Sybil Medan Kathigasu (St. Michael's Catholic Church Ipoh Cemetery)

Sybil Medan Kathigasu ( 3 September 1899 - 12 June 1948) was born as Sybil Daly in Medan, Sumatra. She was the daughter of an Irish planter, Joseph Daly and Eurasian mother, Beatrie Mathilda Martin. While studying nursing and midwifery in Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, she met Dr. Arumugam Kanapathi Pillay, a Ceylonese. Faced with objections initially due to different religious background (she was Catholic and he, Hindu), he gain acceptance after becoming Catholic and taking the name Abdon Clement Kathigasu or Dr. A.C. Kathigasu. They married on 7 January 1919 at St. John's Church, Kuala Lumpur and eventually had 2 daughters and 1 adopted son.

Sybil Kathigasu

Together, they went into private practice with the clinic located at 141 Brewster Road, Ipoh but moved to Papan (a town outside of Ipoh), when the Japanese invaded Malaya. They established a clinic at No. 74 Main Street. During the Japanese occupation they continue to operate their clinic but got into trouble when they provided medical assistance to the local resistance movement (the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army).  Both were eventually arrested by the Japanese Kempeitai 1943 and were imprisoned and tortured. Sybil witness the cruelty of seeing her daughter, Dawn Kathigasu (then 6 years old) strung from a tree over a fire during one of the interrogations. 

In February 1945, Dr. A.C. Kathigasu was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment while Sybil Kathigasu received a life sentence. They were eventually freed from Batu Gajah prison by Allied Forces led by Capt. D. MacFarlane in August 1945. Virtually crippled by the torture, she was then flown to UK to receive medical treatment and while there started documenting her story and experience. She never got to see her book, but her memoirs was eventually published posthumously in 1954. The title of the book was - No Dram of Mercy. Sybil Kathigasu was awarded the George Medal at Buckingham Palace by King George VI for her bravery, becoming the first Malayan woman to receive such an accolade. She passed away on 12 June 1948 at St. Mary's Hospital, Larnark, Scotland never recovering from the injuries sustained during her torture. 

Sybil Kathigasu with the George Medal

A heroes return

Buried at the Catholic Cemetery Lanark, Scotland, she was brought by the ship "S.S. Astyanax" to Penang and then finally to Ipoh. The cortege left from 141 Brewster Road on 21 March 1949 for re-internment at the Catholic cemetery of St. Michael's Church, Ipoh.  On the quarter mile journey to the cemetery, 100 scouts from St. Michael's Institution flanked the hearse. The road from the gate of the cemetery to the church was lined by the nuns, pupils and orphans of the Ipoh Convent. As the hearse arrived at the church, a section of the "S" Squardon of the 4th Hussars, under the command of Lieut. T. Tillbrooke presented arms. The oak coffin was carried to the grave by Col. J. P Hannah (former Force 136 leader in Perak), Mr. J.M.M. Lewis, Mr. M.S. Mahendran, Mr. J.P. Chrysostom, Mr. G. W. Firth, Dr. Lip Seng Chiew, Capt. S.T. Quayle and Dr. A. A. Byrne. Among those present also at the service were the Hon. Mr. J.I. Miller (British Adviser, Peark), Dr. Wong Fook Han (President of the Perak Medical Practitioners Society, several well-known doctors and Mr. John L. Woods. The service at the church and the graveside was conducted by Father Francois.

In 1956, the Town Council decided to name a street in a new residential housing area in Fair Park after her - Sybil Kathigasu Road / Jalan Sybil Kathigasu. 

Family

Dr. A. C. Kathigasu

A war-time hero and one of the oldest medical practitioners in the country, Dr. A.C. Kathigasu died at the age of 81 on 6 December 1972 at his home in Jalan Penang, Canning Garden after a long illness. He graduated at age 22 from the then Straits Settlements Medical School in Singapore in 1913 and was posted to hospitals at Kuala Lumpur, Kajang and Ipoh. Retiring from Government service in 1925, he set up his private practice in Ipoh. After the war, he was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire). 

Dr. A. C. Kathigasu

Daughter: Olga Kathigasu

Olga Kathigasu (26 February 1921 - 6 September 2014) was the first daughter to Dr. and Mrs. Kathigasu. 

