Yesterday’s domestic help: the amah

Posted by noelbynature under Lifestyle
(0) Comment • (2299) Reads • Permalink

Today, more and more families rely on domestic help to help run the household - these domestic helpers come from many neighbouring countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar and East Timor. 50 years ago, domestic help would not have been so international, and usually would be a Chinese amah or Malay nenek. Peter Chan blogs about the amah and paid domestic services back in the 1960.

Peter writes about the kinds of domestic help he had in the 1960s:

When my family became fairly comfortable in economic terms, we were able to afford a Kung Yan, a woman who worked part-time in our house for three times a week. Her duties included general housekeeping, washing and ironing. I addressed her as “Ah Sor”. “Ah Sor” was of Hakka origin and lived in a nearby village which is now Cashew Villa. She started work around 7.30 am until 10 am and afterwards worked at another employer in the neighbourhood.

My father laid down strict rules that the children (us) were not permitted to order “Ah Sor” to make our MILO, fetch shoes, or simply run back and forth until we were satisfied; things I quite often hear about Singapore employers (regardless of age and gender) do to their foreign maids. “Ah Sor” was paid S$60 a month in 1965. My Tai Pak had a Malay woman for part-time help but she was referred to as the washer-woman or Nenek.

Of course, there are many different types of amahs, or rather, the name carries different meanings to different people. You can read more about the differences in Peter’s post on Good Morning Yesterday.

Rating: 0