As
our Book Team worked on the Souvenir Book, published to commemorate the
100-Year Anniversary of the founding of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in
Johor Bahru (1925 – 2025), there were regular postings in the school’s Facebook
page to drum up interest in this Book that will be sold to raise funds for the
school’s maintenance projects.
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| Facade of the IJ Convent Johor Bahru captured during the Convent Fun Run held on 23 August 2025 |
Little
did I know that someone in Germany had read this and other blog posts on the
Johor Bahru Convent school stored in My Johor Stories (www.peggyloh.com)
with much interest, and did not hesitate to write to the email address provided
in social media to place her own order for this Souvenir Book.
In fact, she was so resourceful that she managed to reach me on various platforms to introduce herself as Gayathri Habarakada and told me why she was so thrilled to read about the 100-Year Anniversary of the IJ Convent Johor Bahru. On August 25, 2025, she wrote:
“My name is Gayathri Habarakada,
a Sri Lankan, now residing in Germany. It’s with great enthusiasm that I write
to inquire about purchasing a copy of the 100 Years of IJ Convent book.
I stumbled upon your beautifully
written article about the history of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in
Johor Bahru. I was so excited to see this as we share a bit of history with
this school. Out of excitement, I posted a comment on the article too.
This was after finding my
grandmother’s School Leaving Certificate randomly on my phone gallery, a nearly
95-year-old document which brought back fond memories and I just happened to
see your article.
My paternal grandmother, Emiliyn Sebonis (though I’m unsure what name she used in Malaya), was a student at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Johor, approximately between 1925 and 1939. She must have been among the school’s earliest students. I will share photo of her blurred School Leaving Certificate – it is probably 90 plus years old.
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| Her grandmother's School Leaving Certificate, circa 1939 |
While her sisters worked, my
grandmother attended the Convent. As one of them was a teacher, I’m not
sure if she worked in the very same school as a teacher too.
My mother still keeps my
grandmother’s School Leaving Certificate as a cherished souvenir. I will attach
it here for your reference. After spending some years in Malaya, my grandmother
eventually returned to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), married, and started her family in
1941 and had my father and aunty.
Grandmother’s sisters, however,
remained in Malaya and lived out their lives there as part of the early
Ceylonese community in Johor Bahru. Their names were Alpi and Theresa, who
passed away in the 1980s.
My grandmother passed away in
1994 when I was only four years old. I grew up hearing the lovely stories she
had shared, which remain as treasured, though vague, memories for me.
As a young girl, I was inspired
by my grandmother’s adventurous life, grew up fancying her bravery so much so
that it led me to pursue a career as a flight attendant. I later joined Qatar
Airways and worked as a flight attendant close to eight years.
It was such a meaningful coincidence to come across this article and discover that a book had been published about the very school she attended. I would love to purchase a copy if there is a possibility. I would be truly grateful for any guidance you could provide on how I might purchase this book.”
When I read the messages from
Gayathri and saw her yellowed, old photo of the School Leaving Certificate that
belonged to her grandmother, it dawned on me that this was a precious piece of
tangible proof of the wonderful work of the Johor Bahru Convent school in its
early years.
The Book Team had invited
contributions from alumni to compile into the Souvenir Book and the pieces
received dated back to the Class of 1958. Now, this piece of School Leaving Certificate
contributed by Gayathri, dated around circa 1939 would be an artefact of an alumni,
her late grandmother, from an even earlier generation!
I was pleased to receive further
messages where Gayathri shared more about her family in Johor Bahru as she was
keen to connect with the Sri Lankan community here who may be familiar with her
family who once lived here.
Meanwhile I learned that Gayathri
moved to live in Germany with her husband since 2023 after they were married. She
continued:
“My father, Herbert, was in touch
with my grand-aunts until then and we have lost contact. My father had cousins,
Chandra Lily and Sharma, who should be close to age 85 to 90, if they are still
living. They used to write to my father before I was born.
By the way, we still have some
letters they used to send us. On a letter from 1953, there was an address that
said, No. 10 Kampung Baru, Jalan Haron. But this was 20 years since my
grandmother returned to Sri Lanka. So it was written when the family moved from
hospital quarters to a house at this address at Jalan Haron.”
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| Letter from her grand-aunt written in Singhalese |
She attached photo of that letter
and when I looked closer, I saw that it was not written in English. When I
asked, Gayathri confirmed that her grand-aunt wrote that letter in Singhalese.
Gayathri herself could read and write in Singhalese as she lived in Sri Lanka
and went to school there until she was aged 19.
