tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post3770473971912429362..comments2024-03-28T15:13:45.925+08:00Comments on Good Morning Yesterday: 1960s Singapore – Amahs (by Tim Light)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-66136999483394550412013-09-14T14:21:55.672+08:002013-09-14T14:21:55.672+08:00I've just returned from a one-week holiday in ...I've just returned from a one-week holiday in Singapore with my seven year old son . We did a kind of homestay with a family, US citizens originally from the Phillippines. I could have wept at the life the young child (3) is leading in inner city high rise Singapore. Arrested language skills due to being with a Phillipina nanny and her poor English, all day long while his parents work long hours in IT and a shopping mall! So different from my own amah experience, since my Mum was still around an didn't; have to work. We had a few work for us. as day cleaners. All were kind and let me help them sweep and hose down the porch, etc. A night market at the end of our road where we used to go for satay.<br /><br />I took my son to the 'new' botanical gardens, where we saw the small yellow butterflies I remember so well, and used to chase in our garden! They've built a kids playground, where my boy had a great time running around under the fountain in his undies! Later we went to the artificial Sentosa Beach which was not as bad taste as I'd imagined, plus there was a great buskers festival on which my son thoroughly enjoyed. I was glad that there is still some child-friendly places in 'the new Singapore'. <br /><br />We were there in the late sixties, when my Dad (Cedric Webb South African but in the RAF) was stationed at Changi Air base, and left in 1970 to come to Australia. We lived in Jalan Pergam in Somapah. I went to the Peter Pan kindergarten and my brother to Changi Infants School. We used to chant "Changi Gaol, Changi Gaol!" as we went past the prison on route to school in the school bus. <br /><br />If anyone has any photos of that area, and the houses that were allocated to servicemen, I'd be grateful to see them.<br /><br />I have vivid memories of the Chinese funeral processions with all the loud music, heading down the main road parallel to ours. Also getting stuck in the old style monsoon drain, where all the kids in the neighbourhood used to play, and my Dad having to come and lift me out!<br /><br />Opposite was a kampong, complete with pigs and chickens, long since razed to the ground and its people housed in high rise flats. We also went over to Pulau Ubin on a bum boat last Wednesday and cycled around- the last remaining kampong and another nostalgia trip for me.<br /><br />It's only now that I'm home in Perth that I'm weeping tears of grief about the changes. I wish I'd actively looked for Jalan Pergam, but I think I may have been saddened by what I saw, and it was hard getting around with a small kid in tow on public transport. I'm glad for the Singaporean people that they achieved independence, of sorts, and are housed, but I am so shocked at the high density landscape, changed so much even since I visited in 1984.Ginny Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02908383492460977622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-67841714726345527502012-01-22T17:21:24.639+08:002012-01-22T17:21:24.639+08:00A few amahs came & went in our household but t...A few amahs came & went in our household but there was one in particular who was very special. I loved her. She rapidly became a part of the faimly & remained so long after she left us to get married. Sadly she passed away not long ago but we still keep in close contact with her husband & children. <br />As a Christian household I remember she asked us to give her a western name,as she termed it, to blend in & for fun. And because she was giggly & we knew she envied & wanted our curley hair we suggested Shirley. She loved it. I have a tear in my eye thinking of her. <br />Thanks for everything Shirley & R.I.P achi...Jeannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-18464352569515265062012-01-21T21:43:56.426+08:002012-01-21T21:43:56.426+08:00We had a string of them. This was before the curre...We had a string of them. This was before the current Indonesian and Filippino maids. <br /><br />I was born in 66 and the first one had a short stint (she stole from the neighbours). The second one smoked and carried me around the neighbourhood; she was a day maid. Then we had a really old one who stayed with us. Mind you, they were all Singaporeans. <br /><br />The final one stayed with us until I was a teenager. She left us and joined the snack counter at Yaohan Jurong. Unfortunately she was killed by a Skyhawk that crashed into her house in 1983.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-82258813324491553542012-01-21T06:23:38.423+08:002012-01-21T06:23:38.423+08:00I think for many British people from working class...I think for many British people from working class backgrounds (which both of my parents were from) the idea of employing any kind of servant was a difficult one. Whilst I have very little memory of the Ahmahs we employed I recall a feeling of embarassment from my parents in their dealings with them. <br />I well recall the little room and adjacent toilet at the back of our quite modest bungalow in the Toh Estate which were the Amah's quarters, I don't think she lived in with us but came each day. The fact that I know so little about them may reflect the fact that the embarassment at having a servant was mine as well as my parents.Brian and Tesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00208616667962513171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-78460058978975471172012-01-21T04:57:14.341+08:002012-01-21T04:57:14.341+08:00During the 60's and early 70's we had seve...During the 60's and early 70's we had several amah's. The one I remember most (except her name :() was Chinese and young. She was really efficient and our whole family liked her. We lost her when she got married. I went to her wedding and took pictures. I still have one of them. I sometimes wonder how she is doing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com