Infrastruktur komuniti dan hubungannya dengan golongan transeksual di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam Malaysia

Most studies in the West indicate that transsexual groups are free to take advantage of community infrastructure surrounding them in order to construct and strengthen their identitiy and transsexual way of life. Transsexual phenomenon has also become more evident in Malaysia, especially among male students in the higher education institutions. The objective of this study is to examine the role of community infrastructure surrounding Malaysian higher education institutions in constructing and strengthening the identity of this group. A three year study (2006-2009) was conducted on 60 male transsexual students in two public higher education institutions, namely Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). Snowball sampling method was facilitated in choosing 30 respondents from each universities. Qualitative methods were used in the collection and interpretation of data, which include open ended questionnaire survey, in-depth and repeated interviews, face-to-face discussion and chatting via internet, diary writing and also participation observation. This study uncovers that community infrastructure surrounding the universities – such as cafe cyber, shopping complexes, pharmacies, bookstores and premises selling newspapers and magazines, beauty salons and spas, and also recreational parks – are used widely by this group in order to construct and strengthen their transgender identity. This study contributes to the understanding and knowledge on transsexual phenomenon in Malaysia which is now spreading and is showing the similiar trend with those of the West, in which a large proportion of this has been contributed by the community structure that supported their needs.