A Malaysian transgender woman recently shared her experience of renewing and replacing her identification documentation at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in Komtar, Penang.
Taking to her Facebook page, Regina Ibrahim, who is an author, explained the unease transgender people experience when faced with errands in regards to their identification documentation.
She wrote, “There is no transgender person who won’t get anxious when dealing with identification documents. Transgender people everywhere, except in Singapore and Indonesia (those who have undergone sex reassignment surgery), know this feeling very well.”
Regina had initially gone to UTC Komtar to renew her expired passport, but when asked to provide her Identification Card (IC), the Immigration Department officer informed her that her IC was damaged and she would need to provide them with a replacement to renew her passport.
Regina proceeded to the JPN branch in the same building to get a new IC
While at the National Registration Department (JPN), Regina was told that a new IC would take 2 to 3 weeks to issue, but she could get a temporary IC to renew her passport.
This image is for illustration purposes only.
While she experienced some problems with her fingerprint and some anxiety over her makeup and earrings having to be removed for her IC picture, she explained that Yazid, the JPN officer who had assisted her, was very efficient and understanding.
Soon after, everything was settled, her new IC was being processed, and she was given a temporary printout for her errands. At this time, Yazid had caught sight of Regina’s old IC in JPN’s system when processing her printout.
She was fearful that she would be judged, but that judgement never came.
“He was amazed for a moment, that he saw the changes not only in my face but also in the direction of my personal life. Before leaving, I shook his hand and said, ‘Yazid, thank you so much, you’ve been a great help‘,” she explained.
Regina then returned to the Immigration Department and processed her passport renewal without a hitch.
Appreciation for not being judged
Regina feels grateful that she didn’t experience any form of judgement during the entire process.
“The officers at the counter really understand gender identity (because there were no surprised or cynical faces when involving a transgender woman). This 2-way understanding is very complicating to explain,”
“Gender identity is a rather sensitive matter, of course, in all official segments of humanity. However, the process went smoothly and did not cause any problems (they may have met thousands of transgender people in their daily duties). Each of us just wants to earn a living and breathe,” she added.
