I
got a kick out of saying, “Tomorrow, I will be going back to school,” simply
because this time, I was not going to school for school.
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View of the school facade from the car park |
While
others in the Book Team were not able to join us, Sunita Sothi, Lucy Leong and
myself, were ready to walk through that familiar old building to gain further
insight into our alma mater – a 100-year-old educational institution – the only
Convent School in Johor Bahru.
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The marble sculpture carefully preserved within a glass case |
The
contents of this ‘Limited Edition’ book will not only document the school’s
proud heritage but will also include sections that feature Luminaries of
the school, alumni reflections in Voices of Convent Johor Bahru as well
as Global Footprints that highlight alumni based worldwide, who have
made Johor, Malaysia and their families proud.
Since
the invitation for contributions of Memories and Photos had gone out, we have
been receiving very interesting and meaningful contributions from alumni, both
near and far.
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Lucy [Left] and Sunita [Right] with Primary school staff at the entrance to the Convent Gallery |
At
the 100th-year anniversary of our alma mater, it is timely to publish such a
souvenir book filled with personal anecdotes and experiences as a good
documentation of how the school had impacted lives.
Supported
by old photos, this book will make such good reading – a pride to own and
present as a gift to fellow alumni – a precious collector’s item, to be
treasured for generations.
With
these objectives in mind, Sunita, Lucy and I headed to the front porch of the
original building, used as the Primary school, to visit the Gallery Convent.
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I guess this upright piano was once used in the Primary school hall |
Since leaving school after Form
Five, I have been back to cover school stories that were published in the
Southern section of The New Straits Times dubbed, Johor Streets.
I had the privilege to see the
Convent Gallery in the Primary school that had a collection of precious
artefacts since the days of the Sisters, and published it in a
cover-and-centerspread feature in Johor Streets, in January 2011.
I
told the Book Team about this exciting experience and wanted them to visit this
place for their own experience and to get some interesting info and photos that
should go into the Anniversary souvenir book.
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My centerspread feature was still postered on the Notice Board since January 2011 |
Time
had certainly passed – 14 years to be exact – since my first visit to the
Gallery and sadly, much had changed inside. Undeterred by the changes, we
opened cupboards and checked shelves in search of any suitable material to
borrow and add to the contents in our manuscript.
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A relic from a bygone era |
As
the Secondary School has a tradition for excellence and stayed among the top
ten schools in the nation for scoring highly in SPM results since 2010, the
status of the school was raised from a Cluster School to a High-Performance
School in 2012.
While
I was looking through books and magazines on a shelf, I pulled out a plastic
laminated sheet that was slipped in between the books. When I turned it over, I
was pleasantly surprised to see that someone had tried to preserve my published
article dated April 2015 with a report on the success of SPM top-scorers.
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The Secondary school hall is named Nicholas Barre Hall |
In
January 2016, I was invited to join the school when they bade farewell to Secondary school principal, Ms Ng Lee Wan. The event also included the official
opening of a multi-purpose hall that was built in the rear field with an
adjacent carpark and covered walkway that linked this hall to the school
building.
Then
in 2017, I was back in the school again to meet with five students in the
Research & Development Team of the Science & Mathematics Society who
had done nation and Johor proud for their invention of the Infinity Spoon. This
eco-friendly pinespoon was their invention inspired by the Johor
pineapple.
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Sunita and Lucy with the piles of books and magazines in the Resource center |
So
vivid were our memories of the school premises that we could not help but discussed
which were our classrooms for Standard One and Two onwards till Standard Six.
It
was an amusing revelation when Lucy shared about how she and her friends
enjoyed rolling on the grassy slopes in the front field and the way they
quickly choped (Read: laid claim on) a court to play during recess time!
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The Caritas Hall on the rear field |
After
rummaging through old photo albums and dusty documents, we left the Primary
school in search of taps to wash our hands before heading to the Secondary
school.
While Sunita and Lucy paused to chat with the canteen operators, I looked closer at the wrapped food and snacks displayed for sale, labelled at RM2 each.
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A co-op shop in the school |
We
walked towards the Secondary school reception (that used to be our bookshop) and
passed the school hall which now has a name, the Nicholas Barre Hall.
This
hall was so named to honour Catholic priest, Nicholas Barre (1621 – 1686) who
founded the Sisters of the Infant Jesus.
A walk up a flight of familiar stairs brought us to the first floor where we were ushered into the Secondary school’s Resource center. Inside, we were greeted by piles of old books and magazines on the table, prepared for us to discover any useful information.
Someone
said, “Time flies when you are having fun,” because we totally lost track of
time in that room. Suddenly it was almost 1.30pm when we were ready to leave
but not without going to look at the rear field and the multi-purpose hall
there.
We
walked along that first-floor corridor to the opposite end which opened to the
rooms that used to be Science labs and Home Science rooms. Along the way, I
peeked into the toilets and was pleased to see that they were new, clean and
brightly lit.
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Lucy and I on our recent school visit |
Then
I spotted something new nearby: A co-op shop. Unable to resist checking it out,
Sunita and I headed into the shop to discover that it stocked school essentials
like stationery items, school T-shirts and other knick-knacks.
In
our time, the ice-cream stall was manned by husband-and-wife team, Joseph and
Mary, but now students can get their ice-cream from the co-op shop.
The covered walkway that links the Secondary school building to the gates at Jalan Yahya Awal |
By
using this covered path, students can make their way to and from their
transport on rainy days as vehicles are no longer allowed to drive to the covered
front porch of the Primary school for pick-up or drop-off.
As
for us, we took one last look at the school’s familiar façade, got into our
cars and drove slowly through the front porch to our exit from the school
compound.
Note:
Work on the manuscript for the Anniversary souvenir book is in rapid progress. Details
on the purchase of this ‘Limited Edition’ book, filled with contents that alumni
can easily identify with, will be available on the Convent Johor Bahru 100th
Year Celebration Facebook page. Thank you.