PAYING TRIBUTE TO SAMSUI WOMEN – THE SMALL COLLECTION WITH A BIG HEART

Singapore, June 2009 - Museum Shop by Banyan Tree celebrates Singapore’s 44th birthday with a locally hand-stitched collection celebrating the iconic Samsui women, who contributed to Singapore's development, both as a colony and as a nation. The collaboration between special needs groups with the Banyan Tree brand, has resulted in the retail partnership for the keepsake 100-piece Samsui Women Collection, which range from paperweights to keychains.

Through its role as a socially responsible tourism retailer to conserve national and cultural resources, Museum Shop by Banyan Tree is proud to collaborate with Gift and Take (GAT) Pte Ltd and Homespun in commissioning and developing the memorabilia collection. Inspired by the shared business ethos to provide equitable employment for the disadvantaged, all the products are handcrafted in Singapore by special needs youth, abused mothers, maids and the old folks at the Tiong Bahru Befrienders Service. As a platform for budding Asian designers, Homespun actively reaches out to cottage industries to inspire craft creation. GAT retains its profits and shares expertise within the organisation to promote continued growth for the groups it works with.

“We are excited to be working with GAT for the first time, to introduce a quality handcrafted range of Samsui women products which will be showcased to the world in Museum Shop. We hope this small collection will go a long way in benefitting the members of these talented local groups that have devoted their efforts into crafting the Samsui Women Collection,” said Ms. Applelynn Teo, Group Director, Gallery Design & Production, Banyan Tree Gallery.

About the Samsui Women
The Samsui Women are a remarkable group of women from Samsui county in Guangzhou province in Southern China, who travelled to Singapore in the early twentieth century to seek their fortunes. Many of them performed menial jobs in the early construction industry in their signature navy blue outfits and bright red headgear, which were meant for protecting their hair as they worked. They carried rocks, dug holes and conducted physical labour that defied their small physical stature.

Available from 15 June 2009, the Samsui Women Collection includes

         •  Samsui Woman Doorstopper RP: SGD 45.00 (excluding GST)
         •  Samsui Woman Paperweight RP: SGD 14.90 (excluding GST)
         •  Samsui Woman Pencil Case RP: SGD 14.90(excluding GST)
         •  Clogs RP: SGD 8.00 (excluding GST) 
         •  Samsui Woman Post-it Holder RP: SGD 9.50 (excluding GST) 
         •  Samsui Women Plush Keychain RP: SGD 8.90 inclusive of GST.

This collection is available at:

Museum Shop by Banyan Tree
Asian Civilisations Museum
1 Empress Place Road
Tel: (65) 6336 9050
Opening hours: Mon 1 pm-7pm, Tue-Sun 9am-7pm, Fri 9am-9pm

Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Tel: (65) 6338 1016
Opening hours: Daily 10am-7pm

National Museum of Singapore
93 Stamford Road, #01-03
Tel: (65) 6336 3670
Opening hours: Mon-Thu, Sun 10am-7pm; Fri-Sat 10am-8pm

Peranakan Museum
39 Armenian Street
Tel: (65) 6336 9239
Opening hours: Daily 10am to 7pm

For further information, please visit Museum Shop’s website at www.museumshop.com.sg or Banyan Tree Gallery’s website at http://www.banyantreegallery.com.