Category: News and Views
MALAYSIA, KUALA LUMPUR: Their love led to a much-publicised marriage. For Jessie Chung and Joshua Beh, it is also the start of their problems. In the eyes of the law and religion, they are not yet wife and husband.
Jessie, who was born a male and had undergone a sex change operation three years ago, and Beh held their wedding reception for some 800 friends and relatives
in Kuching, Sarawak, last Saturday.
Three pastors from Bountiful Harvest, Shepherd’s Centre and Assembly of Love presided over the ceremony.
Malaysian laws do not allow its citizens to change their gender in their identity cards despite having gone through a sex operation, according to Home Affairs
Minister. Since there was no change in the gender in the IC, the marriage would be deemed illegal, Azmi said.
His deputy Datuk Tan Chai Ho told Bernama that the marriage was “invalid” as the Marriage and Divorce Reform Act 1976 does not allow marriages between two
people of the same sex, even if one of them has undergone a sex change operation.
“If they apply (for a marriage certificate), we definitely will ask for their identity cards. I guess they must have realised this and I think that is why
they did not apply for it,” he said.
On the marriage ceremony, he said the couple’s parents could have signed the customary marriage documents and not the marriage certificate.
Malaysia National Evangelical Christian Fellowship secretary-general Rev Dr KK Wong said it does not approve marriages of the same sex even after one partner
has changed his or her sex.
“It’s clearly stated in the Bible. There is no such thing as creation of half-half. Therefore, biologically and genetically, there is only male and female,”
he told Bernama.
“Therefore, there is no chance it (the marriage) will be condoned by the Christian church. As a religious group, we have to follow the religion based on
the Bible.”
Council of Churches of Malaysia secretary-general Dr Herman Shastri said that while churches do not encourage the practice of sex change, churches had their
own approach in recognising such marriages.
However, he said the church should not discriminate against a person if he or she has proof of being born with imbalance hormones; was undergoing counselling;
that his or her parents do not object to the sex change; and the operation was carried out in a proper medical institution.
In Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia, Jessie's adopted brother Brian Choot, who coordinated the wedding, said the couple was prepared to migrate if the situation did not permit them to live as husband and wife.
There shouldn't be any restrictions on people who both freely consent to marrying each other. There's a lot of hate in the world, and marriage is a signal of love. We should encourage more marriage, of all varieties because if people love each other, then there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to display their affection towards each other how ever they like.
personally, i met Jessie before. she used to lecture on my x college. out of curious, there are students ask her that why she choose to be a woman with all kinds of opinions from the cominity. her answer was, she can't except herself as a gay, there fore she choose to be a incomplete woman. no matter how, it should be a blested marage. yes, in christianity it shouldn't be something like this but what can they do? Jessie and her husband are deep in love witho one another. sorry if i hurt some of you here, but, i really want to ask, got how many of us who is willing to do such a thing for our love partner? it seems that this country cannot give grace to them, i think, they will leave here as soon as they can to somewhere where can accept them. for the information, Jessie is a specialist doctor and she is a doctored holder. it is a waste, we'll gonna lost another great person for our contry
thats disgusting! love is love wherever you find it, the church needs to move with the times.
it is the hottest news of all at here in Malaysia. no offencive anyone, i must admit that Jessie Chung is prettier than a girl except for her voice of course, it is still like a soft man voice. i met her once too, on season's x college, with her husband. i could said, they are a great couple. it is not easy at all for them to over come the point of view for all the people here in easten world. specially with such a strong bibicle easten culture.
This thing is rediculous, but then again, I expected nothing different from the idiots at the Evangelical Church. Seriously, it's time for Christians and all other religious fundamentalests from whatever whacky faith it is they follow to grow up and accept the fact that not everyone is the same as they are. Love is what love is and no bible, Tora, Koran or any other book for that matter will stop it no matter how hard it tries. And just because your God says I shouldn't do something, that doesn't mean that my God says the same. I'll close this post with one final question. How can a society be considered free, like the United States for example, if you aren't allowed to marry whoever u want?