Candle 31: Melody Gan

Melody Gan from the class of 1990 shares her BBGS memories with us.

Hi Joanna,

You probably do not remember me but I think you were a few years ahead of me at BBGS. Anyway, after years of being incognito and moving from country to country, I finally succumbed and joined Facebook. When prompted for the entry for high school, I was stunned to find that there was no entry for BBGS, but an entry for CBN. How can that be possible??!!! So I googled BBGS and found out that the name has been changed, and that led me straight to your website.

Anyway, I think it is great what you are doing to keep the BBGS spirit alive! How are you, by the way? As for me, I have been away from Malaysia for 17 years. It saddens me to know that BBGS no longer exists as it was instrumental in giving me the strength and fearless (in mandarin - "bu pa shi" or in cantonese "mm pa sei"...not afraid to die) attitude that propelled me through my life so far. I was there from 1980-1985 for primary school and then 1986 to 1990 for secondary school. Do you know anyone from class of 1990?

BBGS was a life-turning experience for me as I was incredibly shy as a kid, but somehow had the guts to try for every activity in the school. Hence, I was in a play every year in secondary school, became head cheerleader of Cooke House in Form 5, represented the school in rhythmic gymnastics and some dance performances. It was utopia for me as it taught me that you could achieve anything you set your mind to.

One especially funny memory was in Biology with Mrs Wong who was one of my favorite teachers. I was in 5S4, and we were supposed to dissect cockroaches that day, which of course no one relished. It was the last period of the day for us, and we were trying to slip chloroform into the plastic bags which contained the roaches when some of the girls panicked and the roaches escaped. Of course that resulted in pandemonium as about 40 screaming girls ran out onto the netball field which was right next to the main road. Unfortunately, the girls from 5S5 were having their class photo taken, and were neatly stacked on benches and tables on the field. There was also a lot of traffic on the main road. We were hysterical and had our skirts up to our chests, and jumped all over those girls. Before long, we had 80 screaming girls all over the field and traffic came to a standstill. We certainly exposed ourselves that day and needless to say, Mrs Wong was not amused.

My friends were some of the most amazing girls I ever met and have turned into some pretty incredible women - too many to list and I do not want to single anyone out since they were all great but some names that come to mind are Yap Lee Mei, Ng Wei Leng, Gan Gek Choo, Lisa Ng, Lee Li Ling, Ammetha Kaur, Sujatha, Chin Yoke Yuen, Lim Ping, Loke Foong Wai, Amarjit Kaur, Rekha, etc. Unfortunately, I have lost touch with so many of them due to my frequent moves and intense work schedule.

Joanna says: A great way to get back in touch with your friends is to share your story on this blog and I guarantee that our readers will get in touch with you! I have already sent Melody the emails of two friends on her list :-)