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The exception appears to be in East Malaysia where the HIV-positive study participants,comprising infected partners and sex workers, appear to be unconditionally accepted bytheir families and their community insofar as very few narrate negative experiences. Afew reasons may be speculated for this acceptance: (1) it could be that they have thelarger problem of poverty to contend with on a daily basis; (2) there is less exposure topast IEC campaigns which have resulted in perpetrating the stigma attached to HIVthrough associations with death, sin, punishment, perversion, etc.; (3) the relatively longdistances between their residence and the hospitals and other institutions where theirstatus is known makes it easier to keep their HIV confidential and unknown to theircommunity. Which of these possible reasons apply, if any, cannot be ascertained withouta study into the attitudes of the local communities in East Malaysia. Some of the samereasons, notably, the limited disclosure and relative isolation from society at large, mayalso explain the apparent lack of stigmatization and discrimination faced by refugees inthis study.For other participants in Peninsular Malaysia, recollections of poor treatment by thehealthcare profession, particularly nurses, testify to the continued stigma attached to HIV,even by those who are most informed about the disease. As postulated by one participant(described under the Health section), some people remain unconvinced about theevidence on HIV, thus, they remain wary about the ways it can be transmitted. Hence,stigmatizing and discriminatory reactions continue to manifest despite years of IEC:“Itu yang bikin stress tu. Saya selalu masuk hospital kan? Sometimes,ada setengah setengah Sister tu yang jujur…..aaah… Ada setengahsetengah Sister juga, dia orang kasi sedia satu…..satu bekas untuk…apa.It’s ok dia orang kasi sedia. Memang saya tahu, tapi jangan lah cakapcakap macam engkau begini begini…..macam kau tu nanti mau jangkitsema orang, gitu. Itu saya rasa macam saya tidak mau….tu lah, kadangkadang, saya tidak tahan tinggal di wad. Saya minta pulang. Saya bilangmacam kita ni….macam….kadang kadang kita sini ada penyakit tinggisatu kali, semua kena kah satu wad…saya pernah jawab gitu. So, janganbegitu tapi itulah. Tapi, ada juga yang bagus juga lah. Yang bagus tu,kita rasa happy, jadi kita cepat baik. Tapi, kalau macam yang tidak ok ni,sudahlah kita stress, kita sakit, tambah lagi kita stress. Macam mana maubaik?”(“That is the cause of stress. I am often admitted in hospital, right?Sometimes, there are some nurses who are honest….there are some nursesalso who; they give you a….a basin for….whatever. It’s ok [for them] toprovide this. I do know, but don’t say to us you are like this….like I wantto infect others, like that. That’s why, I feel I don’t want…that’s why,sometimes, I can’t stand being in the ward. I ask to go home [bedischarged]. I said like we….like….sometimes we have serious illnessone time, [will] the illness spread to everyone in the ward, I’ve answeredthat way. But, there are also those who are good. We feel happy withthose who are good, so we recover quickly. But, with those who are notokay, we are already stressed, already sick; we have more stress. How canwe recover?”)(Female, 29yrs, Upper secondary education, Infected Partner)79