No Dram of Mercy

No Dram of Mercy is Sybil Kathigasu memoir which narrates her struggles during the Japanese occupation of Malaya, when she and her doctor husband were arrested for secretly helping resistance fighters. Sybil Kathigasu candidly describes her experience, from the practicalities of daily life to the constant fear of discovery and her harrowing ordeal at the hands of the Kempeitai military police. A devout Catholic, she had pledged to write a book about those years if she survived. The result is a vivid account not only of the horrors of the Japanese occupation, but aso ofa woman’s courage and fortitude in the face of cruel and ruthless invaders. Republished after seven decades, No Dram of Mercy is a testament to Sybil’s indomitable spirit and devotion to the fight for freedom from oppress on. It is also a poignant reminder of the hardships and tribulations endured by a previous generation of Malayans during World War II.

Sybil Kathigasu’s struggle against her Kempeitai tormentor, Ekio Yoshimura, was one woman’s brave struggle for humanity, justice and sanity in a Malaya turned upside down. The message which comes through her memoir is that when all around her chose to keep quiet and to cease to think critically, Sybil Kathigasu dared to question, and to stand up for her beliefs in humanity, justice, and reason. How often have we all seen this struggle repeated in our present time, when a few brave individuals dare to speak up for human rights against a powerful administration, while the majority prefer to keep silent? Consequently, the Japanese occupation may be said to have taught many people in Malaya, by contrary example, the true meaning of peace and freedom and the value of free institutions,

This book, then, tells the memorable story of Sybil Kathigasu, the wife of a local doctor in Ipoh, who assisted wounded Chinese guerrillas during the Japanese occupation. Sybil was informed against and arrested with her husband. During her interrogation by the Kempetei, she was repeatedly tortured, confined to a solitary cell and made to witness her husband being beaten up and, later, the stringing up of her six-year-old daughter, Dawn. Finally, a Japanese court sentenced her to life imprisonment and her husband to fifteen years. As a result of injuries she received from the tortures, she was paralysed and unable to walk. With the Japanese defeat, her ordeal came to an end and she was flown to England for treatment. However, whilst in England, she died of acute septiczemia due to a jaw fractured by the kick of a Japanese boot. For her sacrifices and example, she was awarded the George Medal, the highest British civilian award for bravery, by King George VI.