I never knew of the kind of life transgenders, like the Hijras in India, are facing everyday. I thought that like here in our country, they are almost, if not fully, accepted or appreciated by the society. Yet even if the Hijras, for instance, have a hard life and are not accepted by others, they have an interesting life such that they can either bless or curse, as long as they are castrated. Also, they have a family of fellow Hijras that they can turn to and call their own.

                        It’s not an easy way to become like the opposite sex, and they run a great risk of infection and death. I somehow pity them for the way others treat them, maybe because I don’t want to be sent away whenever I try to make a living.

                        I was really fascinated when I saw Nong Tum, one of the kathoeys featured in the film. She has a sad status though, noted as someone who has done wrong from the past and is supposed to be punished in this life as a transgender. Her name stuck with me, although I did try to find out more about her in the internet and found that I had the wrong spelling. Anyway, she truly is a unique individual, and her success in achieving her goal really set me into doing my best in life to reach my aspirations as well.

                        Such life stories, I believe, should be shared to the world so that the boundaries and limits set to them by the society would be lifted. I also like the comedian and teacher in the film whom I pity at first when she told that the parents of her students often oppose to having their children near her. Such attitudes are childish. People shouldn’t be judged by their status or appearance.

                        Now, whenever I meet transgenders along the way, I smile to them, remembering the story of the lives of kathoeys in Thailand and Hijras in India. They really have interesting and unique lives.