Image size: 37.0 x 55.5 cm
Moon Teng Jie is 89 years of age and lives alone in a one-room rental flat in Chinatown, which is home to those like her who had arrived in Singapore from the Guangdong province of southern China between the 1930s and 1970s to seek work as domestic servants. Moon Teng Jie had borrowed money to pay for her way to Singapore after her father passed away when she was 16. At that time, she made a promise not to get married and chose to dedicate her life to supporting her mother and sister. Most majies like Moon Teng Jie took a vow of celibacy and to remain unmarried in a ceremony known as sor hei, the “combing up” of the hair into a bun or plait. One of the last remaining majies of her generation, Moon Teng has no plans to return to China. She enjoys being at the Kreta Ayer Seniors Activity Centre, where she gets to spend time with friends. Moon Teng Jie does not depend on social welfare, and this photograph shows the rice Moon Teng Jie typically cooks to last her for two days in attempt to save electricity. It is part of a series by Singaporean photographer Charmaine Poh, which documents the experiences of the majies living out their twilight years in Singapore.
