Fang Jie on her way to the elderly care centre

Title
Fang Jie on her way to the elderly care centre
Creator
Year/Period
September-October 2016
Region
Singapore
Object Type
Material
Dimension
Object size: 42.0 x 59.4 cm,
Image size: 37.0 x 55.5 cm
Accession No.
2022-00029

Fang Jie is a 90-year-old retired majie who lives alone in a one-room rental flat in Chinatown. She was part of the wave of female migrants who arrived in Singapore from the Guangdong province of southern China between the 1930s and 1970s to seek work as domestic servants. One of the few remaining in the majie community in Singapore today, many of whom have passed on or returned to China, Fang Jie has no plans to return to Guangdong. She spends her time either watching television programmes, or at the Kreta Ayer Seniors Activity Centre located a few storeys down her flat on the third floor, where she enjoys being around with friends. This photograph shows Fang Jie heading for the centre, and is part of a series by Singaporean photographer Charmaine Poh that documents the experiences of the majies living out their twilight years in Singapore.