Samsui Woman

The challenge to needle felt 50 iconic or representative items of Singapore had led me to a journey of discovering Singapore's heritage. As I gather information and google for pictures of some items, I realize I have very little knowledge of some of the pieces I am crafting. It piques my curiosity further and I research more. It becomes my learning adventure of knowing Singapore in depth.

One of my newly acquired knowledge was the Samsui women - they were typical of Singapore's past. Samsui women were immigrants from China's province of Guangdong (Sanshui, hence the name Samsui) in 1930s & 1940s to work in construction or industrial sites of Singapore (some others work as domestic servants for the wealthy households). These women were clothed in dark blue loose shirts and pants with an apron. What's striking about them was their headgear - crimson red flattish bandana atop their weather beaten faces. They were referred as 红头巾 in Chinese. My daughter learnt in school that the samsui women wore 红头巾 as it was eye-catching and would reduce occurrences of accidents at the work site.

I had never seen a samsui woman in my life. They would be in their 90s by now, not many alive, some had left to return to their hometown in China. I remembered a popular TV drama series of 红头巾 in the 1980s and that was my first ‘encounter’ of samsui women but didn’t leave much imprint in me. As I dug out more information about the samsui women, I feel a deep respect for them. They were a thrifty, hardworking and sacrificial lot! Their main purpose for working in Singapore was to earn money to send back to their families in China. Most of them vowed never to marry. They toiled hard in the construction sites, digging and carrying sand under tropical heat, labouring long hours. They lived in cramped quarters, ate spartanly and patched up old clothes, saving every cent they could. Some even took up hawker jobs beyond their long hours at construction sites to earn a little extra for savings. They were also known to be women of integrity and not engage in vices - opium, prostitution, etc despite their hardship.

Whenever I read about women of hardship (or children in disadvantaged circumstances) it is always heart wrenching, wish I could do more to help them... Also, these reads made me count my blessings, that I am fortunate to be born in a modern era and in Singapore!

Here's to the samsui women whom contributed to Singapore’s nation building!