A gay Muslim tells his story (28th January, 2009)

Our guest on Orange Ribbon this week is Shah, who was born and raised in Negeri Sembilan in southern Malaysia, as a member of a typical middle-class Muslim family. His father was a school headmaster and his mother was involved in womens politics.

Shah realised by his teenage years that he had feminine traits, and experienced a very difficult time as a result during his first three years of his secondary education at a boarding school, having to deal with criticism and derogatory comments from his peers. His early teenage years were a very unhappy time, resulting in him being moved to another school in order for him to complete his secondary education.

He later studied civil engineering, and then began working in that field, but very quickly realised it was "too butch" a career for him. He will tell us of his decision to change careers, and take out yet another degree, which was the trigger for his move to Melbourne where he completed a computer science degree, and gained some freedom.

But the family pressure was always there into his late 20's regarding an obvious lack of a girlfriend and prospective wife. He will tell us how his Mum offered to help locate a suitable girl, which resulted in a rather interesting scenario. But after another two years he finally decided to "come out" to his family. After the initial tears, his mother decided he needed to be "cured". So she called in a traditional healer, who offered a rather intriguing solution and "cure" for his gayness, which (surprise, surprise...!) did not convert Shah back into a good little straight boy again.

And there is so much more to this story, which Shah will tell us about this coming Wednesday evening (28th January).

Please join Allan at 7:00pm this Wednesday night to hear Shah's story... on this weeks edition of Orange Ribbon.

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And finally...

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To our Chinese friends both here in Australia, and around the world, we wish you all a great and prosperous Year of the Ox.

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So to our Cantonese speakers, Kung Hei Fat Choi.

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Or for our Mandarin speakers...Gong Xi Fa Cai.