SMK Convent Sentul 75th year Diamond Jubilee celebrations provided the golden opportunity for me and CS to get to know the Alumni. New friendships were forged as we worked and prayed together for the many events lined up for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Datin Baljit, the President of the Alumni first introduced me to Neela in 2014. Neela volunteered to work on the Heritage Room. Initially we connected only through what apps and google drive media. She came several times to collect old pictures and to look at the set up. She introduced me to Agnes who worked tirelessly with her on the Heritage Room. I saw the humility and deep love of CS in Neela 's heart. She worked with great dedication quietly on many things - the concepts and the story line of the wall displays.When Agnes flew in from overseas, she encouraged Neela greatly as they went doing many things and any thing and everything that was needed for the room - from photo stating to printing to etc etc. The very last night before the launch, they stayed back and worked till late into the night. These two lovely ladies from the batch of 1972 gave their heart and soul and hands to prepare the Heritage Room.
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| From left: Datin Baljit, Ms Navam, Neela, Andre Duarte, Tan Tee Hwa and Agnes |
I really enjoyed how Neela, Agnes and Ms Navam interacted with my Heritage student emcees Kamalashini, Adriana and Lai Ying Ying. They listened to our students practicing their presentation. They corrected, They cajoled. They encouraged and they praised and made my girls bloom in confidence and competency.Ms Navam is the undisputed historian of the school since she is both an ex-student and an ex-teacher. Ms Navam is proud to share the same age as CS. Agnes is the media relations queen. I saw her superb organizational skills on handling the finances and the media. Kudos ..ladies!
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The walls speaks.
Our illustrious ex-students with many authors, sportswomen and success stories
inspire our present girls to rise as their Big Sisters
have risen above challenging backgrounds and circumstances.
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| Young and old together rejoicing in the Beloved Heritage Room Seated from left: Ms Navam, Sister Daniel Ee, Sister Teresia, Sister Benedict, Sister Luke |
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| The new and the old badges speak of how we in the present can connect with those from the past to build a beautiful picture for CS in the future. |
We had many visitors on the much awaited morning of 8th May 2015. Apart from the Heritage Room, the visitors also interacted with our students and teachers on the Interactive Academic Carnival as well as on the Heritage Trail
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| Tai Yoke Lin and her daughter watching and listening to Farhana 5A demo on Redox experiments. |
I took Tai Yoke Lin and her daughter to the science lab.Our students demonstrated fun magical experiments with confidence. Tai Yoke Lin is an ex-headgirl of CS in 1970. She was an Asean scholar. She also graduated with a BA from Harvard University and a M. Phil from Cambridge. She is a true inspiration to us to walk the pathways of success with humility.
Many visitors - young and old thronged the school grounds. Ex-students, ex-teachers, ex principals, students and teachers from CS and newspapers media came with great anticipation. They were not disappointed. Three other schools and teachers from other schools thoroughly enjoyed our Interactive Carnival. A TV media crew was there to catch our teachers and girls in action. Some of the nuns had not been back for many years. It was sheer joy to see them re-connecting withe the students and the teachers and long lost friends.
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| Sister Mary Agnes. She remains the last teaching sister in Malaysia and she retired from SMK Convent Sentul in 2004 |
Video shows Mr Paul Lim, one of our generous donors from Inta Bina enjoying the interactive science experiment. Observe the smile playing on his face when he succeeds. He says he enjoys our school. His joy at watching the students truly learn engage actively in meaningful real learning is infectious! Our CS girls are also very skilled in sharing the active learning with young and old visitors . This could be one reason why CS receives generous contributions from donors. They enjoy seeing the "Hands On Heads On and Hearts On" learning in CS.
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| Hotel placard display |
The day did not end then. We continued with the Gala Dinner at the Renaissance Hotel. This time the heroines were Andre Duarte, Premala, Guna, Jane, Agnes and countless others. They worked very hard to give us a lovely yummylicious fun dinner! Andre set the happy mood moving with her grand unique introduction. We were blessed by the presence of His Grace, the Archbishop Julian Leow as our guest of honor.
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| Group photo before the dinner commenced. Sister Benedict, Sister Mary, Madam Tan Tee Hwa, His Grace, the Archbishop Rev Julian Leow, Mr Lee Geok Ai, Pn Rose, Mrs Lee Geok Ai, Sister Luke, Sister Teresia and Datin Cheam. |
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| Festive ambience |
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| Andre Duarte the Chairman of the Gala Dinner Committee |
The dinner saw many special guests. The ex-students were thrilled to meet Sister Rita - the ex principal of SMK Convent Sentul. Thank you Andre for arranging to bring Sister Rita safely here and home as she is frail and precious. For Sister Rita, it was one rare and much treasured opportunity to to meet her ex students and friends.
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| (From left) Sister Teresia Mowe, Sister Rita Rodrigues and Sister Mary Agnes sharing a light moment at the gala dinner. |
Sister said. “I feel so happy to
see all the former students, regardless of their religion, coming together and
having fun. It is just like they were back in school.
“Convent Sentul is
like home. These women have all come home now and are rekindling their past
memories with old friends. Everybody is so happy and I can see a lot of
bonding,” she said.
The above is quoted from the Star Paper write up 1st June 2015 on the Gala Dinner
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| Pn Salmah and the golden girls cutting the 75th anniversary cake amidst confetti. |
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| Happy girls up stage |
The happy party went on and one till way past midnight. The girls had a grand time dancing with one another and with the nuns. I shall not post the pics of the girls dancing through the night.
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| Andre and Datin Baljit presenting the cheque from sponsors |
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| One of the cheques received for the school. |
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| Mr and Mrs Lee Geok Ai presenting souvenirs to Mr and Mrs Selvaraja, our big time donor since 2011. |
Thank you Pn Rose and all in the PIBG for your great support. Thank you Mr Lee Geok Ai for all the generous donors you have brought to support CS. Thank you to all of you from all of us here in CS.. Your hard and heart work is truly appreciated.
The story does not end here. The story continues with the girls and teachers and stakeholders and you.
