21 | The Black and White Amahs of Penang

HERstory: Southeast Asia

In this episode, we’re going to talk about the Black and White Amahs — Chinese women from the southern provinces of China who emigrated to the Straits Settlements and the Malay States in the 1930s and established themselves as domestic servants par excellence. The beautiful song in this episode is Penang Hill by Malaysian singer songwriter RJ Kevin.

HERstory Southeast Asia was a finalist at the Asia Podcast Festival Awards held in Singapore on December 4. Our category was best arts, society, and culture podcast and it was ultimately won by Miss Conduct: An Indian True Crime Podcast with Ragavi and Nisha. Please do check them out as they are doing excellent work in spotlighting women’s stories in their unique and often humorous way.

Also check out Fidellithy Tan's The History of Colonisation for chronological introduction to the history of European imperialism and colonialism from a history student's perspective.

The theme music is Goddess of War by Unicorn Heads. If you want more HERstory, go over to the Patreon and join Karen, Keiro, Xiaomei, Jennifer, Christina, Raul, Raymond, Matt, Ashley, Charlie, and Yati who have been supporting the show. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @herstoryseapod. That’s herstory S-E-A pod.