When Liam Mak Wai-hon began a part-time bartending job at a steakhouse in Hong Kong’s Tsuen Wan earlier this year, he did not sense anything amiss at work. Mak, born a female, started his hormone treatment in around August last year to embark on his transition to becoming a man. Boasting a stylish comb-over, and a totem tattoo in his inner arm, the 19-year-old had fully adopted his male identity by the time he took up the job. But because he has not undergone the full sex-reassignment surgery required to have his gender status legally changed, he had to declare his gender as female when filling in his employment form with the restaurant. A few days after he started work, Mak’s colleagues suddenly volunteered to take on back-breaking chores for him. He later found out why. “They told me that the manager had been going around, asking people to guess whether I am a man or a woman … He thought it was really funny,” said Mak, who eventually quit his job.