Of drudgery and domesticity : a comparative history of the Samsui Women and Ma Jie of Nanyang
The Samsui women and Majie represent two pioneering groups of Chinese female immigrants that had migrated from the southern provinces to Singapore in the 1930s’, working as construction labourers and live-in domestic servants respectively. Both are regarded as independent and strong female figure...
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| Format: | Final Year Project |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/66225 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | The Samsui women and Majie represent two pioneering groups of Chinese
female immigrants that had migrated from the southern provinces to Singapore
in the 1930s’, working as construction labourers and live-in domestic servants
respectively. Both are regarded as independent and strong female figures in
history, yet are not accorded the same amount of prominence in the state’s
memory, with the Samsui woman being a much greater figure of acclaim.
Through a critical analysis of the historical contexts of their migration, the
women’s work and social lives, as well as the politics of representations
surrounding both groups in social memory, this research paper argues that
compared to the Samsui labourer, the Majie’s occupational niche renders her a
figure that presents a more problematic subject of memory. Whilst the Samsui
woman embodies easily the state’s master narrative centred on a hardworking
and economic-centric rhetoric, the Majie is instead an uncomfortable symbol of
British imperialism and a resistance to the institution of marriage, therefore
making her an ambivalent figure in the subject of Singapore’s public memory. |
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