As a native Cantonese person born in Hong Kong, I have a special passion towards Meh Dai baby carrier. I am going to explore the history, culture and socio-economical influence of this piece of tool and artefact which is so closed to any Cantonese person's heart.

1. The Mystery of Meh Dai
Alice Chau

2. The Mystery of Meh Dai
•Meh Dai, aka Mei Tai
•Everyone said Mei Tai is
originally from China, but is
it?

3. The language
• 孭帶
• Meh Dai is a Cantonese word, not
mandarin word or any other
Chinese languages.
• ‘Meh’ = ‘carry’, e.g. carrying a bag
• ‘Dai’ =‘strap’ if uses as noun, or
‘bring’ if uses as a verb

4. 子

8. 子

11. 孭帶

12. Quick note:
Just a quick note about the
whole Mei Tai vs Meh Dai saga…
You are welcome to ask me
more questions afterwards.

13. • Not possible to 100% accurate to
romanise Cantonese language –
there have been many attempts, e.g.
early British scholars, modern
attempt for computers
• Some sound just doesn’t exist
• And we have 9 tones

14. • The new spelling is another
failed attempt
• We also need new spelling for
all other words
E.g. Chow mein, dim sum,
wonton, ketchup, kung fu, my
name (!)

15. Unless everyone just
learn Cantonese!

16. • There is genuine cultural
appropriation in this world, e.g.
certain Chinese restaurant in Dublin
(ask me for the name afterwards if
you are interested!), fake Chinese
outfit, etc
• But I just can’t see another
romantisation replacing the existing
one solve the problem
• At home, we call the ‘Chinese sling’

17. SHOCKING NEWS!
But we actually call every sling
Meh Dai in Cantonese!

18. Modern vs traditional

19. So what is a Meh Dai?
A Meh Dai usually consists of one rectangular panel
with 4 straps

20. Demostration
A traditional way to use a Meh Dai

21. BUT!
Due to the way the 4 straps sit on the
chest, sometimes we call the
‘traditional Meh Dai’
 the ‘four claws Meh Dai’

22. So is Meh Dai chinese?
• After hours of research, I cannot find any
artifacts of Mei Dai from China on the
internet! However, I can’t find any artifact of
mother, or child for that matter! So it could be
just be the fact that motherhood and
parenting is not something that are respected
in Chinese history. As a result, historian didn’t
feel the need to record anything.

23. So is Meh Dai chinese?
• Since the object is made with fabric, it’s also
impossible to preserve well enough until now.
• I believe in order to seriously explore the
origin of Cantonese Mei Tai, I will need to have
access to Chinese library, probably in the
University of Hong Kong or in the National
Museum in Beijing, which is not possible at
the moment.

24. So is Meh Dai chinese?
• However, for the purpose of this presentation,
we can look into Meh Dai in the post-war
Hong Kong time
• We can also explore the role of Meh Dai from
a cultural, socio-economical point of view at
the turn of the 20th century and its current
development in Hong Kong.

25. Meh Dai as
a social-economical force
in Hong Kong
• Post war economy
• Meh Dai as a crucial device for survival
• Women could work while minding
children
• Siblings can help with child minding
• Baby off the floor!

40. Meh Dai as
cultural artifacts

41. Meh Dai as
cultural artifacts

42. Meh Dai as
cultural artifacts

43. Meh Dai as identity

44. Meh Dai as identity

45. Meh Dai as identity

46. Meh Dai as fashion icon

47. Meh Dai as fashion icon

48. Past vs Present

50. Thank you!