Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu (née Daly) GM (1899–1948) was a Eurasian Malayan nurse who supported the resistance during the Japanese occupation of Malaya. She is the only Malayan woman to be ever awarded with the George Medal for bravery.

Background

Sybil Kathigasu was born Sybil Medan Daly to an Irish-Eurasian planter (Joseph Daly) and a French-Eurasian midwife (Beatrice Matilda Daly née Martin) on 3 September 1899 in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia. Her middle name reflects her birthplace, Medan. Her paternal grandparents were an Irishman and a Eurasian woman while her maternal grandparents were a Frenchman (Pierre Louie Martin) and a Eurasian woman (Evelyn Adeline Martin née Morrett). She was the fifth child and the only girl. She was trained as a nurse and midwife and spoke Cantonese fluently. She and her husband, Dr. Abdon Clement Kathigasu, operated a clinic at No 141 Brewster Road (now Jalan Sultan Idris Shah) in Ipoh from 1926 until the Japanese invasion of Malaya.

The family escaped to the nearby town of Papan days before Japanese forces occupied Ipoh. The local Chinese community fondly remembered Dr. AC Kathigasu and gave him a Hakka nickname "You Loy-De".

Freedom fighter

Residing at No. 74, Main Street in Papan, Kathigasu secretly kept shortwave radio sets and listened to BBC broadcasts. The family quietly supplied medicines, medical services and information to the resistance forces until they were arrested in 1943.

Despite being interrogated and tortured by the Japanese military police, Sybil persisted in her efforts and was thrown in Batu Gajah jail. After Malaya was liberated in August 1945, Kathigasu was flown to Britain for medical treatment. There, she began writing her memoirs.

Sybil received the George Medal for Gallantry several months before her death in June, 1948.

Marriage and Family

Sybil Kathigasu's husband was Dr. Arumugam Kanapathi Pillay, a Ceylonese (now Sri Lankan) Tamil from Taiping. He was born on 17 June 1892 in Taiping to Kanapathi Pillay and Thangam. He married Sybil in St John's church (now cathedral) in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. Initially there had been a religious objection from her parents as he was a Hindu and she was a Catholic. However with agreement from his father, the wedding took place. They were married on 7 January 1919 in St John’s Church, Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. Sybil's first child was a son born on 26 August 1919, but due to major problems at birth, died after only 19 hours. He was named Michael after Sybil's elder brother who was born in Taiping on 12 November 1892 and was killed in Gallipoli on 10 July 1915 as a member of the British Army.

The devastating blow of baby Michael's death led to Sybil's mother suggesting that a young boy, William Pillay, born 25 October 1918, who she had delivered and had remained staying with them at their Pudu house, should be adopted by Sybil and her husband. Then a daughter, Olga, was born to Sybil in Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur, on 26 February 1921. The earlier sudden death of baby Michael made Olga a very special baby to Sybil, when she was born without problems.

So when Sybil returned to Ipoh on 7 April 1921, it was not only with Olga, but also with William and her mother who had agreed to stay in Ipoh with the family.

A second daughter, Dawn, was born in Ipoh on 21 September 1936.

Their children are:

1. William Pillay (25 October 1918)-adopted

2. Michael Kathigasu (26 August 1919)-died after only 19 hours of being born

3. Olga Kathigasu (26 February 1921)

4. Dawn Kathigasu (21 September 1936)

Death and memorial

Sybil Kathigasu died on 4 June 1948 aged 48 in Britain and her body was buried in Lanark, Scotland. Her body was later returned in 1949 to Ipoh and reburied at the Roman Catholic cemetery beside St Michael's Church opposite the Main Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (now SMK Convent) on Brewster Road (now Jalan Sultan Idris Shah) in Ipoh.

A road in Fair Park, Ipoh was named after Sybil Kathigasu (Jalan Syabil Kathigasu) after independence to commemorate her bravery. Today, the shop house at 74, Main Road, Papan, serves as a memorial to Sybil and her efforts.

Published works

• No Dram of Mercy (Neville Spearman, 1954; reprinted Oxford University Press, 1983 and Prometheus Enterprises, 2006)
• Faces of Courage: A Revealing Historical Appreciation of Colonial Malaya's Legendary Kathigasu Family by Norma Miraflor & Ian Ward (2006, ISBN 978-981-05-5141-4)

In popular culture

• Sybil Kathigasu is played by Jacintha Abisheganaden in the TV drama series The Price of Peace.
• Recently,a drama based on her life completed its airing in Malaysia on Astro satellite television as a 10-part miniseries entitled Apa Dosaku? (What Is My Sin?). The role of Sybil Kathigasu was played by Malaysian model and actress Elaine Daly, who also happens to be Sybil's grandniece (her brother's granddaughter).

References

• Weekend journey takes bloggers through Perak’s history, The Star, August 29, 2009.