GEORGE TOWN, May 30 — It started with a song by three MaJies as they croon lullabies to the babies in their arms, moving through the audience, emphasising their roles as domestic caretakers in a land far from their homes.
The first scene soon leads into a story about Hou Jie and the story behind the MaJies who left their home in Guangdong, China to work as domestic caretakers in Malaya and Singapore in the 1930s.
Told in the perspective of Si En, a young woman whom Hou Jie raised like her own daughter, the theatre performance of “The Letters Never Sent” is an immersive experience delivered in the MaJies’ native tongue, Cantonese, interspersed with English narration by Si En.
With a cast of only six actors, the performance delivers its message on the resilience, struggles and strength of the MaJies by drawing the audience in, inviting participation in select scenes, and guiding them through the MaJie’s journey.
The second scene depicting girls being sent away in early 20th-century China due to poverty, often in arranged marriages to men decades older than them. — Picture by Opalyn Mok
The experience begins at Journal Café and 25 Stewart Lane — both formerly MaJie Kongsi Fong — after which the audience is led through the streets, with scenes unfolding by the roadside, along walkways, in the gardens of 23 Love Lane, and concluding at Seven Terraces Hotel.
It was a one-hour performance that showcased the struggles of Hou Jie set against the atmospheric backdrop of George Town’s heritage enclave of Muntri Street, Love Lane and Stewart Lane.
A scene capturing the moment girls choose independence as self-combed women over lives bound by forced marriage. — Picture by Opalyn Mok
According to Soonufat Supramaniam, co-creator of the theatre performance, the production is the finale of a three-month-long initiative, ‘Remembering and Celebrating the Lives and Contributions of MaJies’ (RCLCM).
“Over the last three months, we have held talks with personal testimonies of those who knew or were brought up by MaJies, documentaries, an exhibition, a heritage walk and a film screening of a true MaJie life story,” he said.
For co-creator, producer, and director Chan Lean Heng, it was the memories of her childhood, growing up next to a MaJie Kongsi Fong on Stewart Lane, that spurred her to delve into the stories of these remarkable women.
The opening scene of the MaJies crooning lullabies to babies in their arms. — Picture by Opalyn Mok
“When I was young, I was intrigued by them so when a researcher from China contacted me to ask about the MaJies here, it inspired me to start this project,” she said.
She said the story of the MaJie is one of early resistance by Chinese women against patriarchy, as they chose economic independence and a life of celibacy in order to live lives of frugality and service.
She added that the MaJies had strong support networks and helped finance their respective village clan associations.
“I believe there were about seven MaJie Kongsi Fong in George Town at one point so this theatre performance is Penang’s tribute to the MaJie,” she said.
The MaJies are known as ‘self-combed women’ who took vows of celibacy to take charge of their own lives, instead of being married off, and survive in collective solidarity.
Hou Jie taking the vow of celibacy as a self-combed woman. — Picture by Opalyn Mok
Often recognisable by their white top, black pants and a single braid, either down their back or pinned in a knot, Chan said the MaJies were more than domestic workers as they had left indelible marks on the families and communities they served.
“This performance is to honour these MaJies, not as relics of a forgotten era, but as living memories with a strong legacy that can continue to inspire our present and future generations,” she said.
Tickets to the “The Letters Never Sent” are now on sale for three shows per day, 4pm, 6pm and 8pm, for three days only, May 30, May 31 and June 1.
Tickets are available online here.