Daughter: Dawn Kathigasu

At their residence in Brewster Road, Ipoh on 21 September 1936), Mrs. Sybil Kathigasu, wife of Dr. A.C. Kathigasu, gave birth to a daughter. The daughter is Dawn Kathigasu. 

Dawn Kathigasu (19 years old in 1956 ) married Mr. William Bruce Spalding ( a London barrister).  She has been studying medicine in England for the past 3 years under a 8 year Government Scholarship in 1952. If you recall, Dawn was also tortured during the war when she was just 6 by being hung from tree with ants biting her. Later, the torturers lid an open fire over her to force information from her mother. Dawn cried out "Mummy, don't speak. I will go and you can follow". Fortunately, a superior officer intervened and managed to stop further torture. The person responsible for the act, Ekio Yoshumura -was tried and sentenced to death by the British after the re-occupation of Malaya. 

For Dawn's heroism on the day of torture, she was given a certificate of merit (Card of Commendation) in 1947 from the Governor Sir Edward Gent. 

Dawn Kathigasu and William Bruce Spalding

Adopted Son: William G. Pillay

Kathigasus' first baby, Michael, died just a few hours after his birth. From the suggestion of Sybil's mother, Beatrice Mathilda Daly they decided to adopt William G. Pillay. William Pillay, born 25th October 1918, had been delivered by Beatrice who was a midwife and due to the poor financial status of the Pillay family. they allowed for this.

William G. Pillay married in January 1949 at St. Michael's Church, Ipoh to Miss Winnifred Ng Paik Choo, a teacher at the Ipoh Convent and youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tuck Onn. The best man is Mr. R. G. Jansz and the bridesmaid, Miss Dawn Kathigasu. 

Mother: Beatrice Mathilda Daly

Beatrice Mathilda Daly (23 August 1972-16 January 1945) was a midwife and was close with the Kathigasu family and stayed with them at their 141 Brewster Road, Ipoh place and later 74 Main Road, Papan. However when both Dr. A.C. Kathigasu and her daughter was imprisoned, she moved to stay with her younger son, Herbert Daly on Johor. She passed away there at the age of 72 on 16 January 1945. Her granddaughter, Olga was very close to her grandmother and it was she that persuaded her father that she should be reburied next to her daughter, Sybil. The reburial took place on 25 June 1949. When Olga Kathigasu passed away in 2014, her marble slab was place in front of her grandmother, with the lovely words - Mummy's Dumpling, Daddy's Darling, Ganna's Jewel. 

Location

Tomb of Sybil Medan Kathigasu, Beatrice Mathilda Daly and Olga Kathigasu are at St. Michael's Catholic Church Cemetery, Ipoh. 

Tomb of Sybil Kathigasu, Beatrice Mathilda Daly, Olga Kathigasu

Sybil Medan Kathigasu

[research on-going]

References

Untitled. (1948, June 10). Malaya Tribune, page 2

Heroine Dies. (1948, June 17). The Straits Budget, page 14

Death of Mrs. S. Kathigasu. (1948, June 14). The Singapore Free Press, page 5 

Malaya's "Joan of  Arc" buried. (1948, June 16). Malaya Tribune, page 1 

Announcement. (1949, March 20). The Straits Times, page 12 

Malaya's G.M. Laid to Rest. (1949, March 22). The Straits Times, page 7

Thousand Mourn Dead Heroine. (1949, March 22). Malaya Tribune, page 2

Malaya's Cavell: of the occupation. (1954, November 8). The Straits Times, page 10 

Brave and beautiful - Dawn is a now a bride. (1956, September 4). The Straits Times, page 1 

Road named after Malayan heroine - Ipoh honours Mrs. Kathigasu. (1956, October 7). The Straits Times, page 5

War hero Dr. Kathigasu dies in Ipoh aged 81. (1972, December 7). The Straits Times, page 10

Sybil Kathigasu Is Finally Reburied In St Michael's Catholic Church Cemetery, Church Road, Ipoh. (website). IpohWorld

Dawn Kathigasu - A Brief History.(website). IpohWorld

Olga Kathigasu At Singapore Medical College. (website). IpohWorld

Sybil Kathigasu Is Finally Reburied In St Michael's Catholic Church Cemetery, Church Road, Ipoh. (website). IpohWorld