Journal • 妇女历史月 • March 15，2026 ｜ Past Issues 前期

Samsui Women followed the love stories of two poor village girls from Samsui, China, who migrated to Singapore to work in construction around World War II: Dai Ah-Gui (henceforth “Cassia” for “Gui”, portrayed by Zeng Huifen), 18, and Dai Ah-Xiu (“Grace”, portrayed by Hong Huifang), 17. As close as sisters, they were each other’s greatest support. Both found love in Singapore, Cassia with the flamboyant truck driver Su Ah-Zhi (“Arthur”), and Grace with an honest policeman Li Ah-Long (“Long”). But neither could marry the man she loved because of family traditions and wartime circumstances. 

Cassia’s engagement to Arthur ended when her family arranged her marriage to Er-Niu, who later came to Singapore with his concubine and their infant son. Too inept and lazy to work, Er-Niu and his family became Cassia’s new dependents. Although illiterate and performing hard labor, Cassia taught herself to read and write and acquired construction skills from Grace's former father-in-law. Arthur left Singapore when it fell to Japan and returned after World War II, by which time Er-Niu had died in a revenge killing. Cassia and Arthur got married and adopted Er-Niu’s son after the boy’s mother abandoned him. They had two daughters.

Grace, who worked for a time at a coffee shop run as a brothel, was rejected by Long’s family. To pay another Samsui woman’s medical bill, she married the wealthy Zhuang Jr., who was dying of tuberculosis. During Japan’s invasion of Singapore, she suffered a pregnancy loss and, after her husband’s death, was expelled from the family. She opened a coffee shop and later married Mr. Luo, a Japanese informant and the only person who appreciated her character. Luo was killed when Japan surrendered in 1945.

After the war, Grace rekindled her love with Long, who was then engaged to another woman. Devastated but convinced he would be better off with the other woman, Grace refused Long's proposal and married a construction foreman who already had three wives. The third wife, who frequently fought Grace, killed the foreman when he tried to steal her jewelry. In the ensuing chaos, Grace was pushed down a steep staircase and crashed into Cassia, who was pregnant. Grace was disabled by the fall, and Cassia became infertile. 

By the end of the war, Cassia had led several small construction projects but lacked capital to take on larger ones, so Arthur sold his truck to support her first major project. As Cassia became successful, Arthur grew jealous and family tensions rose. With two young daughters, Cassia gave up her career while Arthur launched a successful transportation business. At Grace’s intervention, her former father-in-law persuaded Arthur to let Cassia return to work. She went on to complete some of Singapore’s biggest construction projects. 

The blame Grace received from her actions, along with the guilt she felt, turned her into a recluse who often lived on the streets. The only people she loved were Cassia’s children and grandchildren. Decades later, at a Samsui women reunion, she died while playing with Cassia’s grandchild.

《红头巾》主要讲述从三水来的两个山村姑娘，于二战期间在新加坡作建筑工人的遭遇：18岁的戴阿桂（曾慧芬扮演）和17岁的戴阿秀（洪慧芳扮演）。她俩情同姐妹，彼此照顾。在新加坡都遇到了相爱的人：阿桂的恋人是开机车的激进青年苏阿治，阿秀的恋人是正直的警察李阿龙。但由于家庭传统和战时事故，两人都嫁给了他人，引来无数的烦恼。

在阿桂和阿治刚要成亲前夕，家乡来信说她已经被许配给陈二牛。阿桂遵循传统断掉了和阿治的亲事，攒钱将二牛接到新加坡，没料到他真是个二牛子，带来小老婆和儿子不说，还好吃懒做，到处生是非，一家三口成了阿桂的负担。阿桂很上进，学会了认字和算盘，还从阿秀的前公公那里学到建筑知识。阿治在日本占据新加坡时离开国土，二战后回家来发现陈二牛遭报应死了。阿桂和阿治终于成亲，领养了二牛小老婆弃掉的儿子。他俩有两个女儿。

阿秀来新后，曾做过一段咖啡妹，应付有钱的花花公子。阿龙家嫌弃她品行不正。一次，山水妇女的领头英姐大病，为了负她的医疗费，阿秀嫁给了建筑商的儿子、肺病晚期的庄少爷。日本侵占新加坡时，动乱中阿秀流产；庄少爷不久便去世了，庄母得知阿秀已经没了胎儿时将她驱逐出家。阿秀开了一家咖啡店，然后嫁给了日本汉奸骆老板，他害死了阿龙一家，但也救了不少人，是唯一欣赏阿秀的胆识和为人的人。1945年日本投降后，骆老板被人打死。 

二战结束后，阿秀和阿龙重温故情，但阿龙在战争期间已经有了未婚妻。阿秀唯一的真爱是阿龙，虽然阿龙的亲事让她心碎，她觉得阿龙跟那个女人一起会更幸福。阿龙转念后想和她成亲，但阿秀拒绝了他，转身嫁给了已经有三个老婆的包工头。她和三姨太阿荣是死对头，挑衅中阿荣在包工头偷她的首饰时将他打死，并将阿秀打下很高的台阶，撞到了怀有身孕的阿桂身上。阿秀从此瘸了腿，而阿桂丢了胎儿，此后不育。

