Pride and joy

It's been quite some time since I last wrote a post. I have been really busy though there were so many things I wanted to write about. Many happenings in CS  made me ( and many others ) very happy despite the extreme busyness at the year's end.

Class party Day was really fun. I saw how creative you all were in decorating the boards and the photo booths. I loved the way the girls have honored the teachers through their decorations, their speeches and so many thoughtful gestures. 5 Kenanga and 5 Mawar, I am very touched by your affectionate display of love for me and the teachers.  Form 5 classes, I shall miss all of you all a lot especially 5 Bakawali whom I have taught for one entire year and have come to love so much as I watched you grow.

5 Bakawali party

                                                              Ms Anne says " I 'm single."

                                                                      
                                                     Happy teachers cutting the cake

                                              
                                   4 Anggerik was so creative in decorating their classroom

                                                1 Kenanga had cute anime on their board

                                                           Cute board in 4 Bakawali

 

 

That morning before the party began, we also had a great time at the Majlis Anugerah HEM. I am very pleased with the many improvements I see - the 98 girls who have completely full attendance for 2012, the girls who have performed many wonderful acts of service faithfully etc etc.

 

 

Pn Fitri and her camera girls - Tengku Amira Nabila and Khoo Jun Way were very happy with the wonderful camera purchased for the magazine shoots through the generosity of the mission board. Thank you all the corporate organizations who advertised in the school magazine. The camera was used to capture the smiles of the students as they recieved their HEM awards

 

 

 

 

 

We are also very pleased that Pn Fitri has recieved another innovation award for the second year running . The pictures shows her and Parveen and Fadillah and many excited visitors at the exhibition booth in the state education department. Congratulations Pn Fitri Yanti!!! Pn Fitri's work is on understanding geometry and visualizing the 3 D forms from the net (plans drawn ) . This is a fairly difficult and abstract topic in Form 2 Mathematics but Pn Fitri has made it fun for the students by incorporatings  hands on activity both in drawing, planning and constructing the 3 D format for many geometrical designs.

The banner at our booth on "Eksplorasi Dunia Geometri " brings pride and joy to SMK Convent Sentul.

The exhibition board showing the nets drawn by our students.

CS students and teachers - you are our pride and joy!

To the Form 5, all the very best for your exams,

To the teachers and the students - Happy holidays as of Friday Nov 9.

See you next year!

Ex- students of SMK Convent Sentul batch of 1977

I am always blessed by the love and affection of ex-students for their Alma mater.I believed the dedication of the earlier missionary principals, the teachers, the mission school ethos and the strong bonds of friendship have forged this deep affection for the school.

Today I like to record my thanks for the batch of ex-students of 1977. The two ladies I know from this batch are Mrs Rachel Samuel and Datin Cheam Swee Har. Rachel very kindly coordinated the collection of funds from this batch amounting to RM 4,500/- to be used for the installation of a LCD in the school hall. Rachel, who currently resides in Glasgow, Scotland, did all this coordination during her short visit to Malaysia in August. Rachel also  roped in her husband to help with the banking in procedures of the contribution. Thank you Rachel and the batch of 1977.

The new LCD in the hall was installed on 7th Sept 2012. It was used the very next morning by Pn Sagunthala who is also an ex-student of Convent Sentul. The very immediate use shows how much the LCD was needed. Altogether, I am also blessed to have 5 ex-students of Convent Sentul, faithfully serving their Alma mater with great dedication and diligence.

The above cropped part of the bank statement shows that your contribution of RM 4,500/- was deposited  on the 3rd of September. For us to install the LCD 4 days later showed how desperate we were to use the new LCD.

I personally tested out the LCD and the sound system yesterday during the Form 3 motivational slot I had with our PMR girls yesterday. From the posture and the body language of the students, it is quite obvious the girls are paying rapt attention, with their eyes riveted towards the screen. Definitely the clear visual display from the new LCD is a major factor in commanding the girls' attention. After the slot,we also gave individual boxes of raisins ( sponsored by PIBG ) to each PMR student.

