This long sleeved knee length cheongsam belonged to Mdm Zhuo Yu Chun, director of Tai Wee Company Pte Ltd. Both pieces of garments were made from synthetic satin silk and crepe. Zhuo who was born in Sumatra came to Singapore at the age of 12. The alumni of Nanyang Girl’s High started wearing the cheongsam at the age of 17 or 18 to assert her identity as a Chinese, even though her grandmother is Malay. In the 1950s, her husband ventured into the frozen food business and film distribution. Like other Singapore women who start entering the workforce then, Zhuo helped out in her husband’s business. She wore cheongsam when she hosted people from the film industry. Some of her cheongsam were modelled on those worn by Hong Kong actresses.
