Serial No: IAH010
Title: Dhoby Ghaut
Although almost every house has a washing machine today, I think our service is irreplaceable.
N. Santa Thevi Nagoo, born 1957
York Close, George Town
I was born and bred in Penang. My grandfather came from India. During his time, there was already a traditional Indian dhoby community settling at York Close and nearby area along the river. They were from the same village in India. The community mostly served the Indian business people in George Town. During the olden days, my father and husband used to go to George Town on bicycles and bring back huge piles of dirty laundries. The laundry process took a week to complete, from sorting, to washing, starching, drying, ironing, folding and sorting again before they were sent back to George Town. We worked seven days a week and hardly had any holidays because people depended on us for their daily wear.
In the past, we used the traditional method of handwashing by the riverside. The atmosphere was fun and memorable. Adults would be working and singing while the playing by the river. We still did washing by the river until the flood happened few years back. The river water became muddy and not suitable for cleaning anymore.
Today my son has taken over the management. He expanded the business to cover hotels and restaurants. He also brought in the semi-auto machines to fasten the washing process. Besides that, we basically still maintain the traditional way, e.g. we don’t use dryer. We prefer to dry the cloths under the sun. We also still practice the traditional boiling method for specific type of clothes, e.g. the sarees. Although almost every house has a washing machine today, I think our service is irreplaceable. Especially when it comes to cleaning of traditional Indian costume, we have the experience and expertise to treat the delicate fabric. And for the hotels, my customers told me, sun-dried linen smells better. The laundry business is not an easy job, like the generations before us, my son is also working seven days a week. But I am proud of our heritage and I hope we can preserve it for as long as possible.
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