Good meeting

There we were -- with Puan Noriza and Lay Hoon -- last Friday, Sept 26, at the school.

At this point of our meeting, Suet Fun was just about to present the name and logo for the fund-raising project. It's a secret...for now. :-) All will be revealed when the dedicated bank account and website are set up, after Raya, sometime next month.

We signed the agreement for the school-alumni committee, which comprised five representatives each from the school and from alumni. For the school, we have Puan Noriza, Mrs Ng, Lay Hoon, Ms Ng Poh Lay and Pn Azizan bte Shafie. For alumni, we have me, Suet Fun, Chai Lan, Li Yin and Mrs Goh Hoe Seng, who is also a former teacher and has taught us all (and is the Lye Ngoot mentioned in Mrs Lim's letter). Pn Noriza heads the committee as Chairman and Mrs Ng serves as Vice-Chairman.

And so, the ground is laid for the partnership between alumni and school, where alumni will help to raise and administer the funds for the refurbishment of the school. Our agreement includes formulating a list of repair works and accounting of funds received and disbursed. Alumni and the general public will be able to access this information in the soon-to-be-launched website.

This second visit showed up a more alarming picture. The dear old lady is truly buckling with age. The chemistry lab is now operating without electricity, after a wire on the ceiling burst into flames due to water damage (see pix). Aargh! Those monkeys!


I've been asked, "Why are you doing this?" I've thought about it. To me, it is answering to a distress call. Much like the automatic response you'd give to a person on the roadside, injured and needing help. So, to all alumni, please do accept our sincerity in initiating this effort and, more importantly, JOIN US in helping the school.

Our alumni is spread all over the globe. Wherever you are, we hope you will hear this plea for help and respond in generous spirit. A little bit from each of us will be good enough. The school lays her hopes on us.

To all Muslim alumni -- Selamat Hari Raya Aidil-Fitri .. may you and loved ones have a joyous celebration!

ALERT! We - Suet Fun, Chai Lan, Li Yin and I - are visiting the school this Friday, Sept 26 and meeting up with Pn Noriza and team. Will keep you posted (see "Yummy, Yummy" post dated Sept 3). It is wonderful to see the alumni spirit burning bright. Keep circulating this appeal, please. Many thanks!

There from 1929 to 1978

I emailed Mrs Lim Chin Hun a list of questions and here's her reply. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do. Best wishes to you and family, Mrs Lim! :-)


Greetings from Sydney! Good on you and your friends for helping with the "TMGS Old Girls' Give Back" project and trying to give a 'face-lift' to the 'grand,old lady' who truly deserves it. She was born in the year of 1889 and will be 120 years old next year. That should call for a grand celebration when the time comes! As her dear children, we would all uphold her motto to 'Live Worthily' for she 'hast guided in right way" (as mentioned in the school song).

Now, it's time that I get to tell you about how I have spent 'the best years of my life' in TMGS as a former student and an ex-teacher from 1929 to 1978, including the 2nd World War Years when I was away from Taiping for about 4 years.

It was in Jan 1929 and at the early age of 6, my mother sent me off to the school known as Lady Treacher Girls' School (named after Lady Treacher, the wife of Mr William Treacher, the British Resident) together with my 2 bigger sisters. We all went in a rickshaw to and from school. In those early days the classes ranged from Primary One, Two, Standards from 1 - 7 followed by Junior Cambridge and Cambridge School Certificate (Senior Cambridge). I studied hard and managed to obtain 2 double promotions (from Standard 2 - 4 and then from Standard 4 - 6). School was fun because I enjoyed reading and singing with other girls. The late Miss Mable Poulier was one of my best teachers. I liked her for her patience and kindness. My best friend was and still is Mrs Delip Singh. She will always remind me 'great minds think alike' meaning 'the 2 of us' and we would keep on laughing about the thought.

Soon enough my school days came to an end and I had to start thinking of becoming a teacher and earn a living. I joined as a 'student-teacher' in my old school whose name was now changed to Treacher Methodist Girls' School (TMGS) in 1957. The 2nd World War which lasted 3 years and 8 mths interrupted my teachers' training as the school was first used by the Japanese forces as their barracks and later by the Indian army as headquarters. The school more or less did not seem to exist back then.

In 1941, after finishing the normal class Teacher training course held on Fridays and Saturdays for 3 years, I became a qualified teacher, trained as a General Purpose teacher. I taught all subjects in the timetable in the Lower Secondary department, namely Form 1 and 2. Soon I was chosen to be the afternoon Supervisor of the Lower Secondary for at least 10 years before retiring in 1978.