Datin Cheam Swee Har who is also from your batch has been serving her alma mater as the Co curricular senior assistant since 20 May 2011. She is a great help and blessing both to me and the entire school. Datin Cheam brought my appeal for the LCD to you all during your gathering and re-union. She also liaised closely with Mrs.Rachel Samuel to ensure the contribution went through.Thank you Datin Cheam for your help and support and love for Convent Sentul.

On the 10th of Sept, during the morning assembly, I publicly acknowledged the contribution from your batch of 1977 for the LCD to the students and teachers. I did this for two reasons; the first being gratitude and public acknowledgement for sponsorship was necessary and the second reason; so that I can educate the girls not only to receive but also to give in due time. I am pleased to report that this year our excellent students of 2011 gave out of their Mayor's Cup gifts RM 1000/- towards an air conditioner in the SAL ( self accessed learning room )

For your information, the vendor who installed the LCD originally quoted RM 4,250/- which was the sum mentioned by Datin to you during your gathering. Your batch however gave beyond the sum needed and again we say "Thank You". The vendor was also very kind and has given us a discount and the LCD with installation now cost only RM 4,100/-. I will use the extra RM 400/- to purchase two extra remote control for the LCD and another set of wire from the laptop to the LCD.

Thank you once again for giving and for inspiring others to give. May the good Lord bless you all for your generosity.

Climbing to view Mulu Caves Pinnacles

My adventurous friends organized a trip for 10 of us to climb the point to view the awesome Mulu Pinnacles in Sarawak. So climbing Broga Hill and the flying fox last month was a kind of training for that but to be quite honest, Broga Hill was chicken feed compared to the Mulu Pinnacles track. My friends and me who have climbed Gunung Kinabalu also rate this adventure to view the Mulu Pinnacles the most  challenging adventure in our lives!

So what was so challenging about this? To begin with, we had a long boat ride ( about 2.5 hours)  upstream the Melinau river. At times when the river was too shallow, we had to get out and push the boat! This was followed by a 8.8 km track through the forest carrying our backpack for the 3 days and 2 nights stuff we needed.

All 10 of us stayed in one room at Camp 5 which was really spartan and far more simple than Broga Outbac! No aircon and the electricity supply was only from 6.00 pm to 9 pm.We rented and hung our own mosquito nets. There were more Mak Sallehs than Malaysians staying at Camp 5. Convent Sentul, you need to appreciate the luxuries of your home and also toughen up generally both mentally and physically.

The next morning, we started off about 6.10 am using our headlamps to guide us. At 200 m, we started climbing. The climb was very vertical, lined with sharp rocks so unlike Broga which was mostly clay.At 900m, we reached the Mini Pinnacles and stopped to rest. By the way, each climber had to carry 3 litres of water and their own lunch pack up.

We used iron rings and ropes to pull ourselves up. I felt my sweat falling down like rain. Then we came to the ladders section. There were 17 ladders altogether.

I am really glad there are clear markers on signposts all the way up. Each signpost  for example, 1300m, 1400m all the way to the 2400m post encouraged us. They reminded that our hard work brought us nearer to our goal and that we had made progress.

Finally at 11.00 am ++, we reached the point to view the Pinnacles.I learnt the importance of having friends to support you when you are challenged. If not for my husband, I doubt if I can make it to the top. So students and teachers, whenever you are faced with a challenge, overcome it by having strong group support and never solo. I also am awed at  how God inspired me to climb by the song "He raised me up "

He raised me up so I can stand on mountains

He raised me up to walk on stormy seas,

I am strong when I am on His shoulders

He raised me up to more than I can be

The descent was even more difficult and dangerous compared to the ascent. I climbed  backwards and of course it took longer hours. I took 4+ hours to ascend and 7+ hours to descend. Altogether I spend 13 hours climbing. I did not go to toilet the entire day even though I drank more than 3 litres water that day. Everything must have come out as sweat!

I have to thank my very experienced guide Undi for making sure I reached Camp 5 safely. He guided my every step especially when it rained and it was pitch dark. Undi displayed utmost responsibility and did not abandon me and a Singaporean girl even though we were very slow.

Finally I reached Camp 5 at about 7pm to the cheers and claps of my worried friends. I realize God raised me to stand on mountains and to be more than I can be despite my very real limitations of age, weight, gender and other issues.

