Domestic Maids (Amah) in Malay Households in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

This chapter is a case study of the everyday lives of Indonesian domestic maids (amah) working in Brunei Darussalam. It gives an account of the lives, hardships and dreams of five Javanese women employed in Malay households. The chapter also reveals the ways in which their roles as domestic maids abroad have altered the dynamics of gender and power relations in their own traditionally patriarchal households back home in Java, albeit by degrees.