For years, known Singaporean transsexual and author Leona Lo has decried the use of terms like 'bapok' and 'ladyboy'. So why is her new one-woman play titled the Ah Kua Show?

The 34-year-old was candid about it: to push ticket sales. She told The New Paper: 'I'm using it to grab attention and sell tickets, and I'm fine with that.

'People don't want to watch Leona Lo. Who cares about me? They want to watch an Ah Kua show.'

Leona will be staging the show - her first - at The Substation's Guinness Theatre from 6 to 8 Aug.

The 1 1/2-hour show is a stage adaptation of her autobiography, From Leonard To Leona: A Singapore Transsexual's Journey To Womanhood (2007), which details her days as a boy in Catholic High School and Hwa Chong Junior College, and national service.

Miss Lo will play herself, with voiceovers and video presentations. Like ladyboy shows in Thailand, it will have outrageous costumes and song-and-dance items.

So, why is Miss Lo, who has written books asking to be accepted as an ordinary member of society, now playing up the transsexual stereotype?

Netizens have already posted concerns that calling it an 'Ah Kua show' will 'stereotype and perpetuate that negative perception'.

Miss Lo agrees that it may seem so.

But she claims the show is about making 'people sit up and question' why society still uses these labels.

'It's to create a discussion point. I felt that if it was any other title, it would be a blind spot - no one would notice it. It's time that we tell our own story,' she said.

So what stories will she be sharing?

One is about an incident last year in which she claims she was 'kicked out' of a Clarke Quay nightspot.

According to Miss Lo, the bouncer said 'ladyboys' were not welcome after someone complained about her presence.

It's not a freak show

Although the show is yet to be rated by the Media Development Authority, she doesn't foresee problems since 'we don't touch on religion or politics'.

Neither is she worried that audience members will take offence. She expects the audience to be a mix of a curious public and members of the transgender and homosexual communities, so there will be 'something for everyone'.

But she added: 'If they expect a freak show, they're not getting the meaning behind it.'

Miss Lo, who was born Leonard Lo, underwent a sex reassignment surgery in Thailand in 1997.

She is Singapore's first transsexual to publicly talk about her experiences. In her book and her past interviews, she has recounted how as a young man her feminine behaviour was ridiculed by classmates.

She has also claimed that an army sergeant once threatened to rape her.

Besides From Leonard To Leona, she also wrote My Sisters, Their Stories (2003), which profiles 10 transsexuals from Singapore and Thailand.

Miss Lo has been trying to raise awareness of transsexualism and gender transitioning in the work place for six years. But she feels little has changed.

Although transsexuals may not be criticised as openly as before, employers still practise 'discreet discrimination' when hiring, she said.

Miss Lo, who used to work for the Health Promotion Board (HPB), pointed out that government bodies are probably the biggest employers of the community.

She holds a master's degree in qualitative research methods from UK's University of York.

Although this play is her first, the outspoken young woman is not new to performing on stage.

The English and literature graduate earned the York Trust Settlement prize when she depicted transsexual angst in a monologue during her final year in college.

On top of preparing for her show and giving motivational talks, Miss Lo also owns a public relations consultancy firm called Talk Sense which she started in 2005.

Ex-employer HPB has been one of her clients.

The Ah Kua Show will be her first foray into singing publicly, and she admits she is nervous.

But facing new challenges is something Miss Lo is familiar with.

She had to face her parents' despair when they learnt their only son (Miss Lo has a younger sister) had undergone a sex change.

But over the years, relations have mended.

Indeed, it was her father who delivered her costumes for the photoshoot after she left home in a hurry.

During the interview, her concerned mother SMSed to ask if she had received the costumes.

She gives them a monthly allowance, takes them out for dinners and does 'those normal things for them' because she said she sometimes still 'feels bad for imposing (her sex change) on them'.

She said: 'Doesn't every parent want their kid to go where he was meant to? I was a son whom they had boasted about for so long.'

Miss Lo said her play will not be about 'parent-bashing', but it will deal with the parents' perspective through a series of voiceovers.

Love and Mr Right

And although she has discovered a renewed bond with her parents, she is still looking for Mr Right.

Miss Lo said she has dated 'high networth individuals who are mostly millionaires', none of whom were local.

But it was her last relationship that changed her the most.

She had met the 30-something Australian man last December while on holiday Down Under.

They dated for just over a month before Miss Lo decided to reveal her secret to him.

Miss Lo said she used to be upfront with her boyfriends right from the start, but had decided to conceal it this time.

'For once, this resembled something normal and I didn't want to lose that and him. He already had an inkling that I was hiding something. He actually thought I had been a prostitute in the past,' she said.

Miss Lo said that when she finally spilt the beans, 'he couldn't accept it'.

'He said that I had betrayed his trust and could never gain it back.

'People may say it's stupid but I'd hoped for a fairytale ending where he'd accept me for who I am.'

Miss Lo said the break-up left her feeling 'vulnerable'.

Despite the heartache, Miss Lo is grateful that she went through it because it has changed her outlook on life.

She said: 'The rich men that I've dated have wined and dined me at fancy restaurants. But with this guy, I didn't have to dress up and impress him, and I liked that. If I can't love like that again, then I won't anymore.

Miss Lo still hopes to have a family with someone special and raise 'three boys'.

And even if she doesn't end up with anyone, she said: 'I'll like to think that I've channelled my experiences, good and bad, into building a constructive purpose.'

WHAT: Ah Kua Show

WHEN: 8pm, 6-8Aug

WHERE: Guinness Theatre, The Substation

TICKETS: Refer to www.ahkuashow.wordpress.com for details

This article was first published in The New Paper.