So people of Convent Sentul, don't ever let be limited by very real limitations but learn to dream big. We need to be especially not to be limited by your gender or background. Do not allow your past to determine your future! Determine your future by your choices to dream big! Your  big dreams can be realized if you rallied the support of friends and family and those who have the expertise!

Dream big and achieve your dreams with the help of friends and God.

Training CS princesses to be tough

SMK Convent Sentul girls are quite genteel, orderly and feminine. These qualities  are great assets especially in  areas like toilets and general maintenance so I rate our our school toilets the best toilets among the the previous 5 schools I have taught in.Thank God!


However our gentle girls are not very accustomed to tough adventurous settings. The recent CS trip of 40 girls and 5 teachers to Broga Outbac in Lenggeng, Negeri Sembilan  was a awesome challenge and training in toughness and adventure to all of us, me included! On arrival at Outbac, we were awed by the steep ladder climb to the flying fox launch. Then we watched open mouthed as student after student came down on the flying fox, flying from on high to cross a shallow lake and landing. Could CS girls do this? Could I or the teachers do it? 

Coming down the flying fox across a pond

Teachers Pn Pamela, me and Pn Pamela all decked out in helmet and harness for our flying fox!

I am pleased to report that about 40+ teachers and girls completed the awesome flying fox challenge, including 3 teachers - Pn Anna, me and Pn Pamela. Of course we were terrified and like the girls said " "Freaking awesomely frightening, teacher, especially when we climbed up the stairs and see how high we are. Worse when we stand up there and waiting to take off! Aiyoh! But when we are flying already, it is so cool! Teacher, can we do this again?"


For all of us, completing the flying fox was a real challenge! We learned to conquer our fears, yes we felt the fears very clearly since we are not robots as you know quite well. But we did not let our inner  fears daunt us and stop us from achieving our goals. Syabas CS! Congratulations for conquering your fears!

Another event that had us in stitches and a lot of laughter was the water obstacles race. We were broken into 4 groups. Each person had to enter the shallow pond through 5 choices; ladder walk, log walk, tyres, drum boat or rope. You met a kind of drum in the middle and then cross over the drum to choose another form of exit. You could not exit the pond by the same way you came in. We were afraid to get wet and dirty at first! But all of us fell into the shallow pond at some point and created lots of laughter for the viewers. This was a very happy fun event!

Durga exits by the tyre route

CS girl enters by the log. Someone fell into the drum while making her exit.

Durga on rope just before she fell into the water! Some one exits the log

Next morning, we got up at 4.30 am and were ready for briefing at 5.30 am. We started our walk in pitch darkness towards Broga Hill. Our torches were so very necessary then! The walk was quite challenging but the trail up the hill was really crowded.

Victorious Veronica! Thumbs up for a mighty victory!

I am pleased to again report that 37 girls and teachers out of 45 made it to the top at peak 1 Broga Hill before 7.10 am. I am especially proud of Veronica Shalini who despite an injury made it to the top in good time! We gave a rousing Mighty Convent School Cheer right at the top and had everybody wondered who we were! Our Convent cheer goes like this!.

We are Convent, mighty mighty convent!

Everywhere we go, people want to know

Who we are?

So we tell them, we are Convent,

Mighty Mighty Convent!

Oh yeah!!!

That inspired the other schools to give their school cheer too! We also sang our school song gustily at the top at about 7.35 am!

We are really thankful for this wonderful opportunity to toughen up the princesses of SMK Convent Sentul. I am really struck by some lines ( highlighted ) in our school song through this event.

"Oh Hark now hear our joyful cries of pride in our school

Stedfast are we in our duty, simple in virtue.

We pledge to you our loyalty and hardship we endure,

We will strive to make you proud, the school that we adore,

Oh Lord, we pray for guidance and blessings on our way

Help us to accept success and failure in work and play

Oh Hark, now hear our joyful cries of pride in our school

Stedfast are in our duty, simple in virtue

Singing our school song and giving the Mighty Convent cheer  on top of Broga Hill were the joyful cries of pride  in our school! I was proud of the girls who endured the hardships in this camp. In all things, we need to pray for guidance and blessings on our way. God answered our prayers for blessings! We were blessed by wonderful weather when we went up! Only after we had come down and reached camp safely, there was a downpour of rain for about 40 minutes. For those of us who did not make it up the hill, we embrace success and failure! And Broga Outbac Camp was work and play!

