Haji Mahadi

Jewel in the Slum

Fatima lives with her mother, working with her as a seamstress. Disappointed by her mother’s gambling addiction, she decides to work as a singer at a nightclub. There, Fatima meets Abdullah, a businessman whose wife, Endon, constantly mocks and humiliates him. Abdullah soon falls in love with Fatima and they begin an affair. However, Abdullah’s colleague is also smitten with her, and when Endon finds out about her husband’s relationship, she plots with his colleague to expose the affair. It is the first Malay film helmed by a Singaporean Malay under the Malay Film Productions, Shaw Brothers. Made in 1952, the musical drama witnesses an abusive relationship that results in an extra marital affair.

Life

In the Katong area, in eastern Singapore, lives Jaafar, a rich man, together with his wife Rubiah and her brother, the charming but badly-behaved Salim. One day, Salim visits his grandfather in Johor, where he meets a young and attractive girl, Salbiah. Salbiah's family is deeply in debt to a man, and unable to pay him back. The only solution is for Salbiah to marry that man. Salim, after sympathizing with Salbiah, promises to help raise the money. Ecstatic and thankful, Salbiah gives her chastity to Salim. Back in Singapore, Salim, after a long silence, writes to her that he in fact cannot help her and that he will not see her again. Heartbroken, Salbiah leaves her family and starts wandering through Singapore in search of the treacherous Salim.