AMEN ! FOR GENERATIONS THE WHITE WOMEN'S BURDEN IN STEAMY SOUTHEAST ASIA 
HAS BEEN SHOULDERED BY AMAHS, THE SOFTFOOTED, TOUGH-FIBERED MAIDSERVANTS WHO WERE 
RECRUITED FROM THE CHINESE MAINLAND . WHILE THE AMAH (LITERALLY, " 
LITTLE MOTHER / ) COOKED, CLEANED AND LOOKED AFTER THE CHILDREN, 
THE COLONEL'S LADY OR PLANTER'S WIFE SPENT HER MORNINGS AT TENNIS, 
HER AFTERNOONS AT BRIDGE, AND APPEARED FRESHLY STARCHED ON THE VERANDA 
AT SUNDOWN TO GREET HER RETURNING HUSBAND WITH COLD STINGERS, HOT 
CURRY AND ETERNAL COMPLAINT ABOUT THE HARDSHIPS OF LIFE IN THE 
TROPICS . IN MALAYA AND SINGAPORE TODAY, A MEM-SAHIB IS MORE 
APT TO SPEND HER DAY SCREAMING AT THE AMAH, DOING THE 
HOUSEWORK HERSELF, OR ELSE TRYING TO POACH THE PERFECT GEM WHO 
WORKS FOR THE ARBUTHNOTS . FOR THE OLD-STYLE AMAHS, WHOSE WHITE 
TUNICS, BLACK SILK PAJAMA TROUSERS AND SMOOTHLY BRAIDED HAIR MADE THEM 
LOOK LIKE PIGTAILED PENGUINS, BELONG TO A DYING RACE . SMASHED 
WEDGWOOD . MOST NEW NATIONS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE 
ALREADY WITH CHINESE MINORITIES AND ARE DEAD-SET AGAINST BRINGING IN MORE 
REFUGEES FROM THE MAINLAND . HASTENING THEIR EXTINCTION IS THE FACT 
THAT MANY OF THE FINER AMAHS ARE CANTONESE WOMEN WHO TRADITIONALLY 
BELONG TO KONGSIS, OR SISTERHOODS, THAT PLEDGE THEM TO SPINSTERHOOD . 
AMAHS FROM HAINAN, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE USUALLY MARRIED . 
THEIR HUSBANDS USED TO BE ADMIRABLE CRICHTONS OF COLONIAL SOCIETY, AND 
THEIR DAUGHTERS IN TIME USED TO FOLLOW MOTHER'S FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE 
GLEAMING FLOORS . THOUGH WELL-TRAINED AMAHS NOWADAYS EARN UP TO $70 
A MONTH A HIGH WAGE FOR MALAYA THEIR DAUGHTERS MOSTLY PREFER 
OFFICE AND FACTORY JOBS THAT GIVE THEM GREATER FREEDOM WITH NO 
OVERTONES OF COLONIALISM . THEIR PLACES ARE BEING TAKEN BY A 
NEW GENERATION OF FLIBBERTIGIBBETS WHOSE MINDS ARE APT TO BE MORE 
ON MEN THAN HELPING THE " MEM . " MOSTLY MALAYAN 
OR INDIAN GIRLS, WITH A SPRINKLING OF UNTRAINED CHINESE, THEY ARE 
PRETTIER AND MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN THEIR FOREBEARS AND, SAY THEIR MEMS, 
OFTEN DOWNRIGHT INSOLENT . FOR THEIR PART, THE MAIDS COMPLAIN BITTERLY 
THAT THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING MALAYAN MIDDLE CLASS IS EVEN MORE TYRANNICAL 
THAN THE BOSSIEST BRITONS . IF FLEDGLING AMAHS HAVE A TALENT 
FOR SMASHING THE WEDGWOOD, THE WIVES OF BRITISH SOLDIERS AND TECHNICIANS, 
COMING FROM A LAND WHERE SERVANTS HAVE VANISHED FROM ALL BUT 
THE STATELIEST HOMES, TEND TO BE EVEN CLUMSIER AT HANDLING THE 
HELP . WAILED ONE SUB-LIEUTENANT'S WIFE WHO RECENTLY HIRED HER FIRST 
MAID : / I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO TREAT HER AS 
A SERVANT OR A SISTER . " FRINGE BENEFITS . THE 
AMAHS' ANSWER IS THAT THEY SHOULD BE TREATED AS CIVIL SERVANTS 
. IN MALAYA AN ARMY OF 1,000 AMAHS DONNED SUNDAY-BEST SARONGS, 
CHEONGSAMS AND SARIS, PILED INTO A FLEET OF BUSSES AND DROVE 
INTO KUALA LUMPUR, THE CAPITAL, WHERE THEY MINCED PRETTILY THROUGH THE 
WINDING STREETS WAVING PLACARDS INSCRIBED : WE WANT JUSTICE AND WE 
ARE NOT ANIMALS . THE DEMONSTRATION, WHICH LEFT BLIMPS SNORTING AND 
OLDSTYLE AMAHS SNEERING, CLIMAXED A COMPLICATED DISPUTE IN WHICH THE AMAHS' 
UNION IS CHALLENGING A BRITISH WAR OFFICE DECISION TO ABANDON ITS 
PRACTICE OF HIRING AND FIRING ALL THE AMAHS EMPLOYED BY MILITARY 
PERSONNEL . SOME 3,000 UNIONIZED AMAHS HAVE ALREADY FORCED THE BRITISH 
TO BOOST THEIR PAY AND CUT THEIR WORK TIME FROM 70 
TO 48 HOURS WEEKLY . BY REMAINING GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, THEY HOPE 
ALSO TO WIN FULL CIVIL SERVICE STATUS, WITH ITS RICH WELFARE 
BENEFITS . IN ITS ZEAL, THE UNION EVEN CABLED LONDON, " 
RESPECTFULLY " REQUESTING QUEEN ELIZABETH TO INTERVENE IN THE DISPUTE . 
AFTER UNSUCCESSFUL TALKS WITH THE MILITARY AND BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER SIR 
GEOFROY TORY, THE AROUSED AMAHS LAST WEEK DIRELY THREATENED A WALKOUT 
. FOR MANY OF THEIR MEMS, NO HELP AT ALL COULD 
HARDLY BE WORSE THAN THE HELPLESS HELP THEY HAD . 