcore on this and the prevailing street wisdom endorses more
is better. Premarin can be also purchased from the doctor, but these
are expensive as well. Many girls go over the limit with regard to
hormone dosage, but I have not heard of any ill effects which are
preached of often in the West.
Unfortunately, transgirls are looked down upon and are seen as an
aversion to social norms. The main reason is that the general publicœôòùs
view is that transgirls are simply gay men who dress up to sleep with
straight men, hence the initial homophobic umbrella shrouds transgirls
as well. Ejection from the family unit at a young age is highly common
and this is probably the main determining factor for the dive into
prostitution and this social hireachy stagnates the girls into the
profession permanently, due to the lack of education (when kicked out
early from home) Substance abuse is common with transgirls back home,
mostly due to job stress and peer influence. The media uses the term
transvestite rather than transsexual, but transvestites in the true
sense of the word are hardly seen in public. This is a vicious cycle
and I lament this situation a lot.
The oldest son who transitions is also seen to be a loss, because male
children are valued over females, because they are given the
responsibility to carry on the family line and surname.
We are seen as prostitutes, gay men who dress up as women who crave
for sex with men and earn money at the same time. Ironical thing is
that many guys who flame or verbally abuse TS girls here seek their
services in the dead of the night. The reason is that most transgirls
back home look more stunning than the average GG, especially with
regard to height. Many also obtain plastic surgery from Thailand or
Malaysia to enhance their looks, but unfortunately some succumb to bad
jobs due to cheap, irresponsible surgeons. It is sad that the shelf
life of work normally doesn't exceed 20 years, and most transgirls are
delegated to stereotypical jobs in hairdressing, fashion and
beauty. Some lucky ones manage to finish school and some might find a
rich accepting foreigner to marry them (usually men from Sweden and
Holland I have heard of). SRS is obtained normally if the girl can
find alternatives to prostitution. Some never get it done due to the
reliance on the relatively higher money from prostitution but many of
us desire straight men and want to be seen as women.
I believe there are minorities among Singapore transsexuals who are
late transitioners though I haven't seen one myself. Its just that the
social stigma and financial burden here for late transitioners is
probably too great that most of them just abandon any thoughts on
transition. Family is held in high regard here and abandonment of the
family to transition is viewed on very abhorrently. Divorce is already
greatly frowned upon here. Moreover, the impression here in Singapore
is that TS = gay or TS is subset of gay. Most of these older men who
dress up mainly identify as crossdressers or transvestites.
I do not know any lesbian or older transitioners in real life in
Singapore but they do exist, but rarely are given the go ahead to
transtion.
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