Superior servants : the legendary Cantonese amahs of the Far East
Digitised Book 3.147.58.74 (0)
1988
Information About
The book focuses on a unique group of women who became an integral part of thousands of Chinese and expatriate homes in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong from the 1930s to the 1970s--the amahs who hailed from the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province in China. Single, illiterate, and of peasant background, the amah served as nanny, cook, parlormaid, housemaid, and laundress, providing a standard of service and displaying a degree of loyalty. The author also discusses the traditional role and inferior status of women in China, the unique customs and work practices of the Pearl River Delta which allowed the women there to obtain a degree of independence unknown in other parts of China, and the reasons for the mass migration of Cantonese women in the 1930s.
Additional Details
- Creators
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- Gaw, Kenneth, 1939-
- Subject
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- Women household employees--China--History--20th century
- Women household employees--East Asia--History--20th century
- Chinese--East Asia--History--20th century
- Publisher
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- Oxford University Press, 1988
- National Library Board Singapore, 1988
- Contributors
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- Digital Description
- application/pdf, ill., maps
- Provenance
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- Table of Contents
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- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Plates -- Maps -- Introduction -- Notes – Background. 1. `Nothing on earth is held so cheap'. 2. Great upheavals; littles changes. 3. Silkworms and rice. 4. Women of independence. 5. Enterprising sojourners. 6. Dutiful daughters -- Cantonese amahs. 7. From unsoiled hands to 'One-leg-kick'. 8. Living with sisters; working for strangers. 9. A day in the life. 10. Private lives. 11. Health, old age, and a quick death. 12. A most remarkable lady. 13. 'We were very lucky to have them'. 14. Superior servants; extraordinary women -- Glossary -- Transliteration chart -- Bibliography -- Index.
- Edition
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- Copyright
- All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2009.