Marymount Convent School's 50th Anniversary Celebrations

Last week (24 April 2007 at the Shangri-La ballroom, to be exact), I attended the 50th anniversary of me alma mater, Marymount Convent School. For photos of an evening of entertainment, click here!

I still remember the silver jubilee (i.e. 25th) celebrations back in school. That would mean a quarter century has passed us by! Yikes!

We were one of the few schools (if not the only) with a sleeveless 2-piece uniform and black shoes. Mention "graph paper school" and you'd know they mean us! Standing joke was that if we forgot to bring our graph paper to a maths test, we could always use our uniform. How spastic is that?

Thanks to my 3 elder sisters before me who were pretty well-known in our school, the teachers knew who I was even before I stepped into a class. "You're one of the "Lee" sisters, am I right?" They were prefects (more particularly, head and vice-head prefects), and scored really good grades in school. I was the one who liked to play! Sigh!

Since all of us were named "Chuen [x]ing" and known as the rhyming sisters (much to the regret of our parents), when someone calls up and asks for "Ping", and is really looking for "Ting" or "Ying" or "Ling", my parents readily admitted that they may have made a mistake in naming us! The only person who didn't have too difficult a time was "Li", but then the other problem was that we were all called "Chuen" (pronounced either as choo-en or chun, and more often than not, ends up being misprounounced). If someone shouts "Chuen" in school, all of us will inevitably turn around! :)

Ping ended up in the same school after we returned from Tokyo. She refused to step back into Nanyang since she'd otherwise have to snip off her luscious mane and curtsey to the teachers ad nauseum!



Above, me school mates (L to R) : Moi, Cindee Yeo, Karen Jude, Amy Cheng (aka Joo Joo back in school whose talents back in school included drawing Wonder Woman pictures), Mei Jean, Lee Sin and Brenda D'Cruz! If you asked me, I think we all kinda still look the same!



Above, Fiona Lim, one of Malaysia's best triathletes and fellow Marymountaineer! Bumped into her at the recent Sabah Adventure Challenge 2007! We both played netball for school back in 1984 - that year, we led the school to victory by clinching the netball championship title for our division! We've traditionally been first runner up behind the then unbeatable netball champions, SJC (St Joseph Convent)! The then school principal, Ms McCarthy, in her state of elation, declared it a school holiday! Mei Jean and Lee Sin were also fellow members of our school team!

The Marymount Convent secondary school girl has become an extinct species since the school closed down the secondary school operations. Today, only the primary school survives.

Many ex-Marymount girls have made it to Singapore's hall of game. Here are some you may have come across plastered in magazines, in the news, on TV or even in banners on the street during election time (in alphabetical order) :

- Amy Cheng - Actress
- Andrea Teo - Mediacorp Producer of local sitcoms like Under One Roof
- Bonny Hicks - Model
- Fiona Lim - Top Malaysia Female Triathlete
- Indranee Rajah - Member of Parliament

- Jacintha Abisheganaden - Singer, Actress and Singapore Idol Judge
- Jean Danker - Class 95FM DJ
- Marian Nicole Teo - 1987 Miss Universe Semi-Finalist (who was one of 3 Marymountaineers who became Ms Singapore)
- Nicolette Bernadette Rappa - Ex-Mediacorp Newsreader
- Shabnam Melwani-Reis - Co-Founder of music portal Soundbuzz and director of Jay Gee Enterprises [me thinks she's from MCS]
- Violet Oon - Celebrity Chef

I have fond memories of my wasted youth back in this school, running about and falling down all over the place, or even playing waterbombs in the haunted school toilets. I almost ended up not going to kindergarten (my parents couldn't keep track of their 5 daughters), but my first brush with education was in Marymount Kingergarten and I left for Japan in the middle of Sec 2! That's 8 and a half years of my life in this convent!

For my school and the teachers who have done wonders bringing us to where we are today, I shall sing you our school song one more time...

Guided by God's eternal light

We're one in heart and one in mind

Loyal to school and true to right

For we are the daughters of Marymount

Chorus : O Marymount, our school our pride

Ever to thee we will abide

Sure as strong, we'll win over wrong

The light of God our guide
For we are the daughters of Marymount