The Red Headscarf Samsui Women Hong Tou Jin

Due to extreme poverty in their hometown, Chinese women from Samsui came to Singapore in search of jobs as early as the 1920s. Most of them worked in the construction industry. As they were always adorned with a red bandana when working at the construction site, they came to be known as “hong tou jin”, meaning red headscarf. As most of their hard-earned money was spent on supporting relatives back home, many of them lived in utter poverty in old age. As at November 2013, there are only two hong tou jin left in Singapore.