Responding to local needs. Self-help groups

PIP: Pink Triangle, the only community-based group in Malaysia which works with men who have sex with men, took initial steps in August 1992 to establish a self-help project for people who are HIV-seropositive. Supporting people who are HIV-positive and fighting for their rights is new in Malaysia. The group has thus far been publicized through its public education events, hospitals, and other nongovernmental organizations. For the first time, information is being published specifically by and for people living with HIV/AIDS. The project also has a phone line to allow people to speak anonymously with someone who shares their experience. Many callers are men who have sex with men in the social context of intense prejudice and discrimination. Afraid to openly acknowledge their sexuality with strangers, the callers have yet to accede to meeting each other face-to-face in a group setting. The author notes in closing that Pink Triangle must be realistic about what can be achieved in Malaysia and allow the group to develop according to people's needs and not on the basis of a model imported from outside of the country.