I want to express my thanks to the teachers  who worked very hard to make this wonderful trip possible. They are Datin Cheam, Ms Anne, Pn Anna. Pn Pamela. I am also very touched by the wonderful students who planned many details and showed great leadership skills and discipline. They are Diana, Veronica and many others who worked very hard! I also thank those Yvone who generously donated  towards this camp! Thank you!

The love of ex students and others for Convent Sentul

Old mural in the center of the school with the original school badge.

I wrote a short email to Dr Cheah Yin Mee and several others entitled "One square meal for poor CS girls" last Wednesday night. The email went something like this.

Budimas which sponsors our food program for 80 girls in  Convent Sentul has just given notice that they will stop the Budimas food program for all 9 secondary schools effective 21 July.  I am quite worried for the many poor girls who have now grown dependent on the food provided for at a price of RM 1.50 per school day per child. There are many girls who need to have a square meal. Is there any one who wants to sponsor a square meal for them?"

Dr Cheah Yin Mee and others asked a few sensible questions. "How much would it cost to pay the meals of one student up to the end of the school year?" "Can we have some details of the students involved in the Budimas food program?" Once I had given the pertinent information required, I witnessed and experienced the onslaught of the deep  affection of the ex-students for their alma mater.

A flurry of emails flew in,  by so many ex Convent Sentul girls ( already more than 60 girls on Thursday emails ), all with positive responses coordinated by Yin Mee who happened to be in Kuala Lumpur that weekend. God's timing that weekend? I think so. But very clearly I saw the willingness of Yin Mee to sacrifice her designated holiday and family weekend to help the needy girls of Convent Sentul. She took time to search out contacts and to thank each and every donor on behalf of the school.  Thank you Yin Mee!

One of the first to respond was Chris Low who pledged to cover the expenses of 10 girls. Chris wrote she understood the hard times experienced by our girls. By Sunday night, Yin Mee wrote she had 42 sponsors. At the school assembly on Monday morning, I was struck by one phrase in the school song. " We pledge to you our loyalty" as I realize that the loyalty and affection was what spurred the ex-students to pledge so quickly and so freely. So I spoke at assembly to the school about how I was moved by the deep loyalty ex-Convent students had for their alma mater. I challenged our present students to always maintain that affection and loyalty and to do the same things and emulate their seniors when they were financially able to bless back the school.

Sometime later that morning while I was teaching a student  in my office ( the student had been absent for some time and needed to do some catching up on the Physics lessons I taught ), the school office staff said someone had come to the school and wanted to see me. When I went out, she introduced herself as Swee Peng and she had heard about the Budimas food program.  I brought her into my office and showed her some files while giving some work to my student who was still in the office. Swee Peng gave me the money on behalf of her and her friend. Her visit and gift impacted the student who witnessed first hand  the reality of the deep affection for Convent Sentul.

Kim Ng coordinated the KL responses when Yin Mee returned to Singapore. Thank you Kim Ng. By Monday night, Yin Mee wrote to say she had 56 sponsors. Tuesday noon, my friend Katherine Leong smsed me to say the directors of her company "D' One" pledged to sponsor 10 girls. By Tuesday night ie now, I wished to report we now already have enough for all the girls with a little to spare for some extra good meals and not just the basic square meal I asked for. We here at SMK Convent Sentul are overwhelmed and bowled over by your love. Through this call for help, I have been introduced to the bigger family of Convent Sentul and I am so happy to note that we have a big caring family out there. There are many of you I do not know and may not have the privilege to meet but nevertheless I know your love and support for Convent Sentul.

Some words from the play "Oliver Twist" which I happened to watch last Friday night in Wesley Methodist Musical  - "Food, glorious food" and the infamous "Please sir, can I have some more?" ring a very strong bell especially last Friday. But we in SMK Convent Sentul are quite unlike OliverTwist because we are much blessed with more food and food served with love. Thank you on behalf of the girls!

affe

Mak Salleh guy playing sepak takraw.

