While there are Convent schools
established in various districts in Johor like in Muar, Kluang and Batu Pahat, there
is just one Convent school in Johor Bahru.
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Cover design of the 100-Year Anniversary
Souvenir Book to commemorate 100 years
of the IJ Convent Johor Bahru (1925 - 2025)
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My mother, aunts, cousins,
sisters and I are among the alumni from the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus,
an all-girls school in Johor Bahru that had its humble beginnings some 100
years ago, opened in two shop units at Jalan Ibrahim.
When I look back at the many
events and achievements that I had the privilege of covering about the school
(while I was writing for the newspapers!) I feel a sense of pride because I am
also a product of this renowned institute of education in Johor.
With such an affinity with the school, I decided to include my own story on the Johor Bahru Convent into the contents
of, My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the third and final
instalment that completed the trilogy of My Johor Stories.
Following the success of my 2017
MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich
Heritage and its sequel, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and
Inspirational People in 2018, work on this third book started in 2019.
However, its publication was delayed by the global pandemic and long lockdown
periods.
So it was early in 2022 – when it
was safe to meet-in-person again – that I arranged to meet with Mrs A Oliveiro,
President of the Convent Association of Past Pupils (CAPP) to verify some facts
about the school for my story. Mrs O, as she is fondly called, was not only a
past pupil but also an active sportswoman, former coach, Sports Secretary and former
teacher who still holds the school close to her heart.
For the meet-up, she invited
Elizabeth Louis, Chair of the SK Infant Jesus Convent, Primary School Board of
Governors, along with Yvonne Loh, a member of the Secondary School’s Board of
Governors, to join us in a very interesting and beneficial time together.
While the input from Mr O helped
to confirm the facts about the school, particularly in its early years, I also
learnt about the desperate needs of the school building which had fallen into a
sad state of disrepair due to the lockdown years.
Our visit to the school the very
next morning, gave us a clearer view of the maintenance needs for the old
buildings. It not only required a thorough deep-cleaning for health and safety reasons
but also for the comfortable use of students and teachers who would very soon,
return to the school for normal school hours.
It was rainy morning, so we saw the
damage caused by leaking and a very real need for funds to carry out major
maintenance projects. After witnessing this, I did not hesitate to share a call for fund donations to meet this serious need in the school.
Fast-forward to 2024 when there
was talk about the Centennial Celebrations in 2025 as our alma mater will commemorate
100 years since its founding (1925 to 2025).
Among the ideas proposed for the
year-long celebration were a fund-raising dinner, a Convent Fun Run, Centenary
Celebration T-Shirts with design versions for students as well as for
adults/alumni and the publication of a 100-Year Anniversary Souvenir Book.
Meanwhile a Fund-Raising
Committee and a Sub-Committee for Strategy and Public Relations were
established to discuss and put into action, the plans and ideas for the school
celebrations where all proceeds will be channelled to the school fund for
maintenance projects.
I was invited by Sunita S Sothi,
a member of the Primary School’s Board of Governors, to participate in online
meetings with these committees where I learnt more about the proposed plans and
where I may be able to contribute towards this effort.
Sunita assured me that she had already
assembled a team made up of alumni from various school years, who were ready to
work together in our Book Team – where I would take the lead – to produce the
100-Year Anniversary Souvenir Book.
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A section of the Book Team when we
met to review the manuscript
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While I approached this book
project with much trepidation, I saw the dire need because time was rapidly
passing and if the book should be ready for the dinner celebration in August,
we had to start on this project, immediately.
So this small but dynamic team that
comprised Sunita S Sothi, Lucy Leong, Rebecca Wong Poh Kum, Sara Jane Jayamana
and myself, met regularly for online meetings to share the tasks and job updates,
arranged on Monday nights.
As we discussed and agreed on the
Table of Contents, we decided that a Souvenir Book to commemorate the school’s
100-Year Anniversary, will be created in an affordable and quality,
handy-to-hold-for-reading type of book, and not what is commonly called a
coffee-table book.
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Sara Jane carefully reading a piece of
the manuscript...
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We agreed that our Souvenir Book will
be a ‘Limited Edition’ book that alumni can identify with its contents and will
be keen to read from cover to cover. They will be so proud to own it as a precious
collectible and pleased to present to others as a premium gift and souvenir.
Aware of the high costs in
printing and book binding, we aimed to produce a quality document filled with
brief information about the school and its achievements while the bulk of its
contents will comprise personal contributions from alumni who will share how their
school experiences had impacted their lives.
We were determined to keep
production costs low so that the sale of this book at an affordable price, may
be able to raise more funds for the school.
Due to the desperately limited
time and to keep costs down, we decided to produce a Souvenir Book that will
celebrate the school’s work over the decades through the successes and
achievements of the alumni.
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Lucy Leong scrutinizing the
manuscript line-by-line...
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So the contents of this Book will
include true stories from real people who will share their unique experiences in
the school, with their teachers and friends, rich encounters that will
inadvertently reflect the quality of education and discipline by the school and
staff, the values and life lessons that have shaped and inspired students to
become who they are now.
Through the channel of social
media, the alumni were informed about this book project and cordially invited to submit their contributions and photographs. Due to time constraints, they were
given a strict deadline for submissions.
The pressure was real because we
had no control over who and when the alumni will submit anything print-worthy.
It would be ideal if we managed to collect contributions from every decade in
the past 100 years but the reality is, it is virtually impossible for us to
document every significant milestone of achievement in the school or get
contributions from alumni who had left the school so long ago.
