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Studied here from primary to Form 5. Used to watch (from classrom's windows while teachers giving lessons or writing on the blcakboard) Main Convent girls lined up in single line and walked to our school for swmimming lessons. Always remember my swimming and P.E. teacher Mrs. Ling - how we gave excuses not to swim just because we were shy to put on our swimming costumes. Not forgetting our folk dance teacher Miss Cheah and the efforts she put in during our Merdeka performances at Ipoh Padang. Miss Hew - love and respect her. She taught me Geography and art. Miss Ang taught me English during lower secondary and Miss Lim upper secondaruy (thank you for my distinction in English paper).Add. Maths teacher was Miss Chong and Geography (upper secondary) was Mrs. Ng. Always treasures their sacrifices and dedications. Oh yes, anyone knows whether the sotong kangkong seller still around? Used to eat it while waiting for our school bus outside school compound.
Always
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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Hi Susan, I didn't know the Ave Maria Convent has a swimming pool. In the early 60s, when I was studying in ACS, we used to look forward to your school's annual food & fun fair. It was a very popular event in Ipoh.
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Kayes, your are right!We always looked forward to these annual fun fairs. During these times, we got to see whose and whose boyfriends turned up. At the same time, we tried hard to guess who were from SMI; ACS or Sam Tet. The beautiful and popular girls would get the most confetti on thier heads. These made some very proud and others very jealous!
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 12:55am
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Susan, can you recognise this?
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September 24, 2008 5:35am
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Thank you, Kayes. Love! Love! Love! 
At the back of the teacher, it's the changing rooms. Cubiles (where curtains can be drawn while changing) were limited. Whoever are late, they have to change in the common area (within the changing room) by using big towels or whatever deemed fit. Every often, we can hear exclamations like: "Aiyah.... What you have people also got lah. Why so takut!!"
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 5:39am
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Which part of the school is this?
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 5:53am
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Did you play hockey in school?
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 5:57am
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Is this the school hall?
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September 24, 2008 5:57am
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I played netball and badminton!!
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 6:01am
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You didn't play basketball?
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September 24, 2008 6:05am
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Yes! This is where we practised our folk dancing and had our yearly talent time. This was the hall where we sat for our major exams.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 6:06am
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I suppose your netball court is here 
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 6:09am
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Did you also attend the primary school next door?
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 24, 2008 6:14am
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The Principal's office is through that glass door. Right?
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September 24, 2008 6:16am
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Yes, this is the primary school I attended. Primary and Secondary has its canteen. So secondary students are not allowed in the primary canteen and vice versa.
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September 24, 2008 6:24am
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Hello! Seldom entered the principal's office lah so can't remember very well. But the office is where we went to view and get our SPM results. I still remember I was in KL when the results came out. After two or three days later only I went back to collect the slip. By then, I missed seeing all our classmates when they turned up to collect their results.
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Phoebe
Land Down Under
Registered: July 2008 Posts: 447
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September 24, 2008 9:23am
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Oh, my goodness! Nothing's changed, it looks exactly the same as it did some 35 years ago. This is where we Main Convent girls used to learn to swim during our lower secondary years! We had to walk all the way from our school in Brewster Road to this pool at Ave Maria Convent. I can still remember the strong smell of chlorine that used to greet us as we filed through the small gate.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 26, 2008 4:19am
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Susan, I had a good chat with Mrs Chen, the present Principal of your alma mater, at her office which is on the left of pic, through those glass doors. She told me the swimming pool was built in 1975 and the school itself was founded in 1935. She also told me the annual food and fun fair stopped in 2005 and in place of it there were concerts and talentimes. Mrs Chen is a most charming lady and I took a pic of her in her office which has turned out very well. I would like to post the pic here but I think I should ask her first. Let me send her an email
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Phoebe
Land Down Under
Registered: July 2008 Posts: 447
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September 26, 2008 4:27am
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Hi, Kayes. I may be off-track here but I'm almost 99.9% certain that the swimming pool featured above is the same pool we Main Convent girls used for our swimming lessons way back in 1972, at the very least. Perhaps, they built a new one identical to the old one?
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 26, 2008 4:35am
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Phoebe, it is probably me I wear a very powerful (and expensive) hearing aid but it does not mean I can hear well I probably misheard!
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Phoebe
Land Down Under
Registered: July 2008 Posts: 447
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September 26, 2008 5:39am
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Hahaha, Kayes, that's probably why I always have to reach for my trusty MP3 recorder when I know I can't trust my own selective and/or dodgy hearing.
