Fort Siloso
The Dhobi
It looks as if this Indian laundry man is in real trouble for the quality of his work and is making the “usual excuses”! Laundry men were usually called ‘dhobi-wallahs’ by soldiers of the British Army. This was from days of service in India. The word dhobi means laundry, and a wallah is a person.
Dhobi Ghaut near Orchard Road in Singapore is named after the laundry facilities which used to be there in days gone by.
The photograph on the left shows a 1940s National Serviceman doing his dhobi at Fort Siloso. The tent on the left is the Dining Tent. At the top of the steep bank is Officers’ accommodation.