Sybil Karthigasu
the Eurasian nurse and the only Malayan woman to have received the George Medal
for Gallantry will now receive more exposure with a TikTok video of her
heroism.
Title: The Forgotten Heroine
I received this
forwarded video ten days ago about the time when the BM version ‘No Dram of
Mercy’ was launched. The video explains the situation at the time though it missed several important facts.
It also does not state the producer. But it does provide a wider exposure to enable Sybil to gain a wider audience.
A year ago Cardinal
Sebastian Francis, bishop of Penang, had called for the beatification and
canonization of Sybil Kathigasu describing her as a heroine who protected and
nursed local anti-Japanese resistance fighters during the war.
This year her
memoirs “No Dram of Mercy” has been translated into a Bahasa Malaysia by
translator Fahmi Mustaffa again gaining her greater exposure. Ipohites were invited to the BM launch with Cardinal
Francis in late July at St Michael’s Church, Ipoh.
(l/r) Translator Fahmi Mustaffa receives a token of appreciation from Cardinal Francis, Kenangan Luka the BM book and Sybil's book No Dram of Mercy.
Sybil’s
memoirs are now in four languages English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil
and soon in French.
Hopefully it
will get the attention of the state authorities as her incarceration and
torture was at Papan, Perak. Tourism Perak any takers?
This was the old General Post Office located behind the Town Hall. The road on left was called Post Office Road. Pix taken in 2020
The old Ipoh
General Post Office (GPO) was located along Post Office Road now renamed Jalan Dato’
Sagor. Those years we didn’t have internet or social media so all communications was by post.
We would get the mail 2 days latest after it was mailed. Call it snail mail but
we received our mail in a determined time. Now it could be up from 2 days to a
week. So much for good ol’ snail mail….but it WORKED.
The bicycle yard had alot of bicycles. Wonder what was the amount of delivery staff then.
..all the postal counters looked the same i thought except this counter was the customs counter located at the left side of the building
The postal personel ..delivery staff, counter staff, collecting the evening letters for sorting .....
..the customs staff, the officers sitting behind ....quite a staright forward process
..the postal bicycle yard ...at the open yard between the town hall and the post offce
Our Mother of Perpetual Help...the 53rd Feastday of OMPH Church
International Redemtorists ..(l/r) Fr Christopher, Fr Ino, Fr Johnson and Fr Eugene Lee
It was warm
and hazy evening when the Our Mother of Perpetual Help church held its 53rd
Feast Day celebration. The choir was warming up, the senior parishoners were
seated early and Fr Massang serenaded us with his splendid composition ‘Icon of
Love’ which everyone enjoyed.
The chief celebratant
was Fr Victorino from the Phillippines, with Fr Eugene Lee, Singapore and Fr’s Christopher
and Johnson, from India - quite an international line up.
..the start ..the participants led by the youth flags ..it was new this year ...
..it was a most interesting entrance ....
...a beautiful arrangement ...never get tired of this scene ....
Ten minutes
after starting there appeared a rainbow in the sky directly above the church .
Was it a sign that we would not have rain or was it a sign of approval for having
this feast day celebration.
..'the RAINBOW Appearence' ...was it 'a sign from above"
..looking east ..so many parishoners ....
..looking south ....
There was
2500 chairs laid out in the car park and they were all taken up. So the turnout was very
good.
...looking west ...2500 chairs were laid out .....
Fr Ino delivering his Homily .....
..the communion ...afterwards ...
All was
proceeding smoothly until the communion when it drizzeled intermittently and
the congregation began moving to the church after receiving communion.
Thereafter
the Consecration of Families, the Crowning of Mother Mary was held inside the
church.
moved into the church leaving the outdoor shrine unattended ....
.Fr Ino receives the 'Consecration of Families' book ......
the number of families this year was 7,397........
.. flower children led the procession to bring Mother Mary to be crowned ....
..the crown is passed to Fr Ino .....
..who places the crown on Mother Mary ....
The only casualty this year was the prosession to carry Mother Mary around the neighborhood which was cancelled due to the possibility of rain. It would havebeen nice if all had been carried out to plan
but alas it was not to be.
..last of the agenda was the sumptous fellowship ......
Fr Massang sings the 'Icon of Love'
Servers after the event
Nevertheless
it was splendid feast day and a fulfilling 9 days of Novena.
...after the Feast Day ...the float is kept at Mother Mary's shrine ...
Cardinal Sebastian Francis celebrated Sybil Kartigasu's 77th death anniversary
Cardinal
Sebastian Francis was in Ipoh last week specifically on the 12 June 2025 to
celebrate the 77th death anniversary of Sybil Karthigasu. She died
on 12 June 1948.
Cardinal Francis
had started a cause last year for the beatification and canonisation of
civilian hero, Sybil Kathigasu. saying "her
life example draws us to the fact that what motivated her is the faith…”
In her book
‘No Dram of Mercy’ Sybil wrote of the times “she prayed and sang aloud… the Stations
of the Cross and the Litanies by heart and said the Rosary on my ten
fingers..prayer was consolation and a source of strength..”
When she was
freed at the end of the war she wrote that she went to St Josephs Church, Batu
Gajah and “two attendants carried her from the car to the entrance of the
church…at my request they left me to make my way, painfully on all fours, to the aisle of the
alter where I prostrated myself in thanksgiving and humble devotion”. Due to her
torture during detention she was unable to walk.
..the illuminated canopy for the evening event
..flowers for Sybil
Every 12th
of the month St Michaels Church will hold devotional prayers at her gravesite
in the morning. However Cardinal Francis held the 77 anniversary in the evening
in order that more would attend. An estimated 100 participants showed up for
the prayers with all in attendance saying a prayer at Sybil’s grave.
ADIK.. the one eyed cat ....it turned up like that to Rocky's Place
Adik is a one-eyed-cat
that sauntered into Rocky’s Place one humid evening. Neither Rocky nor the food stall owners
minded it one bit.
Over the
next few weeks they noted that Adik used to rest on the bar counter where it
would have a birds eye view over the whole dining floor.
ADIK on the counter ......
with a 'cat's-eye' view over the dining floor
Additionally
Rocky would occasionally see dead rats, lizards and even cockroaches in the
morning. Should another feline trespass into its lair a cat-fight would ensure.
But that was
over a year ago. Now after it has accepted collars and bells ADIK is part of
the Rocky family and is a regular feature at Rockys Place.
..ADIK feeling at home, 1 year on, on the counter at Rocky's Place ....
