An affinity with the Convent Johor Bahru

 

Readers of The New Straits Times newspapers in Johor and Melaka may recall that there was once a pull-out section, dedicated to news and events happening in Johor and Melaka.

 

Classmates gathered for our
Big Birthday Bash 
 

While I was the Johor-based writer for Travel Times, a section published once a week and distributed nationwide with The New Straits Times, I also contributed to the Southern section that was published daily on weekdays, distributed in Johor and Melaka.

 

This was just an eight-page pull-out section, first called Johor Buzz or JBuzz in short, and then rebranded as, Johor Streets and later, called Streets Johor.

 

People liked to read about themselves – so I discovered – because readers were buying the newspapers just to read this Southern section that published pieces with news and events of local interest.

 

The Johor Bahru Bureau Chief encouraged me to share Johor-centred stories so I had the privilege to cover plenty that ranged from events, destinations, food and hotel reviews, interviews as well as sharing my own grandfather stories in an opinion page.

 

The Bureau Chief also told that I had a “following” because readers used to call him up to ask about this writer – me – while I used to meet readers who often asked me what to expect in tomorrow’s issue or told me they were disappointed that they missed yesterday’s issue.

 

So I explained that my pieces joined a queue to be published in the weekday issues of this section and I did not know when my stories would come out. To please readers who happened to miss these publications, I decided to post my published pieces in a personal blog where readers could go to read at their leisure.

 

So since March 2011, readers could visit my blog, My Johor Stories at peggyloh.com to read my published pieces as well as stories that were exclusive to the blog.

 

I must admit that I had a lot of fun contributing to this Southern section of the newspapers and never grew tired of seeing my byline printed next to my stories.

 

However, all good things must come to an end and it was the same for this section of the newspapers when it ceased to be published from January 2015.

 

Fast-forward to 2025 when our school, the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Johor Bahru, will celebrate its 100^th Anniversary (1925 – 2025). From the (large!) collection of stories stored in my blog, I could see that I have something of an affinity with the school as I had covered so many school events and achievements over the years.

 

Birthday celebration with
Ms Amy Wong

I cannot recall exactly when I started going back to the school but it was probably in 2003, when I had the opportunity to visit the Convent Gallery and published a cover and centerspread story that featured precious artifacts from that era when the Infant Jesus Sisters stayed in their living quarters within the school.

 

I also became friends with several former teachers who incidentally, were never my Form teacher or taught in any of my lessons throughout my 11 years with the school.

 

I had the pleasure to publish the story of Ms Amy Wong in, The world of Amy Wong, a cover and centerspread story in 2009 and an interview with Pn Ramlah Mohamed in, Her Convent Bond, in 2012. These two pieces are also documented in my 2017 MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.

 

Other stories on former teachers included an interview with Ms Dorothy Pereira in, Teacher D reminisces, in 2011 and another piece that same year, We practice what they teach.

 

SJK IJ Convent Johor Bahru,
UPSR Top-Scorers in 2010

Not many may remember but in 2012, there was talk about shifting the Convent Primary School from its location at Jalan Yahya Awal. This alarming topic discussed in a meeting in the school was shared in, Preserve Convent Primary.

 

That same year, a letter was sent to The New Straits Times Johor Bahru Bureau in response to my published articles which I kept safely stored in my blog as, School as I recall it. Clearly, reading my published pieces had triggered off these recollections.

 

I continued enjoying sharing my memories in the Johor Bahru Convent in, Back to School Blues, Strong Convent Bonds, and did not hesitate to accept the invitation to a public staging of, Convent JB’sGrease Musical.

 

A scene from, Grease, the Musical, in 2013

The weekend in Johor was officially changed in 1994 and all schools enjoyed weekends on Saturday and Sunday. Then in November 2013, the Johor Sultan declared that the weekends in Johor will revert to Friday and Saturday. So from January 2014, the IJ Convent Johor Bahru marked a milestone in its history when the school’s weekend was changed to Friday and Saturday, for the very first time.

 

Other than gatherings for my own class, I had the pleasure of being invited to class reunions – twice. Once in 2014 when the Class of 1981 reunited and again in 2016, at the event when the Class of 76 reunited in Johor Bahru.

 

SMK IJ Convent Johor Bahru,
SPM Top-Scorers in 2010

In 2015, I had the privilege to share about the school’s Top SPM Scorers and their hosting of the First Calligraphy Contest as well as the school’s 90^th Anniversary celebrations – held in the school and at the grand dinner gathering.

 

That same year, my two older sisters and I went on holiday at historic Hoi An in Vietnam. Pearly, my sister in the UK, had to apply for a visa to travel with us but we never expected it to be such an epic adventure when we became accidental wedding guests and even witnessed the Convent Johor Bahru choir performing at a choir competition being held there! This amazing experience was documented in, Guess who I met at Hoi An? and Convent JB wins Silver.

 

IJ Convent Johor Bahru Choir performing
at Choir Competition in Hoi An, Vietnam,
in 2015

When I was invited back to the school again in 2016, it was to bid farewell to the Secondary School principal and to see the building expansion in the premises. Then in 2017, I was in the school again, so proud to share about the achievements of the team from the Science & Mathematics Society.

 

From writing for the newspapers, I went on to publishing books that contained some of my stories in the trilogy of My Johor Stories.

 

In the first week that, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage was launched in July 2017, this book went to the Number One spot of the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers List. This success led to the publication of its sequel, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People in 2018.

 

Class of 1981 Reunites in 2014 

Work on the third and final instalment of the trilogy started in 2019 but the global pandemic and lockdown years delayed the launch of, My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, till December 2022.

 

As I considered the subjects that will go into my Proudly Johor list, I decided that my own experience in the IJ Convent Johor Bahru must be documented among in this book. When I started writing about it, I must admit that I had fun solving the mystery of what I thought was under the flowing veils worn by the Sisters.

 

Class of 1976 Reunion in 2016

When it was safe to meet in-person again, I met with Mrs Oliveiro in January 2022 who helped to confirm some points about the Johor Bahru Convent School in my story published in, My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now.

 

At this meeting, I also learnt about the sad state of the school premises as it was left vacant in the lockdown years and how it urgently needed repairs and refurbishments.

 

The very next morning, I joined Mrs Oliveiro and Elizabeth Louis to visit the school for a first-hand view of the situation and documented this experience in, An urgent appeal for funds.

 

The school facade as it looks in 2025

In a recent visit to the school, I saw that a great deal needs to be done to maintain the 100-year-old school building and this appeal for funds that will go towards the building maintenance continues with fund-raising activities planned for the school’s Centenary Celebrations in 2025.

 

Among the activities are the Convent Fun Run on August 23, the fund-raising Celebration Dinner on August 30 and the sale of a Limited Edition, 100-Year Anniversary Souvenir Book.

For enquiries and to contribute to this fund, send email to: write2jbconvent@gmail.com

Note: During the lockdown years, all the MPH bookstores in Johor Bahru were closed, so readers may order My Johor Stories book online from mphonline. Some books are also available from JARO in Johor Bahru. Thank you.