The Kuala Lumpur City Hall is considering legalising transvestites to create "healthy entertainment" in the capital, the official Bernama news agency reported today.

The city hall has agreed to the proposal in principle, said Lee Chong Meng, local chairman of the ruling Barisan Nasional for the central Bukit Bintang area of the capital.

Generate revenues

"We need to monitor and legalise their activities to create an entertainment industry," Lee told Bernama . "They have it in New York and in Bangkok.

"We can have cafes, bistros, nightclubs and transvestites' shows in designated areas. This will also generate revenue and reduce social ills like rapes, robberies and killings," he said.

He named a local street as "known for transvestites for the past 40 years", but said their "unmonitored activities" had created social problems and legalising them would be an apt solution. - AFP