MAY 5 — “My five-year-old daughter was hung from a tree with a fire blazing under her, while I was tied up, interrogated and beaten up with a big stick. My child answered for both of us. ‘Be very brave, Mummy. Do not tell them anything.’”
This narrative is a page from the historical heart-wrenching memoirs of nurse and freedom fighter Sybil Kathigasu, in British Malaya during World War II, who made heroic sacrifices to get the Malayan people out of the shackles of the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945).
Sybil played a pivotal role in defying and challenging Japanese Military authority who tormented and tortured her while trying to extract information on the whereabouts of her fellow Malayan freedom fighters.
She was even prepared to sacrifice her daughter to save the lives of many in the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army and Force (MPAJA) and its operatives hiding in the hills of Papan.
Her courage, ingenuity and legitimate legacy should have been etched in the Malaysian history records and school textbooks. Instead, her stories have become obscured, unrecognised and overshadowed in the Malaysian historical discourse by even lesser heroes.
This week, producers Sangeeta Krishnasamy and A. Samad Hassan launched the production of the historical film, titled Sybil to encapsulate and showcase the compelling story of the extraordinary Sybil.
“The movie is set to grace the silver screens next year and is still in the pre-production stage with the casting process underway.
“It has been difficult to obtain relevant information as documentation regarding historical events in Malaysia is lacking. Even the trial papers of Sergeant Ekio Yoshimura, who tortured Sybil, were hard to come by in Malaysia,” she said.
Sybil was born in Medan, Sumatra to an Irish planter and an Indian mother. She grew up in British Malaya and was trained as a midwife. She married Dr Abdon Clement Kathigasu in 1919 and eventually had two daughters and one adopted son.
Together, the Kathigasus built a successful private practice in Ipoh, working tirelessly to care for the locals from 1926 until the day before Japanese troops arrived in December 1942. They went into hiding in the nearby town of Papan, where they kept a shortwave radio to listen to BBC broadcasts.
During the Japanese occupation Sybil secretly provided medical care, intelligence, and even shelter to the locals during the anti-Japanese resistance. Her contributions were crucial at a time when such activities were fought with immense life-threatening risks.
In 1943, she was arrested by the Japanese secret police (Kempeitai) and subjected to brutal torture as they attempted to extract information about the resistance movements. Despite the severe treatment, she remained steadfast and silent.
Dr Kathigasu was arrested in July 1943, and Sybil was arrested in August 1943. Because Sybil had prior warning of her impending arrest, she made arrangements to pass more supplies to the guerrillas and the poor and organised for her family to be in relative safety.
Both Sybil and Dr Kathigasu were brutally and inhumanely tortured in prison. In February 1945 Dr Karthigasu was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, while Sybil received a life sentence.
In the first week of August 1945, the guerrillas fought the Japanese soldiers in the open and brought the fall of the Japanese military administration.
The couple were freed in August 1945 and Sybil was flown to the United Kingdom in September 1945 for medical treatment for her severe injuries.
In recognition of her bravery, she was awarded the George Medal at Buckingham Palace by King George VI for her bravery during the Japanese occupation — the only Malayan woman to receive this honour during World War II.
Although her autobiography No Dram of Mercy was completed in 1948, it was only posthumously published 1954 by Neville Spearman in the United Kingdom and reprinted in 1983 by Oxford University Press.
Sybil died on 12 June 1948 while Dr Kathigasu passed away in December 1972, in Ipoh. He was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) for “Services in the Allied Cause” after the War.
In the June 28, 1948 issue of Time magazine, Sybil was referred to as the “Edith of Malaya” after British nurse Edith Cavell, who was executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape during World War I.
After independence, to commemorate Sybil’s bravery, a road in Fair Park, Ipoh was named Jalan Sybil Kathigasu while the No. 74 shophouse in Papan today serves as a memorial to Sybil’s life.
In 2010, an eight-part TV drama based on Sybil’s life entitled Apa Dosaku? (“What Is My Sin?”) was produced and the title role was played by her grandniece, Elaine Daly.
On September 3, 2016, Google honoured Sybil’s courage by dedicating a doodle to her on what would have been her 117th birthday. The doodle is surrounded by the patterned ribbon of the George Medal.
Though Sybil made a huge impact during the Japanese Occupation, she has not been given the credit that she deserved in Malaysia.
For instance, Rani of Jhansi India’s Warrior Queen who fought the British and led her own army has been immortalised in India’s nationalist historic narrative. There are movies, television shows, books and even nursery rhymes about her. Streets, colleges and universities are named after her. The Indian National Army formed an all-female unit that aided the country in its battle for independence in the 1940s.
Time and again, various governments have promised a revision of history textbooks with the correct facts. But to date, the schools are stuck with history rewritten with skewed political, racial and religious biases.
We hope that Sangeeta’s movie on Sybil provides enough fodder to ignite a new interest, not only in one of Asia’s forgotten wars but also in female agency in armed anti-colonial and independence struggle.
Hopefully, the movie ignites others to tell stories of forgotten prominent female personalities like Shamsiah Fakeh, Wu Rui Ai, and Eng Ming Ching a.k.a. Suriani Abdullah who should be emulated being freedom fighters against colonialism and oppression.
Their exciting memoirs are real. They should not be clouded by “new heroic stories” that are re-constructed with political and patriarchal biases.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
