Thursday, 8 February 2018
Sybil Kathigasu






SYBIL KATHIGASU was a resistance fighter who saved countless lives during the Japanese Occupation. Sybil Daly was born in Sumatra to Irish and Indian parents, and grew up in Malaya. She trained as a nurse and midwife and after marrying Dr Adson Clement Kathigasu, they operated a clinic in Ipoh.

 When Malaya was taken by the Japanese in 1942, they went into hiding. Sybil and her husband started providing medical aid and information to the underground resistance at the Kathigasu shophouse dispensary in Papan, Perak.

The couple were captured by the Japanese and tortured. Sybil suffered ripped fingernails, hot iron-scalded legs, beatings with bamboo sticks and the infamously cruel “water treatment”. She was left with a damaged spine, broken bones and a fractured jaw. She died in 1948 from acute septicaemia due to an old wound on the jaw, resulting from a kick of a Japanese boot.

Her life has been immortalised in the series, Suatu Ketika: Sybil... Apa Dosaku? based on her memoir, No Dram Of Mercy. 

Sybil was the first Malayan woman to be awarded the George Medal, a recognition of civilian bravery in the face of enemy action, by England’s King George VI.

#malaysianindian #malaysianindianwomen #msianindianwomen  #inspiringmsianinsianwomen
Posted by The Malaysian Indian women at 02:35
0 comments
0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home