Gayathri was hopeful that someone
in Johor Bahru may remember two Sri Lankan families – her father’s and that of
her father’s cousin – as she recalled that one of her father’s cousins was
married to a Police officer.
And the male cousin, Sharma, who
passed away due to a heart attack when he was in his 50’s. She shared a photo
of her father because she was told, Sharma, his cousin and him looked very
similar. She wrote again on August
26, 2025, and said:
“Thank you for your email
and for the lovely conversation. I approached you through all the platforms
just to make sure my message is delivered. I would definitely give you the
permission to tell the story on your platform.
And meanwhile I’ll try to get you
few pics of my grandma, if my mother can manage to find and send them, so it
can add more colour to your article.
Even though this story is a very
small in size, and also a very small part of my 35 years of life. Being
connected to the small piece of history of my father’s life, just with the few
information I have in my hand is a wonderful experience for me.
Surprisingly I also managed to be
connected to a kind lady called Ms Chew, who knows Jalan Haron street (I
will tell you how I found her later) and she managed to send me a photo of an
empty land today, where she thinks where my grand aunts must have earlier
lived because there is no house No. 10 anymore, but 10A and 10D. But she said,
she asked someone to look for information and I am hopeful.
And last night, I read that you
have published books on Johor Stories. Ms Peggy, along with the 100 year
book, I would like to purchase those books as well. I would love to read
and feel, what it was like to live in historical Johor many decades
ago.
I was awake last night reading your blog, and was amazed by reading such beautifully written stories. And didn’t know you were someone special, who has contributed to keep the Johor roots alive. I am honoured and glad I found you and thank you for being kind enough to engage in a conversation. Please let me know how can I pay for all the three books and how to get it posted to Germany.”
The she wrote again on August 30, 2025 and said: “Just wanted to let you know that I have found the whereabouts of the family with the help of a lady who knows the neighborhood. Waiting for her to get the contact number but not sure if they would like to reconnect but just hopeful. Apparently, one of my father’s cousins is still there.”
On September 10, 2025, she shared an exciting update: “I found out the whereabouts of our cousins and already had a call last Sunday. One of my Aunties is still there… will call her coming weekend. It’s after five decades we were reconnected. Really happy about it.”
Then on September 17, 2025, I
dispatched the Souvenir Book and My Johor Stories books by courier to
her and when I opened the mailbox to write an email to let her know, I saw that
Gayathri had sent another email which read like this:
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| The garment her grandmother used to wear as her school uniform |
But my mother said grandma used
to say it’s her school uniform. It’s now yellow in colour. But I’m sure it was
something white before. But it’s definitely what she wore to the school.
Since you collect historical pics
and docs maybe you will love to see and maybe you can make out which year of
kids wore this kind of dresses, if it was a uniform.”
She was right. I was more than
pleased to receive her photo of a garment which Gayathri said her grandmother
used to wear as her school uniform. In fact, I can clarify that in the early years of the Johor Bahru Convent school,
students did not wear uniforms but went to school wearing their own clothes.
For
instance, the Chinese girls wore their traditional clothes like sam-foo
while trousers were worn only by boys. I imagine that girls like her
grandmother, probably wore a plain blouse such as this garment in her photo, matched
with a long sarong-type of skirt in Sri Lankan or Indian tradition.
It
was only in 1951 that uniforms were
introduced for Convent students in the country, distinguished by a smart Blue
box-pleated pinafore worn with a White short-sleeve blouse and belted at the
waist, teamed with White canvas shoes and socks.
Then
she sent another photo of the opened box with four books: The 100-Year
Anniversary Souvenir Book and the trilogy of My Johor Stories. She said:
“I will start reading tonight.” She thanked me for arranging to send the books
to her and looked forward to thanking me in person when she visits Johor next
year.
In
the meantime, I encouraged her to read about the 100-year-old Johor Bahru
Convent and the collection of stories documented in My Johor Stories for
Johor families, about Johor culture and heritage and my own grandfather stories.
Gayathri
said she was always curious about how her grand-aunts and grandmother, then
three young girls, who went abroad from Sri Lanka and how they survived over
the years. It was a bygone era where young women did not dare to take much
risks.
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| Package of books safely received in Germany! |
There
is a Sri Lankan community in Johor Bahru so we remain hopeful that she can
discover more about her family who once lived here, from reliable sources.
Thanks,
Gayathri, for sharing a precious, tangible link to the early years of the IJ
Convent Johor Bahru in the form of your grandmother’s School Leaving
Certificate and her school “uniform” from a bygone era. Thank you, ever so
much!
There
is, indeed, so much to be grateful for even as we continue with celebrating the
100-Year Anniversary of the IJ Convent in Johor Bahru (1925 – 2025).
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