We had a delightful time  when 15 delegates ( parents, teachers and students) from the Overnewton Anglican College located near Melbourne, Australia visited SMK Convent Sentul on 4th July 2012. Amongst  the things that gave us great delight and surprise was the fact that they studied  Bahasa Indonesia,  taught by teachers Ms Katy Harris and Ms Veronica Chew. We also found out they actually had lessons each afternoon while on holiday here in Malaysia. Hey girls, life is not all play and holiday as you think it to be.I will touch on some highlights of their visit.

Divyerutha, Yen Nee and Farah aided by Hou Jo Ee, Jasvin and Nurin did a fun Chemistry lesson for them involving the change of colours in plants unique to Convent Sentul. The Overnewton delegation felt the students in Malaysia learnt much more compared to them. We welcomed them into school with the Malaysian kompang and bunga mangga, a 1Malaysian dance. It was fun to watch them play our traditional games .

Maksalleh guy playing sepak takraw with the girls of  Convent Sentul.

Overnewton students playing batu seremban with our girls.

When we toured the school, we broke the group up. Prefects took care of the students while teachers took care of the adults. There was plenty of interaction between both countries in both the students school tour and the adult school tour.

I was very impressed when Sharyn and Jim ( the parents on the trip) mentioned that each parent in Overnewton had to put in 18 hours of community service with the school each term. They did all sorts of service - teaching assistants, transportation, maintenance, chaperones etc. If this could be implemented in Malaysia, this would be a real boon and encouragement to the teachers

Overnewton students singing their school song.

 We were very surprised when they started counting " Satu, dua, tiga, empat" before starting to sing their school song. I did not catch all the words but some part of the lyrics went like this.


May the Lord bless you today,
And may God keep you in His care,
Giving His peace to your soul,
Even when times are hard
Knowing His hand will be there
When you call upon His name
May God always shine on you

We also had fun introducing them to a wonderful meal cooked by our diligent students and dedicated teachers. We had delicious mee soto, keropok, roti jalur, pulasan, rambutan, etc . We had a very fun gift exchange where students from both countries delighted one another with their specially prepared gifts.The Overnewton delegation was very impressed when we presented them with a framed official photograph below about two hours after their arrival.

Yesterday, one week after their visit,  I just found  my girls are inspired by the Overnewton students to work towards an overseas school trip. The girls mentioned the Overnewton students worked and saved money for their trip to Malaysia. In comparison, many of my girls have never worked outside home before and they -the typical Malaysian are far more sheltered compared to our younger Australian counterpart.

Overnewton Anglican College, Thank you for that fun visit that opened eyes and hearts and minds both ways. God bless you and stay in the light.

Teachers' Day 2012 SMK Convent Sentul

Teachers' Day 2011 in SMK Convent Sentul was already an awesome experience for me as I felt the love of the students showered lavishly on the teachers. Yet I was still not fully prepared for Teachers' Day 2012  which left me just so awestruck at the girls' creativity and innovation and love.  I was overwhelmed to tears by what the students had prepared for Teachers Day 2012. I know this emotion was reflected not just by me but also by Pn Rose Saadiah YDP PIBG and the PIBG committee members especially the new members and the 5 new teachers who joined us.

The colour theme this year was blue and purple.


Pn Siti Sayeedah being loving escorted.

The teachers were lovingly escorted by the prefects through the blue purple balloon arch one by one as their names were read to great cheering and applause by the girls. Yes!!!! It is great to be a teacher in SMK Convent Sentul where you are celebrated!!

The launch gimmick was overwhelmingly creative. We were given scissors to cut the strings that held clusters of balloons. As we cut the strings and the blue purple balloons rose high in the skies, it was to fervent prayers in our hearts that our students would rise as high as these beautiful balloons and their rising be seen and celebrated by all at ground level!

Rising high and being watched and celebrated!

Yes, teachers, staff and girls of SMK Convent Sentul - rise as high as these balloons and let your ascension be celebrated by all who see it.

