All of her is still there - all seven blocks of her. Even the old, old trees are still there. But, the old lady is in poor state. You see her as she is now (more pictures on the right).She is sagging.
She is peeling.
She is cracking.
She needs help!
Ex-classmate from Std 1 and good friend, Seong Chooi, forwarded me on May 29 an email from a "suseelim" which highlighted the plight of our dear old alma mater. Something moved in me, and the memories came flooding back. Scenes which have not played for decades poured forth -- sports days, teachers days, pranks, tricks, jokes, friendships, yawns, teachers' quirks, exam days, good days, blue days, conversations, impromptu dramas, speech days - and I simply felt called to the message of Su See's email.
Since I was due to visit home this week, I took the opportunity to meet up on June 4, Wed with Principal Pn Noriza, who had Senior Asst Mrs Ng and Humanities Dept Head Ms Lim Lay Hoon with her (in this picture, left to right with me in jeans). We had an open chat about what could be done, and I promised to help in publicity.
So here I am, starting this blog to reach out to old girls, wherever you may be.
Pn Noriza, ex-Convent girl who came in as school head only in October last year, and team held a fund-raising dinner on May 3 which raised RM18,000. They are now appealing for our help. They wish to give the old lady a fresh coat of paint, repair her leaks, cracks and rotted parts, and do up the teachers' room which has only wire-mesh windows that let the rain in, ancient furniture and cement flooring. My personal wish is for the library, under warm-hearted Mrs Peri, to have many fresh titles!
With a little help from each of us, the hope is to raise RM500,000 and spruce up the old lady in time for her grand old 120th birthday next year. As Pn Noriza upholds, "If we want to dream, let's dream big!"
So, old girls across the nation, across the Web, throughout the world, shall we put our hearts together and give generously to our school, which has taught us to Live Worthily?
Note: Thank you to Lay Hoon (also ex-Convent girl) who alerted Su See (they were varsity mates) who did her email which Seong Chooi forwarded. This is just the start. There'll be more stories. As contibutions come in, we will keep everyone posted via this blog.
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7 comments:
Good for you. Best of luck. Hope you get the monies (hint).
Best of luck in your endeavor. TMGS is one of the best school in town and in Malaysia. The Education Ministry should seriously look into this concern and allocate more funds to school, be it missionary or 'kebangsaan'. By the end of the day, the outcome for all is satisfaction and excellence.
Above comment was deleted because it was a double entry of Janet's, as seen above. This blog's policy is to allow openness; no "flames" though.
Thank you, Janet, for penning your thoughts and good wishes. Parties representing mission schools are pursuing their interests with the government. As I understand, consultations on a national level are being done to give due recognition to the role of mission schools in nation-building. We hope for the best. In the meantime, we do what we can. Cheers!
Oops! Thank you to you too, Jian Eu! That's my son, btw. Good boy, ha ha.
Hi,
This is Anura - I was in TMGS 1978-79. I had fun there - I didn't cycle to school but I appreciated the life stlye then - cool. I will surely make myself available on the 12th January. Looking forward.
Anura Hashim.
1978-79
Science Red
hi,im from the class of 1980-1984 so sad to see the condition of our beloved school,i shall try my level best to raise some funds for the school.to the school drama team,i'm one of judges for the national english drama competition good luck for tmgs team .
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