Mah-jehs, A Special Breed of Professional Maids

A recent news article in the local daily caught my attention and brought back nostalgic memories of the time when my children were very young.

This article talked about the maids who had come from Guangdong in China to work in Malayan households in the 1930s. These women were known as Mah-jehs because they had taken a vow to remain spinsters. They were distinguished by their long pigtail and they wore white tunics and black pants.

They were professional maids and had a very high standard of discipline.  Some of them would only work as nannies while others would do general housework including cooking. The latter would run the household very efficiently, from doing the grocery shopping to cooking and cleaning.

Their wages were higher than that paid to other maids because of their high standard of work. Many of them sent money back to their families or relatives in China. They were a close knit group and they usually rented the first floor of a shop house where they lived while in between jobs or went back to on their off days. According to the news article, many of these maids had saved up money and collectively purchased shop houses. As they had no children because of their vow of celibacy, these properties cannot be sold as they have passed on. This is the legal issue that has cropped up. 

I was very fortunate to have a mah-jeh to look after my eldest daughter when she was a year old. She was introduced to me by my friend who had two mah-jehs in her employ. I was working and she took care of my little girl as well as ran the household like clockwork.  She taught my child good manners. She was a real God send. Unfortunately, she did not stay long with us.

We moved across the South China Sea and there we were also fortunate to have the services of another mah-jeh to look after my second daughter when she was a few months old. However, this Mah-jeh whom we called Mui Jeh, was already in her late sixties. She taught me how to boil soup, what ingredients should be added to make it more tasty and nutritious.

She had adopted a daughter so she had a family with whom she lived when not working. After a year, she decided to call it a day and retired to live with her daughter and grandchildren. 

Those who did not adopt little girls and didn’t have any local family would return to their original homes in China when they felt it was time to retire. They were a special breed of maids who took pride in their work and those who had the good fortune to have one in their employ were often envied as mah-jehs were hard to come by.