KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — Popular entrepreneur Nur Sajat Kamaruzzaman is fed up with the public preoccupation over her gender.
In a Facebook post yesterday, the cosmetics queen who also owns her own gold shop chain penned her exasperation on the issue which is being investigated by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim).
“This gender issue..is like the country’s biggest issue,” she posted in Malay.
She said there were many other issues that were worthy of discussion, listing as examples matters regarding Malaysia’s currency and how to generate money in the current economic climate.
“But should nur sajat’s issues become THE CONVERSATION OF THE COUNTRY’S PROBLEMS!!! Think about it lah!!!” she vented, referring to herself in the third person.
She added that her own story was “boring” and that all anyone needed to know is that “nur sajat is cun” — using the Malay word that runs the gamut from “cute” to “attractive”.
Public speculation over Nur Sajat’s gender remains a hot topic after a controversial blogger accused her of being a trans woman and made a complaint to the government about it.
Malaysia’s Islamic laws prohibit same-sex relationships and cross-dressing.
A senior assistant director in Jakim’s family, social and community development division Mohd Izwan Md Yusoh last week said investigations into Nur Sajat’s gender are expected to take at least a month.
Izwan was responsible for a controversial Jakim video on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community last year, where it likened sexual orientation to horse-riding, claiming that when someone realises that he has “different” orientation from others and wishes to change that orientation, he should receive extensive training and guidance.
