Friday October 30, 2009

Gala dinner to mark 110 years

Stories by JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ

TO MARK its110th anniversary, Convent Bukit Nanas (CBN) will be hosting a gala dinner on Nov 8 at the Sunway Resort and Spa Hotel in Petaling Jaya.

The event, which will bring together a host of former students and teachers, as well as parents of students, of all ages, is set to be one big celebration and a walk down memory lane for those who attend it.

Premier school: Convent Bukt Nanas as it looks now.

Among the notable alumni of the school are former International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and former Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

The event, which is also aimed at raising funds for the school, will feature a band, a fashion show and other performances.

Hoping to raise about RM130,000, principal Ann Khoo said that over the years, the school had expanded and needed new facilities.

The proceeds from the dinner will go towards the addition of a new block, which will enable the school to function as a single session school. Presently, the school operates in two sessions.

In days gone by: An old photo of one of the blocks in the school.

“A single session will enable the school to better plan curriculum and co-curriculum activities for the students, with the morning allocated for academic subjects and the afternoon for co-curriculum activities and sports,” she said.

Khoo added that as CBN was not fully funded by the government, it was always carrying out some activity or other to raise funds for its operational expenses.

“It’s mainly for the maintenance of the 10 school blocks. We also have private librarians and security,” she said.

Apart from the dinner, a coffee table book will also be launched soon to commemorate the milestone.

New facility: The tennis court is a new feature at the school.

There will also be many anniversary souvenirs for sale.

The school, which opened in 1899 with only a dozen students, has 1,300 students now.

In 2007, CBN was among the first batch of 30 top schools in Malaysia selected by the Education Ministry as a cluster school.

The morale boost from this ackowledgement spurred the school to further excellence in academic and co-curricular fields. The three niche areas approved by the Ministry for CBN are English Language, Rhythmic Gymnastics and the School Band.

Tables for the dinner are priced at RM1,500, RM5,000, RM8,000 and RM10,000. For details, visit www.cbn.edu.my or call 03-2078 0559.