By Neo Xin Yuan (21A01D)

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Providence is wiser than you, and you may be confident it has suited all things better to your eternal good than you could do had you been left to your own option.

So begins Max Barry’s latest sci-fi novel Providence. The above quote, taken from John Flavel’s The Mystery of Providence, is truly an apt epigraph, effectively encapsulating the overarching theme of the similarly named Providence.

Providence is an interesting choice of title. Having studied related English Renaissance poems, H2 Literature students would be all too familiar with the idea of Providence. In theology, Providence is God, or a force which is believed by some people to arrange the things that happen to us. In the novel Providence, it’s a concept Barry integrates cleverly into the realm of science fiction, probing us to approach technology from a fresh perspective.  

Max Barry is no stranger to sci-fi. For those unfamiliar with Barry’s work, the acclaimed author is known for his bestseller Lexicon, a heart-pounding thriller with a sci-fi twist. Science fiction is known and loved for its thrilling modernity—how seemingly impossible notions can become reality overnight, integrating themselves seamlessly into our daily lives until we don’t know what’s impossible and what has already been done. “Everything’s science fiction until someone makes it science fact,” quips a quote from popular sci-fi novel Warcross, and this rings especially true in Providence. In the same way that the characters are catapulted miles away from Earth and into space, the reality of fearsome, over-intelligent artificial intelligence (AI) spaceships might seem far, far away, or even utterly ludicrous to us. 

But that’s not quite true—there are little facets of this fictional world that hit too close to home, be it the fear that AI will eventually surpass us and overcome the need for human intervention, or the ‘feeds’ (think futuristic Instagram) that one of the main characters, Talia, uses to obsessively construct the perfect image of herself and the war. I can certainly imagine the events of Providence taking place in the not-so-far future, maybe half a decade down the road, as humans become more and more intelligent. They innovate, invent and create more and more ingenious technologies—until they realise they have been rendered unnecessary by their own creations. 

The novel starts off with a gut-wrenching scene in the ever-compelling second person narrative voice, plunging you right into the heart of the world and the root of the story. Set seven years after the same scene that sparked the ongoing war, the four stars of the show—Gilly, Talia, Anders and Jackson—are ready for takeoff. They all know what has brought them here: salamanders. Salamanders are bulky alien creatures with six limbs and translucent resin covering their faces. Seven years ago, four people were on a ship in space when they discovered these strange creatures for the first time. 

It wasn’t long before the salamanders killed every person on board.

“The salamanders don’t speak. They don’t try to communicate. They just kill him. You don’t know why. There are a lot of theories. Some people say it wasn’t their fault. We wandered into their territory and they defended it. They’re mindless animals, unaware of what they’re doing. Something Maladanto did registered to them as a threat. There are a lot of opinions. All you know is that when the video finally, mercifully stops, you want to kill salamanders, as many as you can.”

The four characters have been carefully selected and trained to board one of the most effective salamander-killers Man has ever created—a Providence, a ship equipped with the most advanced AI technology. When it comes to battling salamanders, it has the most astute judgement, making decisions better and faster than any human ever could in the heat of battle. Hence the title Providence, where the ship’s AI fights for them.

The team consists of Gilly, the Intel Officer, Talia, the Life Officer, Anders, the Weapons Officer and Jackson, the Command Officer. They each oversee different aspects of the ship, much like the pilots in Voltron: Legendary Defender. But it soon becomes clear to us that they are simply pawns in a game larger than themselves—the Providence is king, and they are just carefully constructed media personalities for the common people to consume. The media creates the façade that humans are the heroes, the ones doing the fighting, when in reality, the ship does everything for them.

It’s for this reason that the characters stand out the most in Providence. The book is told from all four characters’ perspectives, which makes for interesting disparities between one character’s perception of the ship and another’s, and what the characters think of one another. In a cramped, narrow ship sailing in uncharted outer space where the only company they have is each other (and the ship), the relationships between the four characters are developed thoroughly and the characters themselves are well fleshed-out, with compelling backstories and unique motivations that are sure to make readers feel for them.

We start off with Gilly, or Gilligan, the Intel Officer. He’s your typical “nerdy tech guy”, hyper-fixated on logic and technical details, making him perfect for managing the engineering aspects of the ship—or at least, that’s our first impression of him. He’s very by-the-book, and a firm believer and preacher of the superiority of the ship’s decisions:

“Don’t question the ship. It’s smarter than you are.” 

At the start of the book, he’s constantly challenging his mind with puzzles, trying to solve the ever-persistent “valve problem” on the ship, until he discovers, with the help of Anders, that it was just a mental stimulation exercise constructed by Talia. The ship doesn’t need his help; it can solve its own problems far more efficiently than he ever could.

He wanted this meeting to end. He wanted to lock himself in his cabin and not come out again. He’d thought he was someone, doing something.

Over the course of Providence, Gilly undergoes startling character development in the face of actual, chilling danger that crops up later in the novel, prompting us to understand that in the rarest of situations when seemingly infallible technology fails and leaves us stranded, it is our sheer, raw humanity that shines through.

Next up is Talia Beanfield, the Life Officer. Described by Gilly as an “effortlessly charming social butterfly”, she certainly fits the bill with her easygoing, friendly demeanour and her polished social media profile. But there’s more to her than the shiny media personality that the public eats up with awe and admiration—Talia is arguably the most important crew member out of the four, and the most busy too: besides constructing and managing the image of the war for the public, she is also responsible for managing the emotional and mental states of her fellow crew members, ensuring that they’re at their best and that they work together effectively as a team. And she’s extremely good at that.