The girls entertained us very well with their performances. I was bemused by the fact that some of the girls whom I had previously thought were quite serious were swaying their hips with great agility in the dances. I was enthralled by the little Form 1 girls dance - I had seen how they  had practiced in great ernest. The boria girls really"jiwakan" the dance - you could see the pasion in their movements.Thank you, prefects not just for the dances and performances but for orchestrating this overwhelming experience for us all.Thank you Pn Intan and Pn Mastura and the Staff Club Commitee. I am sure the words "I love you from the bottom of my heart" must have been uttered not just in my heart but in the hearts of the teachers today.


Choral Speaking

Hari Anugerah Cemerlang

I am trying to blog again after a fairly long hiatus. The Blogger Dashboard went through some changes and I could not view the buttons on the top. Then I also could not see what I had typed. Thirdly I could not find the edit button which allowed me to edit. All this made me uneasy about publishing posts on the blog.

First I want to record my thanks to Dr Cheah Yin Mee ( and her husband Mr Wong)  for gracing the occasion as guest of honor.

Impacting lives through landscape architecture.

Today in SMK Convent Sentul, we were graced by the presence of two renowned landscape architects in the persons of Ms Yap Nga Tuan and Ms Nicole Van Den Steenhoven. These two very interesting ladies together with their staff helped us understand how landscape architecture and town planning impacts and improves lives.

Ms Yap, who is the director of Praxcis Design enlightened us on the history of landscape architecture with her lovely and colourful slides . She began with the Stonehenge in UK. She then took us  to Easter Island and then to the hanging gardens of Babylon built by Nebudchadnezzar. We literally went around the world with her, to Chinese and Japanese gardens, to Greece, to romanctic water gardens in Italy and to .... We learnt a little bit of the rivalry between French and English gardens. We also learnt that Sentul Park in KLPAC is based on English garden landscaping.




Sentul Park KL PAC




Long green grass on lake in Sentul Park.

We learnt that the nearby Sentul Park surrounding KLPac draws its inspiration from the landscape style of 18th century English gardens which broke away from the formality of the French tradition to a simple appreciation of unadorned nature.



Martha Schwartz artsy fartsy concepts.



Ms Yap introuced  us to Martha Schwartz's artsy fartsy playgrounds with vibrant colours. She educated us on the importance of roof gardens and rain harvesting. She showed us a river in Korea that looked very cool.



1000 year old restored river in Korea.

Ms Yap's friend Ms Nicole Van den Steenhoven began her story with a slide of a garden goat. She told how as a 6 year old, she tended her neighbour's garden and recieved sweets as a reward. Ms Nicole shared she was rejected by the top horticultural school in Boskoop, Holland because she was a ..... girl. Well later, they took her in because she passed the exams ( quite esaily she said). She recieved plenty of help from the boys in the school ( Her model looks and figure must have inspired the boys to help). So girls, be inspired by Ms Nicole and learn that that  discrimination ( gender and otherwise ) can be overcome and only serves to make us stronger in our spirits.

Ms Nicole played a pivotal role in the development of Nexus Resort Hotel, Karumbunai. She shared how she had this lovely office view of  the deep blue sea on one side and Mount Kinabalu on the other. She also shared a story of how once a long drought almost wiped out the plants in her project. And when they were down to their last drop of water, the rains came. She was so thankful that she walked  ( did she dance in the rain, I wonder? )  in the rains with an umbrella.  Ms Nicole's love for plants ( temperate and tropical ) and her expertise on plants is clearly evident.

She showed us a cute picture of slippers that looked like they had grass growing in them. Walking in those slippers would be like walking on the green grass. She inspired us to creative and innovative thinking beyond our horizon. She showed us slides where she stood in a pool with her jeans rolled up to literally test the waters. One thing stands out clearly, girls. Often Ms Nicole is the only lady on the project.  She shows us that ladies can succeed just as well as the men provided we work just as hard. We must throw off negative  mindsets and set ourselves free!!!



Ms Nicole pays careful attention to Ms Yap's sharing



 Thank you Ms Yap and Ms Nicole for lifting us up from our horizons. Thank you, Mr Lee Geok Ai and Ms Lee Foong Lian for coordinating this lovely visit and talk. Our souls have been watered and refreshed.  We want to bloom like the many lovely gardens shown and bring therapy to others through the well watered gardens in our souls.




Ms Lee Foong Lian and girls pay rapt attention.