Forum: Mural is offensive as it belittles samsui women

I refer to the article (“

URA requests delay in changes as it reviews stance

”, June 23). I feel the URA was justified in asking the artist to make changes to the cigarette-smoking samsui woman mural in South Bridge Road.

In an article “Samsui women”

(nlb.gov.sg), w

riter Koh, Qi Rui Vincent pointed out that they were part of the wave of Chinese female migrants, numbering about 200,000, who came to Singapore between 1934 and 1938. Many worked on construction sites for 50 to 60 cents a day, hauling building materials like the men. To save money, they prepared lunch at dawn and went to work; after work, they picked up firewood to cook dinner even when they were dog-tired. They were often fierce, aggressive and wary of strangers, preferring to stay close to the samsui women groups for safety.

Their contribution to Singapore’s nation-building is unquestionable. Hence, the samsui woman is often featured in publicity materials. To portray a samsui woman in a Suzie Wong posture with a “come-hither” look is the greatest insult to women who had to toil and sweat through the day like the men and save hard for the family.

In the mural, the woman is shown wearing a jade bangle. If she could afford one, she would not have needed to work for 50-60 cents a day.

The mural is offensive because it belittles samsui women, who were the worker bees of our economy for decades.

Esther Chin Siew Lan