The Disney Version of History

 

If you ever wanted to know how far Singapore has come, you’d have to look at our latest scandal, which evolve around a mural of a “Samsui” woman. Someone complained that the mural of a samsui woman smoking. Someone didn’t like the fact that “smoking” was being promoted. More of the story can be found at:

https://www.todayonline.com/news/smoking-samsui-woman-mural-be-retained-full-building-owner-fined-not-seeking-approval-2455811

 

Yes, we all agree that smoking is bad. We can all agree that it’s not good to promote smoking and nobody sheds tears when more regulation is imposed on the Tabaco companies.

However, the issue shouldn’t be about the evils of smoking which are well known. The samsui women are an integral part of our history and played a role in making Singapore what it is today.

However, everything about the mural and the controversy surrounding it has been a sign that we’re living in what a friend of mine might call as “de-lu-lu” world where history is a Disney series.

Let’s start with the fact that the Samsui woman looks fairly young and pretty – so pretty in fact that people complained that she looked like a prostitute. To be fair to the people obessed with whether she looks like a prostitute, the fact remains is that she looks like she’s never been out in the son.

If we are to understand history, we have to know that the “Samsui” woman, were women who came over from China to do the rough jobs. They looked after children and more importantly, they formed the backbone of the construction industry.

In short, the Samsui women were a combination of today’s Bangladeshi workers and Pinoy maids. They were tough and sturdy ladies doing jobs and living in conditions that would age one quickly. I’m sure some of the young things coming down to work as Samsui women were pretty but after doing the work that the Samsui women did, they’d probably be less so.

Should we be surprised that many of these ladies smoked? Should we be surprised that many probably took opium? Like it or not, smoking and opium was common place at the time. Sure, nobody wants to promote smoking let alone opium but trying to use white-wash the Samsui women as not using them would be false.

I get that the government wants to use history to inspire the population. However, we need to be realistic about our history. It gives us a perspective of how we’ve ended up where we’ve been.

Then, here’s the other thing. Can you imagine how many of us would probably look at today’s Indian and Bangladeshi workers if we could see our “ancestors” going through the same thing?