| Mrs. Kathigasu
Resistance Fighters Sought Treatment for Malaria'In Papan, there are two skilful, benevolent and compassionate Indian doctors' - so goes the saying in Papan, Chemor, Pusing, Siputeh, Lahat, Menglembu and some other small towns (the Kathigasus were not actually Indians; they were Eurasians and very staunch Catholics). Mrs Katigasu started getting patients who would only come at night just before she closed the clinic. These patients were young and did not look like residents of Papan. Most of them came for treatment for malaria. Their skin colour was different from that of the townsfolk. One look at them and one could tell they had lived in the jungles for long periods of time and not been exposed to the sun constantly. They looked like mountain folks. Mrs Kathigasu did not probe into their backgrounds, but provided them with free treatment. She even gave them packs of quinine for malaria and ointment for treating fesstering sores to take back to the mountains with them. For these anti-Japanese guerilla fighters and their compatriots in the underground movement, medicine was extremely precious. Despite that time, almost everyone contracted malaria. (In layman's terms, it was called the 'chills and fever' sickness.) The resistance fighters who lived in the jungles near Papan, Pusing and Lahat found it extremely difficult to find a doctor they could trust and receive effective medication from. They did not dare take the risk of going to Ipoh or Batu Gajah to seek treatment as Japanese informants were everywhere. Dr Kathigasu and his wife came as a blessing to these resistance fighters. Jiang Yan, the chief commander of Papan's resistance force in Perak personally visited the Kathigasu's clinic to thank them for their help. Though Mrs Kathigasu was aware of the dire consequences of her actions and that communists beliefs ran contrary to her Catholic faith, she felt everyone had the common duty of driving away the Japanese invaders and helping the British carry out the counter-offensive. She reminded Jiang Yan that the medicine she provided should also be given to the sick and injured British and Indian soldiers hiding in the jungles.
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