The letter above, dated 1973, was sent from Macau to Canada. At the end of the letter, Christine told the recipient that: “Since my Amah left after 15 years services – we decide the housework between the two of use – so by 10 pm we make a [bedding] for our warm beds.” An amah was a woman who was employed to clean the house, washed the clothes, looked after children, cooked, or other domestic tasks. Like Christine’s amah, many Chinese amahs had retired by the 1970s.
In different parts of Asia, female domestic servants were called differently. In South Asia such as India and Bangladesh, the form ayah was used. In East Asia and Southeast Asia, the usual form was amah. Though different in form, both words had an origin in Portuguese. Ayah originated from Portuguese aia ‘nurse, governess’, whereas amah was from ama, meaning ‘nurse’.1
In the last article “Memsahibs and servants”, it has been shown that an ayah was a distinctive type of servant in British India. As the postcard on the left depicted, as nannies they were the caregivers of children as British civil servants began populating India in the 19th century. The memsahibs (British wives) depended heavily on the ayahs not only in raising their children but also in attending to their personal needs.Similar situations occurred in other British colonies such as the Straits Settlement and Hong Kong.
As Malay, Tamil, and Chinese constituted the major ethnic groups in the Straits Settlements, foreign families might employ ayahs/amahs of these origins. However, in the 1930s due to the decline in silk industry in the Guangdong province of China, a large number of Chinese women migrated to Hong Kong, Macau, and 南洋 (naam4 joeng2), particularly Singapore and Malaysia to seek job opportunities. Many of them found jobs as domestic servants for the foreign and local households. The Chinese term 馬姐 (maa5ze2) emerged to address this group of servants. Many maa5ze2 were also self-comb women 自梳女 (zi1so1neoi2) who vowed to 梳起 (so1 hei2) ‘comb-up’ – that is, taking a vow of celibacy. Maa5ze2 were easily recognizable because of their unique outfit and appearance. Typically, they wore white top and black trousers (hence, the name ‘black-and-white’ amahs) and had long black hair in one plait or in a bun. After retirement, some returned to their hometowns in China. For those who stayed, some lived together in vegetarian houses (齋堂) or houses for the self-comb women, also known as 姑婆屋 gu1 po4 uk1.2
Though not a colony, foreign households in Shanghai couldn’t do without nursemaids as in Singapore and Hong Kong. The postcard on the right captured a scene of Chinese amahs and foreign children in the Public Garden in Shanghai. The sender of the postcard commented that “This P.C. is a picture of the Chinese Amahs who take care of the foreign children – They usually take them to the P. Gardens in summer when it is cool.” The most convenient means of communication was of course pidgin English. In the comment below, the author thought that a boy was more proficiency in pidgin English than an amah as the duties of amahs only revolved around the children and the mississee ‘mistress’.
“Amahs have fair opportunities of acquiring the “pidgin” talk, and if their stock of English words is not so large as that of a “boy’s,” this is to be accounted for by the fact that their sphere of life confines them more indoors, and excludes them from mixing up with the bustle of the town. Some of them, however, succeed in learning “pidgin” English to a creditable degree; and we noticed those especially experts who had served for a number of years in the houses of missionaries; and if the latter happened to hail from the States they even somehow managed the acquire the nasal twang, and some of their Americanisms. As for the rest, an amah’s vocabulary is restricted to the “pidgin” equivalents regarding babies’ clothing, babies’ food, and odds and ends making up the boudoir of sleeping apartment of her “mississee.” (p. 95)3
Amah was a general name for female servants. Depending on their main responsibilities, different modifiers were added before the word amah, for example baby amah, wash amah, sew amah, etc. Martin Booth (1944-2004) was the son of a civil servant. He spent his childhood in Hong Kong from 1952 to 1964. His book Gweilo: A memoir of a Hong Kong Childhood contained interesting descriptions of his adventures in the city and interactions with Chinese people. One of his recollections was an interview between his mother (missee) and Ah Choy. Here was how Ah Choy introduced herself.4
“Me name Ah Choy,’ she said softly. ‘I good wash-sew amah for you, misee.’ She saw me standing by the window. ‘You young master?’ My mother introduced me. ‘Ve’y han’sum boy,’ Ah Choy replied, no doubt perceiving my blond hair and anticipating many brief daily encounters with good fortune. ‘Good, st’ong boy. Be plentee luckee.’ … ‘Where did you go in the war?’ my mother enquired. ‘I go quick-quick China-side,’ she replied. ‘Master go soljer p’ison Kowloon-side. Missee and young missee go war p’ison Hong Kong-side. Japan man no good for Chinese peopul.”
The pidgin English used by Ah Choy demonstrated different types of omissions. The first type was omission of sentence elements. Copula verb “to be” was not used (Me name Ah Choy, You young master?). The subject was also omitted (Ve’y han’sum boy). The second type of omission was related to grammar. For example, verbs had no tense marking so that only the infinitive form was used (I go quick-quick China-side). The use of side after place names was to mark the nouns as locations. The last type of omission occurred in pronunciation. In general, the Chinese found the ‘r’ sound difficult to pronounce. As a result, according to Booth’s transcription Ah Choy deleted the ‘r’ sound all together as in ve’y, st’ong, and p’ison.
By the 1970s, there was very few working black-and-white amahs in Hong Kong. One reason was improved education allowed women to find different types of jobs. The other reason was the popularity of Filipino and Indonesian domestic helpers who are being called 姐姐 ze4ze1, literally ‘sister’ but can also be used to address a female. Regardless of time, some ayahs/amahs/maa5ze2/ze4ze1 developed strong bonds with the families they worked for, especially the children they raised and cared for. Such ties might even last many years after their contractual obligation had ceased.
1 Yule, Henry and Arthur Coke Burnell. 1886. Hobson-Jobson Being a Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms. London: John Murray.
2 Gaw, Kenneth. 1988. Superior Servants: The Legendary Cantonese Amahs of the Far East. Singapore: Oxford University Press.
3 Clark, J.D. 1894. Sketches in and around Shanghai, etc. Shanghai: Shanghai Mercury and Celestial Empire Offices.
4 Booth, Martin. 2004. Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood. London: Doubleday.