The pair met in 2001 at a health talk, when Chung was still a man. He then joined a church she attended.

Their nuptials made nationwide headlines, not just because the Malaysian government does not legally recognise it, but also because of Mr Beh's dramatic soap-opera-style proposal.

According to Malaysian newspapers, in order to win Chung's hand, he took a knife and slit his upper right arm twice, and used the blood to write her a love note.

In November last year, during Chung's press conference in Taipei, he stole the limelight once more, surprising all when he walked on stage dressed as Santa Claus.

With a chuckle, Chung denied that she and Mr Beh were carving out a reputation for themselves as "drama king and queen".

"Joshua's actually an extremely low-key person in real life, he prefers doing little romantic things, like writing love letters to me on my birthdays," she said.

"He went to extremes to propose to me simply because I had rejected him umpteen times; he was at wits' end and finally decided he had no choice but to use the last resort.

"As for the Santa Claus appearance, it wasn't his idea, but my manager's. Joshua wanted to give me a present and my manager conveniently suggested he hand it to me on stage."

Malaysia does not legally recognise a change of sex and does not allow same-sex marriages.

In August 2011, when Malaysian pastor Ou Yang Wen Feng said he was planning to wed his US partner in New York, the country's religious affairs minister Jamil Khir Baharom called it an "extreme" expression of freedom which could lead to "worse social symptoms".

"In our civil law, same-sex marriage is not allowed. In the laws of our country, a male must marry a female," Mr Jamil, told Malaysian news agency Bernama.

And having a sex change operation does not help.

The particulars listed on a Malaysian identity card are based on information stated on a person's birth certificate.

The gender listed on the document cannot be changed even if the person undergoes a sex change.