Dr Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu and her husband, Dr. A.C. Kathigasu, on their wedding day in Kuala Lumpur, January 7, 1919, at St. John's Church (now St. John's Cathedral) in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur.

# The couple later moved to Papan, Perak, where they secretly assisted the Malayan resistance guerrillas fighting against the Japanese forces, providing food, medicine, and information. They both endured significant torture after their activities were discovered, and Sybil was later awarded the George Medal for her courage by King George VI. She is the only Malayan woman to ever receive this award.

# Sybil Kathigasu (née Daly), a Malayan-Irish Eurasian nurse and midwife who later became a celebrated war hero for her bravery during the Japanese occupation of Malaya in World War II. The man is her husband, Dr. Arumugam Kanapathi Pillay (A.C. Kathigasu), a second-generation Malaysian Indian who worked as a doctor and opened a dispensary with his wife

# Marriage and family

Sybil's husband was Dr. Arumugam Kanapathi Pillay, a second generation Malaysian Indian, born on 17 June 1892 in Taiping to Kanapathi Pillay and Thangam, immigrants of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. He studied at King Edward VII School, Taiping. He married Sybil in St. John's Church (now St. John's Cathedral) in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur on 7 January 1919. Initially there had been objection from her parents due to their religious differences: him being a Hindu while Sybil was a Catholic.

However, with agreement from his father, the wedding took place after he changed his name from Arumugam Kanapathi Pillay to Abdon Clement Kathigasu.

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.

original posting: FB Weiming Kuah (19 Nov 2025) via FB Perak Postcards (20 Nov 2025)