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Rebecca Wong taking her time to read
through her portion of the manuscript
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Not solely depending on social
media, the Book Team worked hard to reach out to alumni far and wide, through
their own contact groups and through friends-of-friends and other schoolmates,
both locally and abroad, to share the excitement and invite contributions.
It took a while but the
contributions started pouring in, not in a flood but in small trickles,
one-by-one, which allowed us to review and consider how their stories and
photos may be most effectively and appropriately documented in this Book. After
reviewing and editing each piece for clarity, these precious contributions were
added to various segments in the Book.
I must admit that it was
challenging to deal with late submissions that arrived long after the given
deadline but by showing grace, we managed to accommodate almost all who wished
to share their stories and photos in this special publication.
Listed in chronological order, Voices
of IJ Convent Johor Bahru, is a collection of alumni reflections of their
experiences in school. As the title of this segment describes, readers will be
able to identify with the various scenarios in these personal anecdotes as they
“hear” the “voices” of the contributors.
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Mrs A Y Lim [Left] and Mrs O
with the mock-up Souvenir Books
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Then we learnt that when former
classmates started talking about their school experiences, it opened a
floodgate of memories as each one had something interesting of their own to
share. Suddenly, we received a deluge of contributions.
Some were just one-liners and
phrases while others were brief accounts. Not willing to let these
recollections go to waste, we created two separate segments dubbed, Snippets
and an Appendix for Convent School Jargon.
Snippets, are
just what the word means – a small piece or brief extract of a longer story –
about school experiences. Just reading them simply triggered off our own
memories of such exciting events, people and adventures in the school.
As for Convent School Jargon,
we received so many memorable and unique words and familiar phrases used – both
by teachers and students – during schooldays that they had to be listed in an
Appendix, in alphabetical order, as a fun and amusing memento of a bygone era.
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Our Souvenir Book documents
the school's history since 1925
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Of the many themes we identified
from the contributions, one prevailing theme was about experiences with teachers.
So an entire segment dedicated to, Teachers who shaped us, is made up of
contributions from alumni along with interesting pieces by girls whose mothers
were teachers, principals or senior assistants.
The Book Team also focussed on
tracking down alumni who are contributing to the community in big and small
ways who would be counted among the Luminaries of IJ Convent Johor Bahru,
while alumni who have left our
shores and settled abroad, making lives better and contributing to the
communities they now call home, will be listed under, Global
Footprints.
The Team worked in tandem to
carry out research on various alumni who were doing great things not just
locally but abroad, seeking out relevant information as well as good
photographs, and also applying for the International Standard Book Number
(ISBN) – and getting it approved – for this Book.
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Our Souvenir Book also has a
Photo Gallery of precious photos
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It was interesting that we were
able to discover through word-of-mouth and social media, so many interesting
and amazing alumni, both here and abroad, whose achievements are a reflection
of how their education at IJ Convent Johor Bahru had shaped them.
With such a tight work schedule,
it was virtually impossible to do more in such a short space of time. Surely
there are more alumni who are doing great things so the personalities we have
managed to document in this Book, is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
As the contributions were being
received, reviewed and approved, it was my task to stitch it all together into
a manuscript for the 100-Year Anniversary Souvenir Book.
Focussed on the need to keep
strictly to our work schedule, this hardworking Team pulled everything together
on time for us to finally meet-up physically, to review the manuscript
together.
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Presenting the mock-up book to the two
former teachers, Mrs O and Mrs A Y Lim
while Sunita S Sothi checks out a copy of
the mock-up version of our Souvenir Book
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It was also a time to discuss and
agree on the book’s cover design, one that will stand out at a special Souvenir
Book and which reflects the simplicity and proud identity of the 100-year-old
IJ Convent School in Johor Bahru.
After we have reviewed and tidied
up the manuscript, a mock-up version of the book was made to present to the two
former teachers, Mrs O and Mrs AY Lim, who represent the Convent Association of
Past Pupils (CAPP), for their review and comments.
When we met with the two teachers,
it was encouraging to observe their response to the mock-up book and their
appreciation of the work that had gone into compiling it in such a short space
of time. With their decisive approval, the manuscript has gone to print with
the delivery scheduled ahead of the Convent Fun Run on August 23.
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Our 100-Year Anniversary Souvenir Book
for sale to raise funds for the school's
maintenance projects |
Meanwhile preorders were steadily
received through social media with convenient online payments into the CAPP
account and the option to self-collect their Books.
Working closely with the printer
to coordinate the production of our Books, the countdown started as we eagerly
anticipated the delivery of our stock of Books. And with the printer’s kind cooperation,
we managed to keep to the strict deadline and have safely taken receipt of our
order today!
So ladies (and gentlemen), the
Book Team has great pleasure to present to you, our 100-Year Anniversary
Souvenir Book, a Limited Edition publication, to commemorate a very
special milestone in our school’s history in Johor Bahru.
Important Note:
Be among the first to get your
copy of this Souvenir Book available for sale at only RM150 per book from a
pop-up store in the school during the Convent Fun Run event planned for the morning
of Saturday, August 23, 2025.
Pre-order and payment for books
can be made via a Google Form posted on Facebook and books may be collected at
the Fun Run event or the fund-raising celebration dinner on Saturday, August
30, 2025.
Every effort is being made to
ensure that the alumni get their own copies of this Souvenir Book. So don’t
hesitate to discuss about deliveries to addresses in Malaysia and Singapore. Just
send email to: write2jbconvent@gmail.com