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September 26, 2008 8:12am
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Kayes, my cousin is having a CD about the history of my alma mater. I am waiting for her to e-mail me. I will post it as soon as I receive it.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 26, 2008 8:24am
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Okay Susan, looking forward to that. Here's another pic. It is the primary school. I suppose the canteen is straight ahead?
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Liz
Registered: August 2008 Posts: 192
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September 26, 2008 11:17pm
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Hi Kayes. I think I was in the group of one of the first batches of convent girls who had to walk all the way from the Convent in Brewster Road to Ave Maria convent in the sixties for swimming lessons so I guess the swimming pool was built much earlier than 1975. I just googled something interesting on the history of Ave Maria and according to one of the sites, the pool was built in 1962 which makes it about right as I remember taking swimming lessons when I was in secondary school in the sixties in the brand new pool in Ave Maria.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 27, 2008 2:10am
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Liz, the Principal would not have made a mistake. It was simply because my ears did not get what she said. And for you girls, it was a long walk for swimming lessons. At the ACS, our pool was just next to the canteen and for Horley Hall residents, it was something like their own swimming pool, being within spitting distance from the hostel.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 27, 2008 2:17am
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I always like to see plants climbing trellises.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 27, 2008 2:21am
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Are students' cars allowed to be parked here?
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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September 27, 2008 2:25am
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I guess this is where parents pick up their children after school. I didn't realise that the convent is so close to National Garden. Just at the end of this road, I could see one of the blocks of flats that make up National Garden.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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A Big THANK YOU to all my teachers (Primary and Secondary)!
A Happy Teacher's Day to my former and future lecturers! Yes, I am planning to take another course in September and by announcing it over in Ipoh Talk to force myself to achieve it.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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hello Orange, all the best to you in your further studies
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Thank you, Kayes! It's so sweet of you.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Syabas to Titans of SMJK Ave Maria Convent for winning both the Cheer 2009 Northern Championship title and Best Dressed Award yesterday.
Well Done and All The Best to our Principal; Teachers and Students!!
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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This is how the school looks at 7am on Sunday.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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During school days, couldn't wait to leave school ..... but now, missing and longing for those carefree days!!
This pic. taken at 7am brings back nostalgia and memories. Used to wake up at 6am during school days but on that particular morning the alarm clock rang at 12.30am. After washing up, changed into school uniform and breakfast, waited for the school bus in front of our house. Pay no attention to the dark sky, thinking that it was normal since it was at the beginning of the year. After almost half an hour, there was no sign of the school bus and the sky didn't get any brighter, then only I was standing alone outside the house at 1am .....
Thanks for this valuable pic. taken at 7am, Kayes! Appreciate it very much!
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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An email from Ong Hock Siew (ianonghocksiew@gmail.com)
" I used to be an Instructor of 2 Girl Guide companies in Ipoh 1966-1970 - MGS and Ave Maria Convent. Mrs Chan was the State Commissioner then. The Teacher in charge of the MGS company was Miss Ng. I can't remember her full name. Some of the guides that I could remember were Chan Lean Chooi, Chen Moi Peak, Siew Ting, etc. Ave Maria had as its Company leader a girl who stayed in Canning Gardens. We had a great time there and it would be nice to catch up with some of the guides who must now be in their fifties..."
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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During the recent trip back to Ipoh, noticed one alphabet was missing from the school's signboard. Instead of the words Ave Maria - the last "a" was missing. Since it was a weekend, I told my relatives who are still studying in my school about it. I am sure it has definitely been fixed by now.
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Adr1970
Registered: August 2010 Posts: 31
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December 14, 2010 10:15pm
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Hi,
Don't know if any of the students here remember, around the 80s there used to be ballet classes conducted on Saturdays. It was run by a Ballet Association (can't remember the name). Won't go into details but I was one of the few lucky guys who got to loiter around the school. So it brings back memories for me too. Wonder if the side-gate that goes to Our Lady's Hospital (Kinta Medical Hospital) still exist.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Hi Adr1970,
That side-gate is always locked. My classmate's house used to be just behind our school's swimming pool. When we were invited to her birthday party, her mum had to make many trips to ferry the whole class to her house. So near yet so far .....
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Very proud and impressed that Datuk Dr. Choo Yuen May, Director General of Malaysian Palm Oil Board is from AMC!
