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“…..depends on who is the person, like the drug addict or the sex worker,No, no, no feeling for them lah. So like those who accidentally kena(acquired) one, we just act normal. act normal ahh, we friend, we act likeyou don’t have the HIV lah. Don’t avoid him.”(Urban, Chinese, Male)Nonetheless, it was obvious that while the participants feel that they should besympathetic and caring they had reservations and this forces them to be cautious.“Yalah biasanya…mereka yang dah kena HIV tu…biasa masyarakatbiasanya tak boleh terimalah. Tak berani nak berkawan. Sebab yalahmungkin takut. Mungkin mereka pun berhati-hati takut terkena pada dirimereka ke. Tapi tulah….sebenarnya kita tak boleh pandang rendahjugakan?. Jadi…kita kena beri sokongan kepada tulah..kanak-kanakke…orang yang dijangkiti HIV sebab HIV ni tak merebak melaluisentuhan…tapi melalui itulah…HIV darah…hubungan sekstukan?..contoh kalau kita berkawan, tak apa…boleh.”(“Yes, it is common those who have been infected with HIV it is commonthat society do not accept them. Not brave enough to befriend. Becauseyes maybe they are afraid. Maybe they are also cautious because they areafraid of being infected. But actually we should not look down on themalso isn’t it? Therefore we should support them, to the children, to theinfected because cannot be transmitted through touch but HIV istransmitted through blood and sex right? For example if we befriend themcannot”)(Rural, Malay, Female)“Guru pun sama. Bila macam dapat tahu, ada sebahagian guru-guruakan rasa kurang selesa. Mana…dari segi penerimaan tu terlalu berhatihati.Mana mungkin takut nak sentuh dia….takut nak dekat, nak rapat,nak bercakap pun takut.”(“Teachers are the same. When they get to know some of them feeluneasy. They will accept them with caution, where they are scared totouch, scared to be near to speak to them also fearful”)(Urban, Malay, Female)Not only society stigmatises people with HIV. They also tend to throw blame on theinfected as well as their family members.“Macam kawan saya tu…dia suami dia penagih kan. Tapi dia dapat katdia tapi.. ah, macam famili suami dia tu pasal macam berpunca daripadadia. Tuduh dia.”(“Like my friend…her husband was an addict. Then she got it from himbut her husband’s family says that it was from her. Blames her”)(Rural, Malay, Female)90