Are SBU students part of BBGS?

I've been corresponding with a whole new generation of BBGSians on Facebook. These young ladies also attended Seri Bintang Utara, so I posed the following question:

"Dear all,
I belong to the '80s era of BBGS when we still had the buildings, and the traditions were very much alive! What was it like to belong to Seri Bintang Utara? Does it still feel like BBGS? If truth be told, many old girls from the earlier days probably wouldn't even consider them to be BBGSians. How can we help them preserve some of the culture? Or is it so different that it no longer matters?"

Emily Chang replied:

Our school moved to the new premises when I was in Form 4. I can't remember if they changed our name before that, but I still feel very much part of BBGS. This is because I've been in BBGS since primary days and honestly, I still say I'm a BBGSian :)

Sadly though, I think that all our BBGS traditions are slowly slipping or have they already slipped away? It's a pity..

Ainun Ghazali replied:

Hiya! I think this is a rather important question to tackle because it's something that I've been wondering over awhile as well.

I've been a BBGS girl since Std 1 till the day I graduated secondary school in 2002, and I am very proud of my alma matter.

I suppose I was fortunate enough to experience both the BBGS culture and the SBU culture, since we transferred when I was in Form 4. Even before I had graduated, sadly, a lot of the ol' BBGS spirit was waning.

Choral Speaking, despite being such a huge tradition in our school, had taken a step back in terms of its importance in inter-class competition when our school was not allowed to compete in the nationals anymore for the fact that we had won too many times already.

Cheerleading has not really been what it used to be. The Fun Fairs and Sports Day spirit that I had looked forward to so much in my first 2 years in secondary school was pretty much absent.
Even our school motto has changed from the famous,"Nisi Dominus Frustra" to "Kecemerlangan Tekad Kami".

We have a museum in the new school compound, a modest room that displays the very few artifacts and history that is left from the old school compound. And despite a stint as a museum prefect for a year, I feel that the museum does not do much justice to the legacy that is BBGS.

Before I left school, Form 2 students were required to do an assignment on the school history. And despite the good intentions, I'm not really sure if the new generation really understood the spirit behind the school. Much of what made BBGS so unique and beautiful in its spirit, tradition and culture have sadly dissipated into the past. And the fact that now SBU is a co-ed school, I suppose is a final blow. What is left behind is our school song, the centenary song, a much neglected museum and an attachment to the history pages.

Personally, I acknowledge BBGS and SBU as two different schools, with two different alma matter.

I may have graduated from SBU, but I will always and forever be a BBGSian in my heart.