Convent Bukit Nanas

In 1899, three Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Infant Jesus stepped off a steamship anchored at Port Swettenham. Reverend Mother St Levine, accompanied by Sisters St Sabine and St Madeleine, had come on a mission to establish a school in Kuala Lumpur. The first convent school was located in Nonya Ah Yok's garden shed, and the Sisters lived on the first floor of her country house by the River Gombak on Ampang Road. The site is directly opposite Bukit Nanas. On 1 March 1899, the fee-paying Convent School in Kuala Lumpur officially opened with a dozen children. Many of the early pupils were children of immigrants working on the railway lines. By the second year there were 60 day pupils and the sisters were operating an orphanage on the site.

To the rescue came Towkay Ngee sui who gave temporary residence to the Sisters and the children at his house in Semenyih. He also approached the Government for approval to start a lottery to enable the Sisters to buy Victoria Hotel in Brickfields. Towkay Goh, as one of the benefactors of the convent, continued to help the Sisters, even providing a carriage and pony for their grocery shopping. On 15 January 1901, Victoria Hotel - once the venue of annual general meetings of the United Planters' Association - became home to Reverend Mother St. André, 17 sisters, 60 orphans and a school for 22 boarders and 100 day pupils. There was also a creche for 12 babies. Word of the Sisters' good work spread, and increasing numbers of pupils crammed the school. By 1911, there were 308 children, prompting the Inspector of Schools to recommend that new classrooms be built.[1]

On top of a hill once planted with pineapple and coffee, and only a stone's throw from St. John's Institution and Cathedral, the site at Bukit Nanas was the location to start the convent. The Sisters bought the land for $40,000 and sold the old convent property in Brickfields Road to the Government for $60,000. The new convent building cost another $26,000. The shortfall was paid for with contributions from the public.[7]

English Gothic architecture

The Nazareth Built around 1898, this house has undergone several transformations. Once the house of the Chief Justice, 'Nazareth' was requisitioned during the Japanese Occupation as the Domestic Science School for Girls. With the rapid increase in enrolment, there was a shortage of trained teachers in the country. In 1957, the Sisters acquired Nazareth to house a Teacher's Training College. In the 12 years, Nazareth provided over 300 teachers who fanned out to teach not only at Convent Bukit Nanas but at 50 Convents situated in all parts of the Peninsula. Afte 1970, Nazareth became the Sixth Form Wing of Convent Bukit Nanas.[8]

CBN comprises a secondary school and two primary schools. Administration of the secondary and primary schools separated in 1958. CBN has classes from Form 1 through to Form 5 for girls aged 13 to 17. Girls enter CBN after they have completed their primary education in SRK Convent Bukit Nanas School I and School II (Malay: Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Convent Bukit Nanas). These primary schools have classes from Year 1 through Year 6 for girls aged 7 to 12.

The CBN secondary school administers two national Malaysian exams, the PT3 (Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3), and SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia. PT3 is taken by students at the Form 3 level to determine placement into Science, Art or Commerce courses. However, most girls leave CBN after they complete the SPM at Form 5 to pursue other pre-university courses like the A-Levels. As a result, SPM is seen as the most important exam of most Malaysian high school students careers.

CBN has constantly been among the top three performing schools for SPM in Kuala Lumpur, according to the Malaysian Ministry of Education. In 2010, CBN emerged as the top performing school in Kuala Lumpur for SPM. Each year, only a small number of students receive straight A's. As a result, this is a highly coveted honour. Convent Bukit Nanas receives a large amount of national media attention on results day.

Reverend Mother St Levine February 1899-March 1899
Reverend Mother St Augustin 1900-1911
Reverend Mother St Tarcisius 1911-1923
Reverend Mother St Adele 1923-1951
Reverend Mother St Pauline 1951-1957
Reverend Mother St Francis Xavier 1957-1965
Reverend Mother St Aidan 1965-1966
Reverend Mother St Brede 1966-1976
Mrs. Chee Phui Lay 1976-1979
Mrs. Indrani Manuel 1979-1993
Mrs. Vimala Matthews 1993-1999
Mrs. Alice George 1999-2004
Mrs. Ann Khoo 2004-2011
Mrs. Mystrical Rose Fernandez 2011-2014
Mrs. Nirmala SS Nathan 2014-2017
Mrs. Rosmand A. Lawrence 2017

The continued rapid annual increase in enrollment at CBN necessitated change. The primary and secondary schools became separate entities in 1958. Nine years later, it was again time for reorganisation. In 1967, the secondary school came under a separate administration. CBN continued with the practice of having Sister Superiors as coordinators of the various aspects of the convent.

Sister St. Aida, Sister Superior 1967-1969
Sister St. Lawrence, Sister Superior 1969-1974
Sister St. Therese Barra, Sister Superior 1974-1978

CBN continued with the tradition of teaching Sisters who included Sister Bernadette, Sister Dorothy O Keeffe, Sister Bernadine Singleton, Sister Claire Wee, Sister M. Michael, Sister Angele Sih, Sister James Netto and Sister Fidelis.[9][10]

The School Badge
The school badge of the convent is an international one used by students on five continents - in places as far apart as Bolivia, France, Peru, Italy, Singapore, Spain, England, Ireland, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. The center of the badge is red with a silver band fringed with gold. Red traditionally conveys the message of love, God's Spirit of Love embracing the world. On the right is the Holy Book. To the Christians, this is the Bible; to the Muslims, the Quran; to the Hindus the Bhagavadgita; to the Buddhists, the Dharmapada. On the left are the Distaff and Spindle. This is the symbol of labor.

