November 06, 2009 19:52 PM

Convent Bukit Nanas:Celebrating 110 Years At The Top

By Farizalina Ishak

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Convent Bukit Nanas (CBN) established in 1899 will be celebrating its 110th Anniversary this Sunday, and remains the premier girls schools in Kuala Lumpur.

Known through its acronym CBN, over the years, the school served as the platform to nurture and groom generations of girls.

The school's history began when a group of nuns, 'The Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus (IJ)', arrived from Singapore to start a school at Jalan Ampang near the Gombak River banks. The school started with seven male students and five female students.

The school moved to Brickfields in 1901 with 80 students and it was moved again in 1911 to its present location, a former church building at the hill called Bukit Nanas. The shift was due to frequent flooding in Brickfields.

OPEN TO ALL RACES

There was no distinction in race, religion or social class in admitting students with Malays, Indians, Eurasians and Chinese accepted without any restrictions.

As a mission school, it was governed by the nuns until 1976. It was Chee Phui Lay who became the school's first non missionary principal.

The school is rich in history, the building itself was designed according to the Gothic architecture. From a single school, it was divided into primary and secondary school in 1958.

CBN is today well entrenched in the annals of the nation as a great educational institution. It was selected as a cluster school in 2006.

According to CBN' secondary school principal Ann Khoo Lee, the school was the choice for Malay students whose parents at that time had difficulties in finding a prestigious daily school with English as the medium of teaching.

DIFFERENT SCHOOL

"At that time, most parents either would sent their children to religious or ordinary schools but to find a prestigious school with good English teachers is was a bit difficult.

"But somehow, CBN was really well-known at that time and many of the royalties including from Perak, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang, even our former and current Prime Ministers except for Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj sent their daughters to CBN," she told Bernama during an exclusive interview here today.

Lee, 56, a former teacher and principal of the Methodist Girls School in Sentul became CBN's principal after the retirement of Alice George in 2004.

She said, the school that operates in two sessions with a total of 1,350 students, has 98 teachers and 12 support staff.

AN ACTIVE SCHOOL

CBN takes part in many inter-school competitions such as cheer and choir, as well as various sports events such as netball and hockey and this made the school famous for its high achievement not only in academic, sports and other activities.

She noted that many national athletes such as Dr Farah Hani Imran (gymrama), Farah Zellinah Kamal and Christina Yoke were the product of the school in rythmic gymnastic.

"However, like many mission schools, sports was not CBN's only forte as it has groomed many leaders in government, politics, judiciary and corporate sector who have lived and breathed the school motto: "Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty", she added.

Some of the luminaries include former International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, National Heritage Department's Commissioner Datuk Prof Zuraina Majid, former Finance Minister's wife Toh Puan Mahani Idris, former Malaysian Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, renowned actress Fauziah Datuk Ahmad Daud and Vanidah Imran.

The other distinguished names are Perak royalty Raja Datuk Seri Azureen Sultan Azlan Shah and her two sisters, the Sultanah of Johor Zanariah Tunku Ahmad and her sister, the five grand-daughters of the Malay scholar Tan Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad (Za'aba), former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's daughter Nori Abdullah and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's daughter Putri Norlisa.

CBN FUND RAISING DINNER

Meanwhile, Lee said in celebrating the school's honoured past and contributions the 110th CBN Fund Raising Dinner will be held on Nov 8 at the Sunway Resort and Spa Hotel together with the launching of the school official website by Sultanah Zanariah Tunku Ahmad.

"The dinner will be officiated by the Federal Territories Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin and will be attended by the school alumni, former students and teachers including the education minister's wife Tengku Datuk Marsilla Tengku Abdullah.

"This anniversary dinner celebration is another platform to celebrate this great school and its achievements. Our school now has consistent enrolment of over 1,300 students annually. We conduct classes in two sessions to provide enough classrooms and facilities for our students," she said.

Lee also said the school is working towards single session and allocate more time for extracurricular activities.

"With this in mind, we hope to raise enough funds to build a multi-storey block on the site where the canteen now stands. A new block will provide us extra classrooms to better cater to the expanding needs of our growing student population," she added.

-- BERNAMA

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