Time flies but I still have fond memories of my life as a teacher. I enjoyed being in the company of fellow teachers and getting to know them and their families as well. I liked my pupils too. They made me proud and happy when they worked hard to help themselves. There are 3 of my former pupils namely Sow Siew, Lye Ngoot and Cheng Heong, who are currently Committee Members of the Old Girls' Association in TMGS. They had all been working with me when I was once the Hon. Secretary of OGA for 12 memorable years from 1973-1985.

In Jan 1986 (8 years after my retirement in 1978) together with my family members we migrated to Sydney, Australia. I am now well settled here for 22 years and am enjoying the company of my eldest daughter and her family, some relatives and friends. I go to the Wesley Uniting Church and am keeping myself busy and happy with church activities, bible study cell group and seniors' luncheons in church.

At home I spend my time studying the bible, reading storybooks and newspapers, watching TV and having afternoon naps everyday. At my age, I have stopped sewing cross-stitch, doing much housework and gardening. My son and family will take me out at weekends either sight-seeing or shopping and also for lunch.

Yes, I truly admit that the photos on the web showing the school building in a deplorable condition do touches my heart. Having contributed RM300 the first time when the main building was constructed I feel it is my duty again to donate RM1000 to restore the old building to its former glory.

To me, TMGS is an icon in Taiping offering 'quality' education to its students population.

Once again, thank you for your effort in helping the school and please thank the school for posting me the receipt and letter. It is very nice of them to send me the letter.

Do your best and be blessed!

Mrs Lim Chin Hun

Treacher Girls School, hail to thee
Thou art to our hearts most dear
In all our work and play
Thoughts of thee are ever near
We would honour thee this hour
We would ever sing thy praise
For we know thy worth
Here good thoughts have birth
Thou has guided in right ways.

Jenny, Class of '69, sang to me from her memory at a symposium three weeks ago. And, three hours ago, Suet Fun, Chai Lan and Li Yin spontaneously burst into the school song, as they scrolled the history page of the TMGS website. I burst into goosebumps, awed by the moment.

yummy, yummy

Oh, the carrot-walnut cupcakes topped with creamed cheese and choc chips were good!

Li Yin had made them the night before our meeting at Suet Fun's place two weeks ago. Ever the good cook and foodie, she wanted to bring something special to commemorate the get-together. The cup-cakes sure did. We had them with green tea - got to have something healthy alongside - and a mooncake from Ipoh.

Is that all I am remembering? The food?

Well, laughter abounded that night, especially when we remembered the teachers -- Mr Sum, Ms Ho, Mr Chuah, Mr Mak, Ms Satwant and Ms Surjeit among others. Li Yin and I were classmates from Year '80 while Suet Fun and Chai Lan were classmates from Year '77. So, we were close enough in years to know the same teachers. Li Yin and I couldn't help feeling awed by our two seniors' memory - these girls sure know their year-mates, seniors and juniors. In fact, after Chai Lan introduced us, Suet Fun took a good look at Li Yin and said, "You look familiar. You have an elder sister, right?" And, went on to name the sister. Golly.

Food and laughter aside, I am happy to inform you that the fund-raising initiative is moving up some notches. We are in the midst of setting up a school-alumni committee to raise as well as adminster the funds. Puan Noriza and team are excited. We are excited too.

Status at the moment - the agreement is being finalized and we should be driving to Taiping soon to formalize the committee. We do believe that alumni will give from their hearts once their minds are assured. We totally respect the concern on proper management of funds. Hence, in addition to the committee, we will have a website to keep donors updated -- with all relevant figures and even pictures or videos of refurbishment work.

It's thrilling to see things come to this stage. My special thanks to Li Yin (with spectacles), Chai Lan (in WWF tee) and Suet Fun (in red tee) for doing this with me. Here we were, night of Aug 21, before we acted on the cupcakes...


Would you like to join us in the committee? All alumni are invited. If you'd like to join our current gang of four, just drop me a line at sweebin@gmail.com. We'll find you something to do. Should be loads of fun!

TO EVERYONE: DO WATCH THIS SPACE. MORE NEWS EXPECTED IN THE COMING MONTH! AND, PLEASE DO KEEPING PASSING OUT THIS APPEAL FOR THE SCHOOL.

Do you remember Mrs Lim Chin Hun @ Ooi Kwee Kim? She is a former student and teacher of TMGS. She is 85 and living in Australia. When she heard of the appeal for funds via the Internet, she asked her daughter-in-law, Penny, to email me about making a donation. She has since forwarded her contribution to the school - many, many thanks, Mrs Lim! This is in fact Mrs Lim's second contribution; she first donated RM300 in 1941 to the school's building fund and her name can be seen on the donors plaque in the foyer. I hope to interview Mrs Lim on her days with our alma mater.