Malaysia’s last living amah searches for her roots, hopes to reunite with family in China
- The 105-year-old, who remembers her Cantonese name as Ngan Dou Tai, is in search of her real identity
- She was part of the legacy of housekeepers known for keeping their hair in a long plait and donning white blouses and black pants
A centenarian, believed to be the last living ma jie (amah) in Malaysia, is in search of her real identity and hopes to reunite with her family in China.
The 105-year-old, who was part of the legacy of housekeepers known for keeping their hair in a long plait and donning white blouses and black pants, remembers her Cantonese name to be Ngan Dou Tai.
She lost her identity card decades ago and because of her old age, her worn-out fingerprints cannot be scanned any more.
Tan Swee Ban, the founder of Peace and Harmony Home where Ngan now lives, said National Registration Department officers told them that to retrieve her identity card, she was required to either get her full legal name or the six digits of her old identity card number.
“Before she came to our home, she had been helping out at a temple along Burma Road since the 1970s.
“There is a photo of Ngan in her ma jie clothes taken by the monks in the temple,” said Tan, 56.