Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu was born on 3rd of Sept, 1899 in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia as Sybil Medan Kathigasu to an Irish-Eurasian planter (Joseph Daly) and a French Eurasian midwife (Beatrice Matilda nee Marlin). Her middle name derived from her birthplace, Medan. Sybil was a Malayan nurse who supported the resistance during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya in 1940. She was the only Malayan woman to be ever awarded with the George Medal for her bravery. She could speak malay, english and cantonese fluently. She and her husband operated a clinic at Brewster Road (now Jalan Sultan ldris Shah) in Ipoh from 1926 until the Japanese Invasion of Malaya. They escaped to a nearby town of Papan before Japanese forces occupied Ipoh. Her husband, Dr Abdon Clement Kathigasu was known as 'You Loy-De' by the Chinese community when he was still alive.

Japanese Occupation in Malaya

In her town, Papan, Kathigasu secretly kept shortwave radio sets to get the news from BBC broadcasts. She and her husband supplied medicines, medical services and information to the resistance forces until they were arrested in 1943. Even though she was tortured by the Japanese military police, she persisted in her efforts and was thrown in Batu Gajah jail. After Malaya was liberated in August 1945, she was flown for medical treatment in Britain where she began her memoirs there. In 1948, she received the George Medal for gallantry several months before her death the same year.

Marriage and Family

Sybil's husband was a Ceylonese (now Sri Lankan) Tamil from Taiping. He was born on 17th of June, 1892 and was raised in Taiping. He married Sybil in St John's Church on 7th of January 1919 in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. Her first child was born in 1919 but died after only 19 hours. The baby was named as 'Michael' after Sybil's elder brother who was killed in Gallipoli in 1915 as a member of the British Army. She adopted a young boy, William Pillay, who was born on 25th of October, 1918 as her son. On 26th of February, 1921, her daughter, Olga was born in Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur. Her second daughter, Dawn, was born in Ipoh on 21st of September, 1936.

Death and Memorial

Sybil Kathigasu died at the age of 48 on 4th of June, 1948 in Britain. She was first buried in Lanark, Scotland. Her body was later returned to Ipoh in 1949 and reburied at the Roman Catholic Cemetery beside St Michael's Church at Brewster Road in Ipoh. In commemorate her bravery, a road in Fair Park, Ipoh was named after her (Jalan Syabil Kathigasu). The shop house at no 74, Main Road, Papan serves as a memorial to her and her efforts.

Published works

Her first novel, 'No Dram of Mercy' was first published by Neville Spearman in 1954; reprinted in 1983 by the Oxford University Press; and reprinted by Prometheus Enterprises in 2006. A biography on her life entitled 'Faces of Courage: A Revealing Historical Appreciation of Colonial Malaya's Legendary Kathigasu Family', written by Norma Miraflor and Ian Ward was published in 2006.

(Source: Wikipedia)