The Rotunda and Immigrant Labour

Chinese and Indian labourers and craftsmen were employed to construct the former Supreme Court building. It was recorded that there were two hundred Chinese and Indian workmen at the site during its construction phase. Apart from male workers, photographs of Samsui women laying the floor in the Rotunda appeared in the local newspaper. Samsui Women were Chinese migrant labourers in the construction industry known for their trademark red headdresses. These Chinese women were driven by economic pressures from their homeland and arrived in Singapore for work as well as marriage prospects. Image from Sunday Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited