Remembering The Samsui Women

Remembering the Samsui Women tells the story of women from the Samsui area of Guangdong, China, who migrated to Singapore during a period of economic and natural calamity, leaving their families behind. In their new country, many found work in the construction industry, while others worked in households or factories where they were called hong tou jin, translated literally as "red-head-scarf," after the headgear that protected them from the sun. Contributing to current debates in the fields of social memory and migration studies, this is the first book to examine how the Samsui women remember their own migratory experiences and how they, in turn, are remembered as pioneering figures in both Singapore and China.

In the early twentieth century, thousands of women from the Samsui area of Guangdong, China migrated to Singapore during a period of economic and natural calamity, leaving their families behind. In their new country, many found work in the construction industry, with others working in households or factories where they were called hong tou jin, translated literally as “red-head-scarf,” after the headgear that protected them from the sun. In Singapore, the women have been celebrated as pioneering figures for their hard work and resilience, and in China for the sacrifices they made for their families. Remembering the Samsui Women looks at who these women really are and at how both countries have commemorated their experiences. It is an illuminating study of the connection between memory and nation, including the politics of what is remembered and what is forgotten.

Shifting Currents: Glimpses of a Changing Nation is the first book to present a significant collection of Kouo Shang-Wei's most arresting images from his lifetime of photography. Kouo Shang-Wei (1924-1988) was a passionate and talented photographer who was particularly attuned to the passing of time. Over several decades spanning the 1950s to the late 1980s, Kouo's keen eye captured thousands of images of a rapidly changing Singapore, with his viewfinder most often focusing on the evolution of the Singapore River and its immediate environs. Today, his photographs of the Singapore River, Chinatown, the OCBC Centre, Sungei Road Market, Samsui Women, and more, provide us with a precious record of the fruits and price of modernisation. The photographs included in this book were carefully curated from the Kouo Shang-Wei Collection in the National Library, Singapore, by art historian, Zhuang Wubin.

Set in different cities around the world, Elaine Chiew's award-winning stories travel into the heart of the Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese diasporas to explore the lives of those torn between cultures and juggling divided selves. In the title story, four writers find their cultural bonds of friendship tested when a handsome young Asian writer joins their group. In other stories, a brother searches for his sister forced to serve as a comfort woman during World War Two; three Singaporean sisters run a French gourmet restaurant in New York; a woman raps about being a Tiger Mother in Belgravia; and a filmmaker struggles to document the lives of samsui women—Singapore's thrifty, hardworking construction workers. > Acutely observed, wry and playful, her stories are as worldly and emotionally resonant as the characters themselves. This fabulous debut collection heralds an exciting new literary voice.

Steampunk takes on Southeast Asia in this anthology The stories in this collection merge technological wonder with the everyday. Children upgrade their fighting spiders with armor, and toymakers create punchcard-driven marionettes. Large fish lumber across the skies, while boat people find a new home on the edge of a different dimension. Technology and tradition meld as the people adapt to the changing forces of their world. The Sea Is Ours is an exciting new anthology that features stories infused with the spirits of Southeast Asia's diverse peoples, legends, and geography.