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.