Mak nyah
Mak Nyah (), alternatively spelled maknyah, is a Malay vernacular term for trans women in Malaysia. It arose in the late 1980s in order to distinguish trans women from other minorities. The name is preferred by Malaysian trans women as opposed to various derogatory terms (namely, pondan and bapok), which were previously used by Sarawakians when referring to transsexuals and cross-dressers. These are also considered slurs, which are variously directed to gay men as well as transgender individuals. Though less used, the term pak nyah is sometimes used for trans men, and the hybrid term mak-pak nyah for all transgender individuals. Origins and definition of the term Mak nyah is formed from the word mak, meaning 'mother', and nyah, meaning 'transition' (literally, 'to run from'). Khartini Slamah describes how the term arose in the transgender community: "[F]irst, [as] a desire to differentiate ourselves from gay men, transvestites, cross-dressers, drag queens, and other 'sexual minorities' with whom all those who are not heterosexual are automatically lumped, and second, because we also wanted to define ourselves from a vantage point of dignity rather than from the position of derogation in which Malaysian society had located us Slamah then goes on to explain