What is BBGS culture? (Part 2)

A summary of findings gleaned from a questionnaire sent out to ex-BBGS girls in conjunction with the BBGS Centenary Celebration. This extract is taken from the Centenary magazine (May 1993).

As we look back over the 100 years, we often wonder if life in BBGS has changed since our grandmothers’ days. What has changed? More importantly, what has remained? All these were part of the BBGS lifestyle and culture. Some things might have changed now. But the heart and spirit that move each BBGS girl to give, to share and to make the school a great place surely has not changed.

Fun Fairs

Fun-fairs were really fun events. Whether they were mammoth fun-fairs of the smaller food fairs, all BBGS girls enjoy the distraction from lessons. An old girl related how her class would look for the slightest excuse to beg the teachers to allow them to discuss urgent food fair arrangements instead of the usual lessons. We all learnt to make red and green square coconut candies during our BBGS days. All of us experienced the temptation of over-pricing our food so that our class could make the most money.

Fun and food fairs, if you think about it, taught us the basics of doing business. They helped infuse us with the entrepreneurial spirit. We learnt the rudiments of Profit & Loss (although the latter was taboo!). We picked up Supply & Demand and Marginal Returns faster than we managed to from our Economics class. We learnt what team work and team spirit were all about. We cultivated our creativity and ingenuity.

All said and done, fun-fairs and food fairs were great events, probably more so for BBGS girls than from those in other schools because we always needed funds to do something more for the school.


Toilet Cleanliness

Another aspect of BBGS life is the Toilet Cleanliness Campaign administered by the prefects.

Most of us hate it but force ourselves and our classmates to clean the toilets with a vengeance in pursuit of the Cleanliness Shield.

Buying toilet fresheners, repainting the class-designated toilet, locking it up so as to prevent others from fouling it up – these are but some of the things we do to have the cleanest and best-smelling toilet in the whole school. (You see, BBGS girls do all things – including the less pleasant ones – well)


Class Cleanliness

None of us will ever forget the necessity to keep our classroom neat and tidy. Remember the days when we used raffia to ensure our desk were straight and in line. The days we had to rush to the market across the road before school for fresh flowers for our class? The days we had to cut out interesting newspaper articles for our class notice boards (our interest was often centred on our handsome badminton heroes, one of whom used to be the boyfriend of a classmate)?

An eye for detail is something that is almost engraved in our minds, thanks to BBGS. How many of us, for example, can resist not straightening a crooked picture on a wall? How any of us look around and think twice before we throw even the tiniest scrap of paper on the street? How many of us consciously walk away from potted plants lest our skirts brush against and injure those precious things?