The school song is sung with the accompaniment of a piano. The music score was composed by Lee Swee Yin.

English version
CBN
"The shining star of my life
You will always glow within me
And through me you will shine forth
A new light others will follow."
CBN
"With us your memory will stay
You will always light the way
Show us our strengths and our hopes,
CBN, our star forever more.
So hear our song sung with spirits strong
We, the girls of CBN today
Will lift up our motto and strive to be
Simple in virtue, steadfast in duty
So hear our song sung with spirits strong
We the girls of CBN today
The youth of tomorrow, we promise to be true
For CBN, we love you."- English Lyrics by Eileen Lau

Malay Version
CBN
Sinar bintang hidupku
Bercahaya di sanubari
Sering bergemerlapan
Pancar sinar untuk semua.

CBN
Ingatan'kan bersemi
Kerana kau penyuluh hidup
Tunjukkan harapan teguh
CBN, bintang abadiku.

Dengarlah suara semangat waja
Kami insan CBN kini
Teruskan cita dan usaha
Tulus dengan fadilah, azam dengan bakti
Dengarlah suara semangat waja
Kami insan CBN kini
Bakal pemudi harapan negara
Kerana CBN kau tercinta.
Bahasa Malaysia lyrics by Puteri Zalina [11]

CBN's senior cheer leading team, Xavier, was established in the year 2000. In the years after that, the popularity of cheer leading in Malaysia and in CBN has grown exponentially. Girls undergo a rigorous training and selection process before being officially initiated in the squad. Xavier performs during sports day, school competitions and upon invitation to showcasing events. Every year, the highlight of Xavier is to compete in the National Cheer Competitions of Malaysia. Xavier has won a slew of awards including but not restricted to Champion, First-runner up, Second-Runner-up and Best Showmanship.

Xavier maintains a friendly rivalry with premier cheer leading squads like Cyren's from Sri Kuala Lumpur. Xavier's cheer leading outfit is a trademark green, gold and black. Xavier's cheerleading endeavours are a significant source of pride for the school and it draws out plenty of school spirit. CBN's Xavier supporters have won the Best Supporter award on multiple occasions. A number of Xavier's cheer leaders have gone on to cheer professionally in the Cheerleading Association and Register of Malaysia.

Originally called the Past Pupils Association, the first meeting was on Saturday 12 June 1951. About 140 old girls elected Mrs T.H. Ho as the President, Mrs D. Martin as Vice-President, Miss Yvonne Pun as Secretary and Miss Cho Seen Chok as Treasurer. Their first activity was the organization of the Mammoth Fun Fair on 4 August 1951 to raise funds for the Science Laboratory and Domestic Science Class. Somewhat defunct now as an Association, individual Old Girls now help the School in their personal capacity. Thereby continuing the tradition of steadfast duty to Convent Bukit Nanas.[12]

The school magazine, Marguerite, is published annually. The first edition was published in 1968.

The Centenary Book is the culmination of many months of research. The Centenary Book Committee were motivated to produce this Centenary Book as a tribute to the Sisters and Teachers who taught them to read and appreciate poetry, to reason and to count their blessings. For the Sisters and the Teachers, the Committee turned to libraries and archives to uncover information that would help place the School in its proper historical perspective. The Committee wrote, faxed, and telephoned hundreds of Old Girls (alumnae) - from Hong Kong to Australia to England to the United States of America - asking them to cull schoolgirl photographs from their albums.[13]

(Lembaga Pengelola Sekolah Menengah Convent Bukit Nanas)
With Merdeka, there came a major overhaul of the education system. School boards were introduced, following the recommendation of the Razak Report of 1956. They were given extensive powers; such as hiring and firing of teachers, supervision of school finances and administration of Mission Property. The Board comprised three representatives each from the Mission, parent body and the local education office and past students. While the new Boards worked to safeguard Mission interests, they represented a radical change from the traditional administration model under which the Reverend Mother Principal had full control, answerable to her Provincial and the local Education Officer.

Chairpersons

1958-1966: Rev Mother Francis Xavier

1966-1976: Sister Denis

1976-1998: Sister Brede Forde

1998-present: Dr Indrani Manuel [14]

• Adibah Noor- Singer, actress & social activist
• Tuanku Aishah Rohani -Consort to the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz ibni Munawir
• Dr Farrah Hani Imran -Head of Plastic Surgeon at UKM and former national rhythmic gymnast.[15]
• Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin -Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor and consort of the 9th Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah
• Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus -Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia
• Poh Ling Yeow - Malaysian-born Australian cook, artist, actress, author and television presenter.[16]
• Rafidah Aziz - Minister of International Trade and Industry from 1987 to 2008
• Tunku Puan Zanariah -Sultanah of Johor and Raja Permaisuri Agong VIII.
• Ambiga Sreenevasan - Lawyer and human rights advocate