The origins of Majie
The phenomenon of women in Kwangtung who chose not to marry and sailed to Malaya to work as amahs has its origin in the silk industry in Kwangtung.
In three small rural areas in Kwangtung, the silk industry preferred to hire single women, as they were reliable and able to work without the distraction of a husband and a household.
This led to a situation where these single women were able to choose not to marry. They find that they can support their parents and siblings. If they marry, they have to leave and serve their husbands’ households.
But towards the beginning of the 20th century, there was a slump in the silk industry economy in Kwangtung.
At the same time, Malaya and Singapore began to restrict male immigration. A quota was imposed on males. To help fill their ships, these ship brokers would sell a male ticket only if the ship agent bought 3 non-quota tickets.
Parents thus encouraged their daughters to emigrate and become Tzu shu nu so that they would not marry or fall prey to men. Shiploads of Cantonese women sailed to Malaya and Singapore from 1933 to 1938, when a quota of 500 females a month was allowed.
So these unmarried women who sailed to Malaya continued to send money back to Kwangtung.
Each household in Kwangtung tried to keep one daughter unmarried and send her to Malaya to earn money for their siblings and parents.
In Malaya, she is known as a majie. In Kwangtung, she is known as “the woman who dresses her own hair,” tsu shu nu. (P 423).
For a deeper learning on the origin of majie, one can do no better than to read “Marriage Resistance in Rural Kwangtung” by Marjorie Topley.
LWH @ Lone Pine hotel
2 June 2025