Amahs

Here's a picture of Azizah, our Amah. All the forces families had an amah and she would help with the cleaning, ironing and looking after the kids. We loved Azizah and I wish that we'd kept in touch after we returned to England. I think she might have had difficulty writing English though and we knew little Malayan. Azizah was 25 years old in this picture and with her is her children, Fadzilah and Fadzil. The photo was taken at our home in Jalan Wijaya. Azizah lived somewhere near to us but I can't remember where. Alan told me that we once went to her house when it was one of her children's birthdays but I can't remember. I wish I could! I remember that Azizah taught us some Malayan. 'Terimah Kashi' which meant 'thank you' and 'sama-sama' which meant 'you're welcome'. She probably taught us some other phrases but I've long forgotten them. My mum would give stuff to Azizah including toys for the kids. She once asked her if she wanted some table cloths which she was very happy with. The next time we saw her, her husband was wearing them! Fadzilah and Fadzil used to come to our birthday parties, I don't think they spoke much English. I would love to know what happened to them all and I hope they remember us as fondly as we do them.