- Samsui women
The term Samsui women broadly refers to a group of
Hakka andCantonese immigrants who came toSingapore between the 1920s and the 1940s in search of construction and industrial jobs. Their hard work contributed to Singapore's development, both as a colony and as a nation.Name
The Samsui women came from Sanshui of Guangdong (Canton) Province in
China , in addition to Shunde andDongguan .In Chinese, these women are referred to as 紅頭巾, which translates as "red bandana", a reference to the trademark red cloth hats that they wore.
Jobs
Coming to Singapore as cheap labourers, Samsui women worked mainly in the construction industry and other industries that required hard labour. They also worked as
domestic servants . They had a reputation of rejecting jobs involving drug (particularly opium) peddling, prostitution, or other vices, even if that meant they sometimes had to live in poverty.ocial interactions
Before arriving in Singapore, most Samsui women took vows never to marry, although there are exceptions. They lived in cramped conditions with other Samsui women, helping out each other and forming tightly united cliques.
Samsui women also remained in touch with their relatives back home in China, communicating with them frequently through letters. Occasionally, they would send money to them.
Retirement
Working as menial labourers, Samsui women seldom earned enough money for a financially worry-free retirement. Some managed to save enough to return to their homeland to retire, while others had just enough for a final trip back home to visit their relatives and pay homage to their ancestors before they died. Many became too old to travel, and were unable to return to China.
Current status
There are less than a hundred Samsui women left in Singapore today, all of them in their 80s and 90s. Organizations exist to raise awareness of these women's achievements and contributions to Singapore's development, and their current state. Some of these organization also strive to provide free travel for the women back to China to visit their relatives before they die.
Portrayal in media
The travails of the Samsui women were portrayed in Samsui Women, a TV drama series produced by
Singapore Broadcasting Corporation in 1986.References
*cite web|last=Thulaja|first=Naidu Ratnala|title=Samsui women|url=http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_795_2005-01-18.html|publisher=Singapore Infopedia,
National Library Board |date=1999-04-17 |accessdate=2008-04-07
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