Sybil Kathigasu

I went to watch the play - sybil by The Actor's Studio. The story of this wonderful brave woman had always inspired me to stand for what I believe in. I had looked forward to it the entire few weeks and thought "Finally! Someone with some sense to come up with a good idea for a play!"

If you have read or heard about her, you would understand that for a person, let alone a woman at that time and age to go through what she went through, required a tremendous amount of strength, faith and perseverance. I find it rather unfair in a way, that doing what she had done and being the ONLY Malayan woman ever to be awarded the George Medal by King George VI, her name never came up in our history books.

Below is an article I found on the net when I typed in "Sybil Kathigasu" taken from here. This little sypnosis would help you understand who she is and what she did for the country.

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Sybil Kathigasu – new stories, same legend

James Wong Wing On | Jun 30, 06 4:15pm

Until early 1980s, the name and legend of Sybil Kathigasu was very well-known in Malaysia, especially in the Ipoh-centered Kinta Valley. The Christian Eurasian woman (pix) - who was very un-apologetically pro-colonial and spoke Cantonese - was particularly remembered by older generations of Chinese residents of Ipoh and its satellite township Papan as one simple, kind-hearted and extraordinarily brave soul who saved many lives and inspired those in despair during the 44-month Japanese occupation from December 1941 to August 1945. To those who are younger, her legend is preserved in her wartime memoirs No Dram of Mercy first published in 1954. According to the legend, the simple housewife of Dr AC Kathigasu, who operated a clinic at No.141 at Brewster Road in Ipoh, secretly helped to supply medicines and medical services to the anti-Japanese guerrilla forces in Papan where she and her family lived as war refugees. She also helped them to illegally keep shortwave radio sets and listen to broadcasts from Britain and the outside world. Because of those ‘subversive’ activities she and her husband were arrested, tortured and detained until the war ended.

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The cast was great. Suki was fantastic as Sybil and Doppu did a great job as Sergeant Yoshimura. The setting was drearily real and the short noir film at the beginning was very cool.

Unfortunately, I felt that the play did not manage to portray her kindheartedness or her brave soul or what she actually did to help the anti-Japanese. I felt that the play did not do any justification to all she has done for the country except that she was very resilient and stood true to what she believed in.

I felt that the story should have evolved more around what the Kathigasu's actually did for the country/aiding the anti-Japanese to show the audience what they did, how dangerous it was, how did they manage to outsmart the Japanese at that time, and all the hardships they had to go through, doing their little bit for the country.

I have read the book "No Dram of Mercy" and I have read numerous articles about this brave woman and even visited the clinic in Papan. I know the story of Sybil Kathigasu. But because of that, certain parts of the story, got me rather confused.

For starters, it seemed rather weird that Sergeant Yoshimura could speak English well enough for his assistant and Sybil to understand but got me, mum and several others opening and closing our mouths like fish out of water because we had no idea what on earth he said (very thick Japanese accent, yes but after all this is a play).

Then the part where her daughter Dawn was tortured, only god knows what happened (if you didn't read the sypnosis in the programme book or have any knowledge of the story at all). The Japanese had caught Dawn and decided to hang her from a tree above open fire and burn her to break Sybil down and make her talk. Sad thing is, all we knew of "Dawn" was a child's voice which screamed "No!!!!" followed by a lot of protesting and screaming followed by what was supposed to be frantic screams and some purring machinery sound (the whole thing was acted out behind a huge wall with a bright red light glowing in the background as the actual scene would not have been appropriate for public viewing I guess)

Thing is, that part was significant. It showed her as a woman and as a mother and as a loyal subject of the country would not even break down EVEN though her daughter's life was at stake. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out too well.

It sounded more like the Japanese were trying to chuck her daughter into a paper shredder and I can't even start to explain what on earth the red light was. The least they could have done was to make it a flickering light. I'm pretty sure the art director would know how to do it, it's not that hard you know.

Anyhoo, I really felt that it was a fantastic story about bravery, love and loyalty to a country. But it just didn't translate too well into a play.

I must say I am disappointed. I paid 40 bucks hoping to watch a heart moving and inspiring play. Instead, I spent over an hour watching a Japanese man kick, torture, hurl verbal abuse and attempt to kill a woman during the WWII.

I guess this is what they mean by - if you have read the book, don't watch the movie or the play in this case.