This photograph shows a Samsui woman, with a pail, walking across the atrium in the Environment Building. The Environment building located at Scotts Road is headquarters for the then Ministry of Environment, ENV (now known as Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, MEWR). A piece of brown paper covers her characteristic Samsui red headgear. She is also wearing the blue samfoo (sometimes spelt samfu), a tunic-and-trouser suit. Samsui women often performed menial jobs in the early construction industry and other industries that required hard labour. Date of creation estimated. Title devised by Library staff.
From the Kouo Shang-Wei Collection 郭尚慰珍藏. All rights reserved, Family of Kouo Shang-Wei and National Library Board Singapore 2007
