I read with alarm the report in which an announcemen t was made that 'mak nyahs' (transsexuals) in Kuala Terengganu would possibly face forced attendance at a rehabilitation centre aimed at 'educating' them out of their feminine ways.

As a psychologist who has been researching such people across Asia for some eight years, I can assure you that such attempts at rehabilitation are doomed to failure.

There is strong evidence that people such as these, whom psychologists would call transgendered or transsexual, are 'hard-wired' (very possibly biologically, from before birth) to develop the feelings and behaviour we see.

Whether one regards them as simply different or as deviant, the most humane action is to accept them for who they are, and to help them to live normal lives as valued members of the wider community. When they encounter acceptance, these often successful and intelligent people can make a valuable contribution to society.

But if as now treated as undesirables, they will continue to be pushed to the margins of Malaysian society where they can make no contribution at all.

I should point out that Malaysia's record in responding to these people risks embarrassing the country worldwide. This is not an Islamic matter. Other Islamic nations treat their own 'mak nyahs' far better.

In Iran, for example, transgendered people are able to undergo sex reassignment surgery subsidised by the state, and subsequently change their legal gender status and marry. It seems it is not sufficient that Malaysia currently denies 'mak nyahs' all these rights. For now we see this unpleasant proposal to force their rehabilitation.

As a Christian, I know Islam to be a religion of warmth and compassion. There is nothing Islamic about this 'rehabilitation' proposal. I do hope that more sensible views prevail.