Jamu : the identification of female empowerment within Malay women in 20th century Singapore

Jamu is an Indonesian and Malay term for indigenous pharmaceuticals made from dried or fresh medicinal herbs—popular amongst the ethnical Malays within the Malay Archipelago, including Singapore. With Jamu, there are no dissociation between the notions of ‘care’ and ‘therapy.’ As such, when one (mainly, women) consumes it, Jamu would allow them to keep ‘healthy’ while maintaining their physical appearance. On a broader scale, Jamu also takes into consideration the role of women, where they are mainly responsible for the well-being of their families; hence, requiring them to be in their best physical condition. Therefore, I would like to further investigate: Did traditional-minded Malays observe an interdependence between the health of a female and the health of the society? How did they come about with this notion? How did the practice of Jamu reflect this perceived association? How did women come to dominate the Jamu industry and what does it reflect about traditional Malay understandings of health, medicine and womanhood? This thesis hopes to emphasize Jamu’s relation to health, business and cultural identity significantly amongst Malay women in Singapore in the twentieth century and eventually highlight Jamu’s identification of female empowerment, and how it impacted the larger society.Bachelor of Arts in Histor