Thursday, July 24, 2008

About Me and My School..

My name is Jahirah binti Jalal Abidin.





Currently taking Bachelor (hons) of Education in Teaching English as a Second Language. I was Born in Kuala Lumpur on the 13 the of February 1988. Along my 20 years of age, I was grown up in this "big durian" with my 2 beautiful sisters and my big irritating brother.=) My parents Mr Jalal Abidin and Mrs Halimah Hamid are the most amazing people that I had in this world. They worked so hard from day until night to make sure all his kids were grown up blissfully in order to take charged of our own life in the future. In 1995, I was sent to ST ronan Kindergarten at Titiwangsa ,Kuala Lumpur and I continued my primary education at SRK Convent Bukit Nanas,Kuala Lumpur.Later then, I continued on my secondary level at the same school which is SMK Convent Bukit Nanas aka CBN. I'm sure it is one of the famous girl’s school in Kuala Lumpur or even in Malaysia.I'm pretty impress of the structure and the art of architecture of this more than one hundred years building. I enjoyed my life in CBN, I love the teachers, the school canteen worker there were nice so to me though..=),and there’s our priceless heritage the Bukit Nanas forest. I had entered it twice for a day camp with my troops and we were quite proud of having a school besides the most historical heritage forest in Kuala Lumpur.


Besides, tourist or visitors may use the shortcut or undertake the jungle track to 'escaped" to Menara Kuala Lumpur. According to my teacher, it is just take about 10 minutes to get there..CBN was build on 1819 by a group of nuns, 'The Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus', Mother St. Andre, St. Sabine and Sr. Madeline arrived from Singapore with the intention of starting a school at a location on Jalan Ampang (which is now situated at the front of the current school). The school started with the total number of 7 male students and 5 female students. Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle, CBN has the coveted location of bordering the edge of the Bukit Nanas forest reserve. Because of the proximity to the forest reserve, development in the area is limited. Because of this, CBN has been able to avoid being relocated as Bukit Bintang Girls School (on Jalan Bukit Bintang). The shade and cooler temperature of the forest as well as regular visits from the monkeys that reside in the forest, are some of the pleasures enjoyed by CBNers while at school.ST.John Institution is down the road from CBN and is considered the brother school to CBN. Both schools share many traditional and historical links. The Roman Catholic St John's Cathedral is situated on the road leading up to both schools. Both CBN and St. John’s Institution are famous for its main buildings which were built in the style of English Gothic architecture.CBN's long history being one of the longest established schools in Kuala Lumpur leaves a rich heritage in academic excellence. A timeline of the school is outlined below.


1899 A group of nuns, 'The Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus', Mother St. Andre, St. Sabine and Sr. Madeline arrived from Singapore to start a school at Jalan Ampang (which is now situated at the front of the current school). The school started with seven male students and five female students.

1901 With the number of students at 80, the school was moved to Brickfields. Esq. Goh Ah Gee bought Victoria Hotel in Brickfields for use as the new school.

1902 The student population grew to 114. Subjects taught were essay writing, sewing, physical education, music and art.

1903 Textbooks used at the school were provided by the British colonial government of Malaya. The first music test was conducted at the school and health education was taught as a new subject.

1907 Rev. Mother St Augustine became headmistress.

1909

* The first class sat the Junior Cambridge examinations.
* Miss Dottie and Miss Chew Lian were the first two students of the school to pass the exams.

1911

* Due to frequent flooding in Brickfields, the school moved to its current location at Bukit Nanas.
* As the enrollment continued to grow, a new school building was necessary. Government architects Mr. Huxley and Mr. Kesteven, designed the school in the English Gothic style. Mr. E.L. Brockman, who was the Chief Secretary of the Federated Malay States opened the new building.
* Rev. Mother Tarcisius became headmistress when Rev. Mother Augustine died.

1914 The hall and chapel was built.

1923 Rev. Mother Adele became headmistress.

1924 The Form 3 block addition was completed.

1925 The first local-born Malayan teacher, Miss LOKE Soh Keen, was hired. She had been educated in Scotland and was the eldest daughter of Kuala Lumpur pioneer, businessman and philanthropist LOKE Chow Kit. Most of Chow Kit's daughters were also educated at Convent Bukit Nanas.

1931 English language, literature, geometry, algebra, bible knowledge and French was added to the school curriculum.

1941 During WWII, Malaya fell to the hands of the Japanese Occupation. Although school was often interrupted, the buildings were left intact and unharmed.

1945 After the Japanese Occupation, Rev. Mother Adele returned CBN to its original state with the help of the British Military Administration(BMA).

1947 The Nazareth Building, formerly the house of the Chief Justice, became part of the school. This addition was granted by the Government.

1951 Rev Mother Pauline became headmistress and introduced physical education (PE) to the school.

1953 Science was introduced as part of the curriculum.

1957

* Rev Mother Xavier became headmistress.
* The art hall and laboratories were built.
* Economics was added to the curriculum.

1958 The primary school and secondary school were separated.

1961 Form 6 classes began.

1963 The Form 4 block of classes was built.

1965 Rev Mother Aidan became headmistress and the four Houses were formed. The Houses took the names of the current and previous headmistress Aidan(Red), Pauline(Blue), Adele(Yellow) and Xavier(Green).

1966 Rev Mother St. Brede became headmistress.

1968 Students were required to join and be active in extra-curricular activities.

1973 The school's Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) was established.

1976 Mrs. Chee Phui Lay became the school's first lay person Principal. Sr. Anne started the Counseling Program.

1979 Mrs. Indrani Manuel became Principal. The school office moved to a new location close to the Upper Secondary School.

1982 Bahasa Malaysia became the medium for study and instruction for all subjects.

1984 'The Facade' was painted to commemorate the school's 85th anniversary.

1993 Mrs. Vimala Matthews replaced Mrs. Indrani Manuel upon her retirement.

1999

* Both primary and secondary schools celebrated CBN’s 100th anniversary.
* The school band was founded.
* Mrs. Alice George became Principal when Mrs. Vimala Matthews retired.

2004 Mrs. Ann Khoo became principal upon Mrs. Alice George’s retirement.

2006 Selected as a cluster school.

2008 Featured as one of four Premier Schools in commemorative stamps. 2009 CBN celebrates it's 110th birthday...

( Timeline was taken from www.wikipedia.com. )

2 comments:

DL said...

Mrs Alice George was also my headmistress in Sri aman.

Anonymous said...

Hey there!

My grandma is Mrs Chee Phui Lay - the first lay headmistress. So cool to find this!