Bungalows are one story high, with a roof of palm thatch, and are raised above
the ground from two to five feet by brick pillars, leaving an open space for light
and air beneath. Nearly every day it rains for an hour in torrents. The hot,
steaming earth absorbs the water, and the fierce equatorial sun evaporates it,
only to return it in a like shower the next day. So every precaution must be taken
against dampness and dry-rot.
In every well-ordered bungalow seven to nine servants are an absolute necessity,
while three others are usually added from time to time. The five elements, if I
may so style them, are the “boy,” or boys, the cook and his helpers, the
horseman, the water-carrier, the gardener, and the maid. The adjuncts are the
barber, the wash man, the tailor, and the watchman. In a mild way, you are at the
mercy of these servants. Their duties are fixed by caste, one never intruding on
the work of another. You must have all or none. Still this is no hardship. Only
newcomers ever think, of trying to economize on servant bills. The record of the
thermometer is too appalling, and you speedily become too dependent on their
attentions.
The Chinese “boy”—he is always the “boy” until he dies—is the presiding
genius of the house. He it is who brings your tea and fruit to the bedside at 6
A.M., and lays out your evening suit ready for dinner, puts your studs in your
clean shirt, brings your slippers, knows where each individual article of your
wardrobe is kept, and, in fact, thinks of a hundred and one little comforts you
would never have known of, had he not discovered them. He is your valet de
chambre, your butler, your steward and your general agent, your interpreter and
your directory. He controls the other servants with a rod of iron, but bows to the
earth before the mem, or the master. For his ten Mexican dollars a month he
takes all the burdens from your shoulders, and stands between you and the rude
outside polyglot world. He is a hero-worshipper, and if you are a Tuan Besar—
great man—he will double his attentions, and spread your fame far and wide
among his brother majordomos.
But a description of each member of the ménage and their duties would be in a
large measure the description of the odd, complex life of the East.
The growth of Singapore since its founding by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819
would do honor to the growth of one of our Western cities.