The NGO Seed Foundation today officially launched permanent shelter for elderly transwomen, the first old folks’ home of its kind in Malaysia.

The foundation’s co-founder and project director Nisha Ayub said the Seed T-Home in Ampang will house between 10 to 12 people at a time.

“Everyone grows old, and people always concentrate on the younger (transgender people) but they forget about the elderly transgender people.

“This is a problem because I’ve been working with the trans-community since 2006, and I’ve seen this issue of trans-elderly being abandoned, homeless, on the street.

“So, it is a very important issue, but people don’t think about it,” she told Malaysiakini after the launch.

Nisha said that some elderly transgender persons do not have homes to turn to after being disowned by their families.

Most old folks’ homes are not an option for transwomen unless they live as men, she added – except for one NGO-run shelter that specifically caters for transgender individuals living with HIV.

“In this home, they don’t have to pretend (to be men). They can just be themselves. That’s why you can see a lot of positive feedback about the home,” she said.

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In addition, Nisha said the Seed T-Home will provide temporary shelter in case of an emergency, such as in cases where transwomen had been chased out of their homes by their families and have yet to find a new home.

An upgrade on their previous ‘rest-and-go’ temporary shelter, she pointed out that Seed T-Home had been up and running since August 1 last year, and has admitted over 20 people, including emergency cases.

Asked why the launch was taking place a year after the shelter's establishment, Nisha (photo) said it was because there were concerns that the launch would draw unwanted attention, and whether they could keep the shelter running.

“We thought, let’s just start by seeing how long would this project go on, and we were able to sustain it for one year.

“So, that’s why we made it a launching-slash-anniversary,” she said.

The launch today was officiated by social activist Marina Mahathir and Malaysian Aids Council president Bakhtiar Talhah.

Bakhtiar also handed Seed Foundation a RM30,000 cheque for the running of Seed T-home.

Moving forward, Nisha said Seed Foundation will set up a one-stop service centre for marginalised communities, including transgender people and the homeless.

The centre will provide them with medical services, and will collaborate with the social enterprise GoJob to provide job matching services.