Papan Perak - Sybil Kathigasu : Receipient of George Medal during WW2 in Malaya

No. 74 Main Street, Papan (off Ipoh) was where Sybil Kathigasu and her physician husband, Dr. A.C. Kathigasu ran a clinic. During WW2 and the Japanese Occupation in Malaya, they were aiding the Perak People Anti-Japanese Army (Later merged with the Malayan People Anti-Japanese Army – MPAJA) and Force 136 against the Imperial Japanese Army. They also had radio sets and listened to BBC broadcasts to provide updated information about the progress of the war to the secret operatives, on top of providing medical aid and supplies. Unfortunately, Sybil was arrested in 1943 and was interned in the Batu Gajah Prison. Even though she was flown to Britain after the war for treatment due to torture by the Japanese, she succumbed to her wounds in 1948 after being the first Malayan lady to receive the George Medal (granted in recognition of "acts of great bravery."). Her exploits were recorded in two books, “No Dram of Mercy” by Neville Spearman and “Faces of Courage :A Revealing Historical Appreciation of Colonial Malaya's Legendary Kathigasu Family” by Norma Miraflor & Ian Ward. Times of Malaya cir. 1940s