Sunday, March 1, 2009

Main Convent and St. Michael's: The Missing Link

Old Main Convent, IpohMain Convent, Ipoh (Before repaint)

Main Convent, Ipoh has always had a traditional strong link with St. Michael's Institution, Ipoh. Convent girls study form 6 in SMI. Perhaps, the main reason is because both MC and SMI are missionary schools under the same faith, the Roman Catholics. There are also many couples from this both schools got married and are now living happily ever after in their far away land.

Other than that, MC and SMI are indeed linked in many aspects.


Badminton CourtBadminton Court

Old Spiral StairSpiral Stair

During the 2nd World War (WWII), SMI was made the Administrative Centre and renamed
Perak Shu Seicho. Class rooms were used as office for the Japanese officers. The La Salle Brothers managed to salvage some of the furniture in SMI before the occupation and they were temporarily stored in MC.


Old WalkwaySMI beforeWalkway to Main Hall

The tiles used in one of the walkways in
MC were imported from Marseilles, France. If you take a look on the underside of the walkway, the manufacturers name and place is still visible. SMI used to cover the roof with the same tiles from Marseilles. However, the recent roof replacement has changed them with new tiles made locally. Pictures below, spot the differences.


SMI afterSMI (Before)

SMI (After)


GreensLeads from Lower Hall to Classroom

Besides, rumour has it that there is
an underground tunnel that links SMI to MC. The Brothers used this tunnel to carry the furniture to MC during WWII. Some said the entrance of the tunnel in SMI is below the stage in the school hall. However, no one has ever proved its existence. Whether or not the tunnel is true will have to be discovered by archeologist cum thrill seeker like Harrison Ford.



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Related post:

1. Main Convent, Ipoh (Part I).

11 comments:

Reanaclaire said...

another masterpiece post, palohchai.. i m curious about u.. from smi? yes, last time those studying in main convent were always linked with smi.. i m sure many couples have ended up marrying to each other too..

Jeremy aka Palohchai said...

Reanaclaire, yes, ex michaelian I am. There are many more link MC-SMI as we are the bros and sis school.

YilingL said...

Well there are always claims that old missionary schools have tunnels or secret passageway or secret rooms. But isn't this one of the best feature of being in a missionary school as it's so exciting and interesting (ie. ghost stories) than modern built schools.

Isaac Wong said...

That's the reason why we love our school so much. Haha.
Missionary schools are indeed interesting in every aspects. New schools just do not have those feeling.

Anonymous said...

Hi. Came to your blog from another blog :) Thanks for the post on both schools. I was from MC and I haven't been into MC since I left 20 years ago. Seeing the photos sure bring back lots of cherished memories of my schooldays. BTW my husband was from SMI :) We met each other in Form Four :D

I hope they will eventually find the secret link/tunnel. Very interesting :)

Jeremy aka Palohchai said...

Barbara: That's really cool.. lol. It means we do have MC-SMI couple living happily ever after. Congrats and best wishes to both of you

Anonymous said...

Hi Unker Wong (and WSY)!

Nice pics of Ipoh you have here on this blog. Stumbled upon it when reading the STPM post on Mr Peter Khiew's blog.

I long time nvr go back Ipoh dee...sob

Jason.
(The clarinetist wan...)

Jeremy aka Palohchai said...

Jason: Just take a leave one day. perhaps saturday, come back, drive around and you sure stumble upon the hidden treasures of Ipoh. I just discovered an interesting staircase near old town dated back to the colonial days... lol.

rena said...

convent is always united! go convent girls!!!!
Always smile........
don't forget me......
sweetrini@renasheni

Anonymous said...

convent boooo

Anonymous said...

There is indeed a tunnel that links to SMI. Me and my friends had found a way there but dare not to tell anyone where it is actually located. There are also lots of hidden rooms and lockers plus rooftops. There was that one day, we were playing 'futsal' at the back field and my friend accidentally kicked it hard that it landed near the old canteen. There, we found a small cemetery and I bravely read the sign 'Here lies,Rumplestiltskin.', I did not have the courage to even open and look inside it but my friend did and it was utter darkness. Actually the hole is quite deep to even figure out what really lies there. Then, our teacher called us and I kinda got the chills just by looking at it. Rumplestiltskin is actually a character that we learned during literature so that was why I was confused and got the chills. And there was the music room that was originally a church but it soon turned into a music room but it is eerily creepy. The upper level used to be one of the sister's bed which adds more creepiness to the story. There was also an old fashioned lift at the very back of the room but it had broken so they don't allow us to explore there but we never did because it was so dark. One day, there had been some pipe problem on the upper level of the office. There is a locked small door that is located near the hallway from the office to the 'koperasi'. My current principal at that time called a few plumbers to fix the pipe. I happened to be there at the moment and was curious to why did the plumber closed the door a bit when they could have just left it wide open,right? I sneakily peeped through the small door and found myself a surprising view of a stair that leads to a massive hallway just like the typical American school but I don't know how to described it more detail. All of a sudden, my principal spotted me and asked me what was I doing there like she is trying to hide something but yeah,idk why they locked it but my instinct told me that there must be something up there. In my opinion, the devils and jins will increase if they kept it locked and hidden. :) That is all from me....

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