QCI061
This traditional tunic belongs to Mak Ngan Yuk who worked as an ah Mar (nanny) for 60 years until she retire a few years ago. She spent 40 years working for Tai Ching and was the nanny for Tai Ching's youngest son, ah Fung. At the age of 82, she is one of the few remaining women who performed the combed up ceremony. Once a woman has been combed, she vow never to get married and begins to dress in the traditional tunic and wears her hair in a pigtail. She is no longer obliged to her parents and any money she makes is hers to keep. Many women performed the ceremony at the first half of the 20th century, mostly working as domestic helpers, they can be found all over southern Asia.