The collections of the National of Archives of Singapore include a series of oral history interviews with Chinese women who worked as amahs in Singapore between the 1930s and the 1980s. The interviews, originally recorded in Cantonese and translated into English by our project team, provide rich insights into the lives of the women. They detail the reasons behind their decision leave China, the nature of their working and social lives, and how they maintained connections with family, or, with former employers.
With the permission of the National Archives of Singapore (NAS), we have reproduced short sections from interviews with four different women who worked for British, Chinese, or Eurasian employers. Each story highlights the different ways in which migration and travel shaped the experiences of Chinese amahs. The stories also provide insights into factors which limited their mobility, including the impact of the Second World War and the prohibitive costs associated with travel.
Lee Lin Oi reflects on her decision to leave China for Singapore
Experiences of migration and mobility shaped the lives of Chinese amahs working in Singapore during the 1930s. Lee Lin Oi came to Singapore from Jiangwei (now known as Jun’an) in the Shunde / Shuntak district of Guangdong Province. She was 22 years old and travelled with two other women from her village, attracted by the prospect of good wages and escaping agricultural labour. Lee worked as an amah for 46 years, retiring in 1981. In this extract she reflects on the physical demands involved in domestic work and the nature of her relationships with employers. Lee also reflects on her decision to leave China and discusses how she maintained family connections through remittances (sending money home).
Link to the record in Cantonese through the NAS
How to cite this record: National Archives of Singapore, ‘Transcript of Interview with Lee Lin Oi’, 4 December 1982, Accession Number 000239/02. The interview was translated from Cantonese to English by EthnoLink Language Services, certified by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), https://www.ethnolink.com.au
Lee Choy Dai discusses the departure of her English employers from Singapore
Lee Choy Dai came to Singapore to work as an amah just before the Japanese occupation in 1942. After the war, she found a job as an amah to an English family. She worked in that role for sixteen years until they returned to England. Some employer families, particularly those with children, brought their amahs with them when they returned home, either permanently or for holiday periods. However, not all amahs travelled with their employers. As Lee explains in this extract, she stayed on in Singapore after her employers’ left the country. Lee continued to remain in touch with them through letters and when they holidayed in Singapore.
Link to the record in Cantonese through the NAS
How to cite this record: National Archives of Singapore, ‘Transcript of Interview with Lee Choy Dai’, 20 July 1986, Accession Number 000698/05. The interview was translated from Cantonese to English by EthnoLink Language Services, certified by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), https://www.ethnolink.com.au/.
Leong Ah Hoe recalls life in a Eurasian household during the Japanese Occupation
During the Second World War, hundreds of British women and children were evacuated from Singapore to Australia. Though it contravened the terms of the Commonwealth government’s Immigration Restriction Act (1901), some of those women were granted permission to bring their Chinese amahs with them. Exemptions to the White Australia Policy were also granted to small numbers of wealthy Chinese and Eurasian women fleeing Singapore to the lead up to the Japanese occupation (see for example, War Cabinet Agendum – No 11/1942 held by the National Archives of Australia). They too brought amahs to care for their children on board the ship and while in Australia. The ability to flee Singapore was an option only open to the elite. Most people had neither the means nor the connections necessary to escape the Japanese advance.
In the following extract, Leong Ah Hoe describes working for a middle-class Eurasian family at the time of the Japanese invasion of Singapore in 1942. As she puts it, the family was ‘not rich’, they were ‘just workers’. As Japanese bombs rained down on the city, Leong fled with the family from their home in the suburb of Katong to an outlining area of the city. Once the Japanese had secured the city and the bombing ceased, she returned to Katong with the family and continued to work for them throughout the three years of occupation. While other residents of ‘Syonan’ (Japanese occupied Singapore) struggled to put food on the table, the family Leong worked for were able to secure employment with the Japanese occupiers and fared relatively well.
Link to the record in Cantonese through the NAS
How to cite this record: National Archives of Singapore, ‘Transcript of Interview with Leong Ah Hoe’, 22 February 1986, Accession Number 000635. The interview was translated from Cantonese to English by EthnoLink Language Services, certified by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), https://www.ethnolink.com.au/
Leong Sau Heng describes her experiences of independent travel
The amahs that we are focused on for our research project travelled with their employers as part of their job. But some amahs were able to generate enough savings to travel for their own purposes. Leong Sau Heng, who arrived in Singapore in 1938, was one such woman. Leong was one of many amahs that came to Singapore from the Shunde (Shuntak) district of Guangdong Province. They travelled to Singapore via Hong Kong, a travel route shown by the Contract Passage Ticket pictured below. Some of the amahs that settled in Singapore were only able to return to their home villages once or maybe twice in their lives. In the following extract, Leong describes travelling home to visit relatives in Guangdong five times. She also travelled separately to Hong Kong on six occasions to visit family members.
Link to the record in Cantonese through the NAS
How to cite this record: National Archives of Singapore, ‘Transcript of Interview with Leong Sau Heng’, 22 November 1984, Accession Number 000504/06. The interview was translated from Cantonese to English by EthnoLink Language Services, certified by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), https://www.ethnolink.com.au/
Ayahs and Amahs 