What's an "Ah Kua"?
Leona Lo
http://leonalo.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/whats-an-ah-kua/ (http://leonalo.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/whats-an-ah-kua/)
Ah Kua is local Chinese dialect (pejorative) for effeminate man. Gay men and transgender women all suffer from the "ah kua" label in Singapore.
The Ah Kua Show draws its inspiration from the infamous "ladyboy" cabaret shows in Bangkok and Pattaya. When I was a child, my parents used to travel to Bangkok on vacation to watch the "Ah Kua" shows there amongst other excursions. I was fascinated by the beautiful women, their extravagant feather boas and fancy footwork. But my mum warned me that they were really "men dressed up as women". She also warned me against sitting on the toilet seats which were likely stained with the HIV/AIDS virus.
Back then and until today, Singaporeans would flock to these shows with an equal measure of attraction and repulsion. The reputation of Thailand as the capital of "ladyboys" and sex change operations is due in no small part to these shows. Unfortunately, the shows have also helped seal the reputation of Asian transgender women as "ladyboy showgirls".