Meet Malaysia's LGBTQ punk rockers

Lockdown threatens social progress, especially for trans performers

Transgender rocker Shika Corona, center, strikes a pose with her bandmates Yon, left, and Gemma in the Malaysian garage punk unit TingTongKetz. (Courtesy of TingTongKetz)

MARCO FERRARESE, Contributing writer

July 8, 2020 08:00 JST

KUALA LUMPUR -- Singing and playing guitar with her garage punk band TingTongKetz, trans musician Shika Corona is a striking mak nyah -- Malay slang for a trans woman. Tall and charismatic, she and her two LGBTQ colleagues have carved out a niche following in Kuala Lumpur's lively underground music scene. But they remain persecuted outsiders in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where cross-dressing and same-sex acts are illegal, and persecution of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer community is growing.