Evan was 16 and doing well in school when he decided that he wanted to die. Years of enduring slurs such as “pondan” and “bapok” (derogatory terms in Malay for transvestite) and his effeminate ways had left Evan (not his real name) despondent and he finally cracked. In March 2004, he told a friend it was his “last day” and walked out of his school in Choa Chu Kang to a nearby HDB block. Fortunately, two of Evan’s friends caught wind of his plan and grabbed him just as he entered the HDB block’s lift. He is now a 30-year-old architect who identifies himself as a Muslim and a gay man.