到二战结束时，阿桂已经开始带领一些小的建筑项目，但没有本钱接大的项目。阿治卖掉了他的机车，凑钱让她做了第一个大项目。但阿桂事业的成功给阿治带来心理不平衡，觉得自己在家里是个家庭妇女。为了家事，阿桂放弃了她的事业，而阿治开启了成功的交通事业。阿秀偶遇前公公庄老板，要他帮阿桂。庄老板说服了阿治，阿桂重回建筑业，和庄老板联手建筑了新加坡最高的大厦之一。

大家不理解阿秀的作为，责怪她，她自己对阿荣和包工头也内疚，从此她不愿和他人打交道，时常流落在街头。唯一让她心痛的人是阿桂的儿孙。数十年后，一次山水妇女聚会时，阿秀和阿桂的孙子在一边玩儿，她突然死去。

Samsui Women was a highly successful TV drama series in Singapore in the 1980s, in part because it gave voice to women at the bottom of society – uneducated migrant laborers working in construction. But how well does the series stand the test of time? What insights do we gain from watching it decades later?

At the time of this review, the series was forty years old and its storyline nearly a century removed from the present. Traditions that restricted women a hundred years ago – arranged marriage and polygyny – seem unimaginable today. While romantic love, such as that between Cassia and Arthur, eventually prevailed, Cassia chose to honor her arranged marriage. Polygyny, the practice of a man having multiple wives, was made worse by those men publicly asserting their right to abuse their wives. Today, such traditions are widely rejected, making Cassia’s acceptance of her arranged marriage hard to believe, even unjustifiable.

Those changing values, in which women’s agency is increasingly recognized, place Grace’s actions in a more favorable light today than a century ago. Despite her tragic end, Grace was the one who frequently challenged traditions, doing what she believed was right even when others judged her immoral. As beloved as Cassia was for her selflessness, Grace may be the drama’s understated hero – saving the Samsui women from the Japanese and paying their expenses at critical moments. Even her vices – vengeance toward those who wronged her and jealousy of Cassia – felt human. Notably, the only person who appreciated her character was her second husband, the Japanese informant whom everyone else despised.

Earlier plot summaries framed Cassia as a self-righteous, successful businesswoman, while Grace is described as making repeated misjudgments in her three failed marriages. Yet these summaries reflect less the perspective of the drama itself than a projection of the commentators’ own moral values. Samsui Women was successful because it resisted rigid moral judgment. The “good” characters – Cassia, Arthur, Long, and Sister Ying – were flawed in their own way. In contrast, the actions of its “villains” were rational, even heroic, given the circumstances. 

While presenting these moral dilemmas, Samsui Women withheld final judgment. Instead, it granted humanity to all its characters by focusing on the love among them: romantic love between Cassia and Arthur, and Grace and Long; familial love between Sister Ying and her son, and Grandpa Su and Arthur; and the sisterhood among the Samsui women themselves. Herein lies the timeless value of Samsui Women – a tribute to the enduring love among people, even when they are imperfect and followed outdated traditions.

Samsui Women was a highly successful TV drama series in Singapore in the 1980s, in part because it gave voice to women at the bottom of society – uneducated migrant laborers working in construction. But how well does the series stand the test of time? What insights do we gain from watching it decades later?

At the time of this review, the series was forty years old and its storyline nearly a century removed from the present. Traditions that restricted women a hundred years ago – arranged marriage and polygyny – seem unimaginable today. While romantic love, such as that between Cassia and Arthur, eventually prevailed, Cassia chose to honor her arranged marriage. Polygyny, the practice of a man having multiple wives, was made worse by those men publicly asserting their right to abuse their wives. Today, such traditions are widely rejected, making Cassia’s acceptance of her arranged marriage hard to believe, even unjustifiable.

Those changing values, in which women’s agency is increasingly recognized, place Grace’s actions in a more favorable light today than a century ago. Despite her tragic end, Grace was the one who frequently challenged traditions, doing what she believed was right even when others judged her immoral. As beloved as Cassia was for her selflessness, Grace may be the drama’s understated hero – saving the Samsui women from the Japanese and paying their expenses at critical moments. Even her vices – vengeance toward those who wronged her and jealousy of Cassia – felt human. Notably, the only person who appreciated her character was her second husband, the Japanese informant whom everyone else despised.

Earlier plot summaries framed Cassia as a self-righteous, successful businesswoman, while Grace is described as making repeated misjudgments in her three failed marriages. Yet these summaries reflect less the perspective of the drama itself than a projection of the commentators’ own moral values. Samsui Women was successful because it resisted rigid moral judgment. The “good” characters – Cassia, Arthur, Long, and Sister Ying – were flawed in their own way. In contrast, the actions of its “villains” were rational, even heroic, given the circumstances. 

While presenting these moral dilemmas, Samsui Women withheld final judgment. Instead, it granted humanity to all its characters by focusing on the love among them: romantic love between Cassia and Arthur, and Grace and Long; familial love between Sister Ying and her son, and Grandpa Su and Arthur; and the sisterhood among the Samsui women themselves. Herein lies the timeless value of Samsui Women – a tribute to the enduring love among people, even when they are imperfect and followed outdated traditions.