[Python] np.asarray not allowing strings

I have the following df

I am trying to measure the distances/similarities between certain rows.

import gower
distances = data_test_prepared.iloc[: , 2:]
X = np.asarray(distances)
Y = np.asarray(data_test_prepared)
gower.gower_matrix(X)


However, when I run this, I get an error saying:

ValueError: could not convert string to float: 'Malay'


I thought np.asarray could accept strings, so I do not know what is wrong here.

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