Last of Penang’s mah-jeh dies in nursing home at 97

SISTER Gong Liu Jiao, believed to be the last mah-jeh or amah in Penang, has died at the age of 97, Sin Chew reported.

She was admitted to Peace and Harmony Home in Penang on Dec 13 and passed away five days later.

Prior to that, she had been staying alone until she fell and sustained a bone fracture.

The Chinese daily reported that Sister Gong was from Panyu in Guangzhou, China.

She came to Penang with 17 “sisters” from the same village and they bought a “retirement home” in order to live together.

The mah-jeh were house servants from China who came to Malaya after 1930. They were multi-tasking governesses or female butlers, known for their loyalty and dedication to the master of the household.

To be free of patriarchal society, they took vows of celibacy. They wore their hair in a long plait and donned white blouses and black pants as their uniform.

Peace and Harmony Home founder Tan Swee Ban said Sister Gong’s funeral would be held at 2pm at the home today.

> A couple in China invited five other couples and an elderly widow to live in their “eight-room retirement bungalow” of over 2,000sq ft in Zhejiang province in China.

Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported that the couple started to look for “housemates” who love mahjong games in July.

They interviewed over 20 couples before deciding to take on the current occupants.

One of the occupants, known only as Uncle Zhao, said his wife liked to play mahjong and since he had nothing to do at home, he decided to move to the bungalow with his wife.

“Although there were slight disputes at first, after about five months of living together everyone has learned to tolerate each other and live peacefully,” he said.