FMT:
Penang Catholic church
looks to beatify, canonise
war hero Sybil Kathigasu
Its bishop Cardinal Sebastian Francis says he has consulted with, and received the blessings of, KL archbishop Julian Leow on the matter.
PETALING JAYA: The Catholic bishop of Penang, Cardinal Sebastian Francis, has started a cause for the beatification and canonisation of civilian hero Sybil Kathigasu.
In the Penang diocese’s latest notification published on Monday, Francis said after consulting with, and receiving the blessings of, Kuala Lumpur archbishop Julian Leow on the matter, he had appointed Reverend Father Eugene Benedict from the Kuala Lumpur archdiocese to aid the initial process.
“I see this as an opportunity to bring (us) together and for us to reflect on her life as people of faith.
“I wish we would undertake the cause of Sybil as an example and inspiration of Gospel living. We will do well to revisit her life and work to find inspiration for our times,” he said.
To be beatified, one miracle acquired through the candidate’s intercession is required, in addition to the recognition of heroic virtue or offering of life.
Canonisation requires a second miracle after beatification, though the Pope may waive this requirement.
Sybil was an Indonesian-born nurse who ran a free clinic in Papan, Perak, with her husband Dr Abdon Clement Kathigasu, during the Japanese occupation of Malaya.
She supported the resistance movement at the time, secretly supplying medicines and medical services to Allied forces, and sharing information from BBC shortwave broadcasts.
A well-educated woman, she was fluent in Cantonese, which allowed her to communicate with anti-Japanese guerillas effortlessly. However, she was captured and interrogated by the Japanese secret police, who subjected her to brutal torture.
Sybil refused to break, surviving until the end of the war. However, the health effects sustained during her ordeal led to her eventual death in 1948. She was buried at the Church of St Michael cemetery in Ipoh.
She remains the only Malayan woman to have received the George Medal, the UK’s second-highest civilian honour for bravery, awarded by King George VI.
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kt comments:
An amazing courageous, compassionate and caring nurse and most of all, a human being - sadly in the end, a martyr. I personally feel that she should have been awarded the George Cross (highest UK bravery award for civilians) rather than just the George Medal (2nd highest for bravery), but of course, again my personal opinion, this was during a time when a non-Caucasian was unlikely to receive awards of the 1st Order.
She died in 1949 despite medical attention due to septicaemia (fatal infection-poisoning of the blood); this was due to a kick in her face-jaw received during the horrendous torture as a war prisoner from Kempeitai Sergeant Eiko Yoshimura, the head of the Ipoh Kempeitai who was in charge of her torture. That MF bastard was hung after the war for Netanyahu-ish crimes.
From "Dictionary of Christian Biography in Asia" we read that:
Sir Geoffrey Edmund Cator, the British Resident of Perak from 1933-1939, in his introduction to Sybil’s memoir, wrote: "My own acquaintance with Sybil Kathigasu began when she was in hospital in London fighting to recover her health. Fifteen months of almost incessant pain, recurrent operations, repeated disappointments and the constant strain of separation from all she knew and loved were as powerless to crush that brave and imperious spirit as was the Japanese Kempeitei. She retained all her zest and interest in life and it seemed that once again the spirit would conquer the weakness of the flesh. Then, just as we all hoped and believed that a few more weeks would see her return to the family and surroundings she so dearly loved, with startling suddenness the end came... Proud, loyal and dominant and yet devout, humble and loving, she had many of the qualities that mark the great women of history.”[17]
She lived a faithful life, helping everyone who needed medical care and died a martyr.
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, model and actress 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.
If you're interested in her glorious life, you can read the following (her memoirs) available at Oxford in Asia paperback (Oxford University Press):
Courage
By Edgar A. Guest
Courage isn't a brilliant dash,
A daring deed in a moment's flash;
It isn't an instantaneous thing
Born of despair with a sudden spring
It isn't a creature of flickered hope
Or the final tug at a slipping rope;
But it's something deep in the soul of man
That is working always to serve some plan.
Courage isn't the last resort
In the work of life or the game of sport;
It isn't a thing that a man can call
At some future time when he's apt to fall;
If he hasn't it now, he will have it not
When the strain is great and the pace is hot.
For who would strive for a distant goal
Must always have courage within his soul.
Courage isn't a dazzling light
That flashes and passes away from sight;
It's a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait
With the patience to work and the strength to wait.
It's part of a man when his skies are blue,
It's part of him when he has work to do.
The brave man never is freed of it.
He has it when there is no need of it.
Courage was never designed for show;
It isn't a thing that can come and go;
It's written in victory and defeat
And every trial a man may meet.
It's part of his hours, his days and his years,
Back of his smiles and behind his tears.
Courage is more than a daring deed:
It's the breath of life and a strong man's creed.
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