Our Wonderful Amah

So our life together began.

At first, my Americanized husband did not want to have a lived-in help. (He had been away from HK too long.) He did not like the idea of having someone besides the family there 24/7.  Although, even in our small apartment, there was an area provided for a lived-in help, with a small bedroom and a tiny bath.

Let me explain, the middle class life in HK is very different from the middle class life in the U.S., even today. 

Remember this was in 1957. 
Ordinary people in HK had no dishwashers, no washers, no dryers, and no large freezers (we had an apartment-size refrigerator). 
Most of us would tell you Frozen Foods were not edible. Foods had to be Fresh. People shopped everyday. 
Clothes were washed by hand. Yes, there were ironings to be done and so on. Besides clothing, we had our sheets ironed those days! Even underwear!
Most middle class people had at least one servant, a lived-in one. If you are well off, you have more than one servant, plus the cook, and the Chauffeur. If you are rich, then you have a fleet of servants . . .  
You get the picture.

So anyway, I agreed to have a day helper. 

Well, of course, that didn't work.

Both of us were working, I was at the U.S. Cultural Center and S.C. was teaching. I did not have time to go to market everyday - not to mention, preparing the meals, cleaning up, do the washing and so on. 

Besides, I always had everything done for me except for the time I was in London - I did have to do a bit of cleaning and a little cooking then. But I went to the laundromat for the laundry. I did not have to cook and clean for my room-mate!

So, after a couple of weeks, we ended up with one lived-in amah. 

Our amah, like all the servants, was a professional. 
She always wore a spotless white top, and black wide-legged pants. She had her hair in a long pigtail - neat and tidy. 
She was trained to be an amah, she was very proud of her profession.
 
She was a wonderful cook, a great housekeeper, and a super great organizer. She catered to our needs without us having to say a word.
She had a free hand in preparing the meals and running the household. 
She was loyal and trust-worthy.
She was a jewel.
She liked working for us, because we were not home during the day, that gave her some free time. We did not make her work late, and we certainly were not at all demanding as some other HK people. 
We provided her with a decent place to live, good food to eat , and a fair pay each month plus bonuses of clothing and cash.

She took great care of us, better than I could have.

We bought a little car, which we used on weekends  - visiting our families.

We lived on the peninsula, but worked on the island. During the week, we took the bus to the wharf, then took the ferry across the harbor to the island everyday.

We went to the movies a lot in the evenings. (There was no televisions at homes then.) We would have mango ice cream afterwards.

Life was good.

But S.C. was not happy with teaching.