Samsui women were Cantonese and Hakka immigrants from three districts in Sanshui county of Guangdong province in Southern China namely, Sanshui, Shun De and Dong Guan. San Shui or Sam Sui in Cantonese, means three waters, a reference to three rivers that flow there, namely the West River, North River and Sui River which are branches of the river Zhu Jiang. The Samsui women had their name derived from their place of origin — the Sam Sui district of Sanshui county. They were usually spinsters who arrived in Singapore with the earliest of immigrants in the 1820s. Adorned with their trademark red 'hat', they performed menial jobs in the early construction industry.

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