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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hi Orange, I just remembered I have a friend who taught in this school for many years. Her maiden name is Irene Chew Pek Ghuat. She is married to an Ipoh doctor with the surname Wong .... hope I got it right. So in school she might have been known as Mrs Irene Wong.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Hi Kayes,
Mrs. Wong taught me Geography. Sorry, I don't know her maiden name. But as far as I know, there was no doctor's wife teaching in my school during my time. Maybe this Mrs. Wong joined our school after I left. Is she still teaching in AMC?
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Oops!! Kayes, please ignore my last question for the above post! It was a busy, busy day and I just got home from work ..... and yet I still want to go online. Actually, I wanted to ask if she taught in Primary school or Secondary school?
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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In Chinese schools, we call our teachers 'Lao Shi'. If her surname is Lee, she is addressed as Lee Lao Shi - single or married she is still Lee Lao Shi. Same with BM Cikgu. If her name is Siti, we call her Cikgu Siti, even if she is married.
In our office, our Miss Yap insists to be called Miss Yap even though she is now Mrs. Leong. She told us 'Yap' is her surname and forever it will be. But we told her Leong can be her surname forever too but she refused to reply ..... 
If you are a "Datuk", your wife will automatically be a "Datin" - regardless how many you have. But if you are a female, and you are a "Datuk" yourself, no way your husband will be referred as "Datin". Unless he is bestowed with a Datukship. Even that his wife wouldn't want the title Datin as she herself is a "Datuk". Perhaps he should offer the title "Datin" to someone else ..... He he he
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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hi Orange, I just asked my friend who used to teach at AMC. She told me she was known as Mrs Irene Lee when she was teaching there and she taught at AMC for 20 years.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Hi Kayes,
During my time, there was one Mrs. Lee but she taught in the Art Stream.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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I was just told by Mrs Irene Lee that there will be a reunion dinner for old pupils next Saturday, 6 June 2015 at the newly renovated Excelsior Hotel. If anyone is attending why not send me some pics?
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Hi Kayes,
I am not aware about the reunion on 6th June 2015 as I will be attending two wedding receptions (lunch and dinner) on that day. It's school holidays, many Malays choose to have their weddings during this time, unlike the Chinese, 8th Lunar Month or a month before CNY are busy months after obtaining auspicious compatible dates from Fengshui masters. Anyway, I will e-mail you if I can get hold of any pics.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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OK Orange, see if you can get some pics
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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A reunion dinner for the Class of '85 was held on 6 June 2015 at the Excelsior Hotel. Can you recognise anyone here? Pic courtesy Mrs Irene Lee.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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Mrs Lee with Taryn Yong, Class of '85.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Thanks Kayes for the pics. Mrs. Lee is so elegantly dressed. Someone from this '85 batch is very active in Rotary Club. She owns a few boutiques in Ipoh. Very often she is asked to be a judge for beauty pageants. After all, she is a beauty herself. A mother of three grown-up children, she doesn't look her age.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Hi Kayes,
I have just received an e-mail saying that she used to have 3 boutiques but now she is having a very successful garment and premiums/gifts business. She was spotted donning a stunning red sari and looked splendidly beautiful. Ah Moi in sari! All girls were having great time and many were seen dressed to the nines. I am sure Mrs. Lee will update you with more pics.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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hello Orange, I think Amy is very pretty
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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Another reunion dinner pic courtesy Mrs Irene Lee.
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Coincidentally, Amy and William had their wedding reception at this very same Excelsior Hotel - during those days there were not many big hotels (5 stars? or 4 stars?) in Ipoh.
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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Ave Maria made the news!!!!
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Hello Kayes, my alma mater is SMJK Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh. Tq Tq!!
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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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Sharin Lee, Grace Boon, Vivien Wong & others from class of '85: If you girls are reading this, pls. send those lovely reunion pics. to Kayes. Do share the happy moments with us here. Just as Grace Boon posted: "Our sweet sweet memory. I really had a wonderful time and unforgettable nite with you all. TQVM for everything we shared on this fantastic nite. Hope our friendships last and we will meet again." ..... You girls ROCK!!
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kayes
Registered: July 2008 Location: Penang Malaysia Posts: 4,824
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More pics from Mrs Irene Lee.




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Orange
Registered: February 2009 Posts: 3,163
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The colour of this Ipoh Ah Moi's shoes is so matching with her Sari. She really knows how to dress! We love you Amy!!
Thank You Mrs Lee for showing us the pics. So proud of you!
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