Image size: 37.0 x 55.5 cm
These handsewn samfoos belong to Fang Jie, a 90-year-old retired majie who lives alone in a one-room rental flat in Chinatown. Such mandarin collar tops are traditionally worn by majies, 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 majies 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 is part of a series by Singaporean photographer Charmaine Poh that documents the experiences of the majies living out their twilight years in Singapore.