Being on the ship was performing all the time. It was roleplays around the clock. There was no conversation where she wasn’t noting tone and word choice and body language. That joke from Anders, how much of that was serious? Gilly’s gaze is drifting, does he need more mental stimulation? 

What I liked most about Talia—and what made her my favourite out of the four—was her sensitivity to emotions and how she views everything through the lens of emotions, even the ship. In that way, she is a foil to Gilly. One believes that the ship is merely a lifeless, coded software, cold and emotionless, while the other wants to believe that there is something more to the ship. The dreamy manner in which Talia attaches a tender humanity to the ship makes for a touching but utterly heartbreaking moment near the end of the book. 

One downside is the dissatisfying lack of character growth for Talia. She does not play a big part in the climax of the book, where most of the danger and adventure happens for the other three characters. Nevertheless, she is no doubt a memorable character, and Providence wouldn’t have been the same without her role in the story.

The Weapons Officer, Anders, is what one would call a ‘freeloader’. He’s mischievous, doesn’t show up when needed, and puts himself and the others in constant danger. He comes across as the most unmotivated member of the crew, for sure. But as the story progresses and we learn more about him, it becomes clear that he is anything but. 

I personally enjoyed his character. Although I disliked him at first for his careless irresponsibility, my expectations were swiftly subverted as he underwent an impressive transformation in attitude as the story progressed. Though I did not feel for him as much as I did for Jackson, the captain, he played a very important part in the novel. Gilly describes him as a “tortured dreamboat”—an interesting description for an interesting character that I definitely enjoyed.  

Last but certainly not least, we have Jolene Jackson, the Command Officer and the leader of the squad. The epitome of strictness, she’s always referred to as ‘Jackson’ when the narrative is told from the other members’ points of view—except for Talia, who obstinately calls her by her first name, Jolene, in her head. Jackson and Talia’s relationship was one of my favourite things in the book as their principles are very different—one believes in the importance of emotion, while one (seemingly) doesn’t. It was heartwarming to witness their tentative collaboration shift into a more intimate friendship, showing that Jackson—like Gilly, Anders and Talia—is more than she seems on the surface. In the later parts of Providence, we learn about her backstory, her fears, her hopes and the sacrifices she’s made to be standing on this ship as captain. 

The characters are what made Providence truly shine—without them, I wouldn’t have enjoyed reading it as much, considering the blandness of the plot and lack of worldbuilding in this dystopian universe. It’s just space and ship throughout the entire book, with little details about the world and its systems. Even within outer space itself, the concept of the Violet Zone (VZ) was obscure and not well-developed, despite the fact that most of Providence takes place in the VZ, which is said to be an area devoid of beacons and relays, where ships cannot sync (connect to the Internet) at all. Novel technologies like the ‘medbag’ that instantly takes care of any medical problems and the ‘crabs’ that automatically pop up to fix the ship whenever needed were intriguing, but otherwise relatively unremarkable and unoriginal.

The story is told mostly through dialogue, which is probably to reinforce the idea that the ship does most of the action while the characters just talk and pretend they’re the ones killing salamanders, but nonetheless, without exciting and vivid descriptions typical of sci-fi and fantasy novels, it falls flat. The silver lining is that it’s a breath of fresh air from the purple prose many authors use, which can be overbearing at times.

Lastly, the plot was carefully paced and easily digestible, but the storyline lacked originality and excitement for the first half of the book. Nevertheless, it is a thoughtful book worth a thoughtful read. I loved the themes of Providence: the inevitable superiority of technology, the inherent vulnerability of humanity, and how outsiders are always misunderstood by us. In Providence, no entity is what it seems. Half the journey is realising that as beings living in the same universe, under the same stars, we are all more similar than we are different.

By Tan Yu You (21S03H)

Rating: ★★★★★

The answer to life, the universe and everything may be 42 (a reference to Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)—but is there an answer to death?

Even with all the advances and progress humankind have made toward deciphering the great mysteries of our universe, the mystery of death is—and continues to be— unsolved. Desmond Kon, a near-death experience (NDE) survivor, attempts to articulate the image of death as he witnessed and lived through it in The Good Day I Died, a book that is nothing short of unique and novel. 

The very first line on the cover of The Good Day I Died reads “a quasi-memoir”. It immediately caught my eye and begs the question: why did he choose such a strange classification for an autobiographical book? In the words of Desmond, “a quasi-memoir transcends the conventional autobiography and all the reader expectations that comes with the genre.” 

It is immediately evident that this is no ordinary memoir even before the prologue begins. The chapter titles are phrased as questions directed at Desmond himself, akin to a self-administered interview. Rather than giving an account of his personal life before and after his NDE from start to end, he is answering questions that you, the reader, may have asked him. It is a memoir, but it is also intensely self-aware and self-critical. 

“Why then should we believe you? Why should anyone believe anything you’ve written?”

This is one of the questions Desmond posed to himself. He readily admits that the reader has no need to believe anything that has been written; it is simply a personal story, an account of what he saw and perceived without any concrete evidence to back it up. 

This is perhaps my favourite aspect of the book: it does not come across as pretentious or boastful, much like a be-all and end-all of NDEs. Instead, Desmond offers his own unique perspective and interpretation as he recounts his personal NDE—engaging the reader through the honest, down-to-earth tone adopted in the book—while leaving it to one to believe its authenticity. Nonetheless, it makes one wonder how it must have felt like to experience such surreal beautiful things in person. 

In the quasi-memoir, Desmond highlights the similarities between his own story and the accounts of NDEs that other people had experienced by comparing the two frequently while recounting his NDE. However, he does acknowledge that his story is distinctly his own and does not presume that it is an universal experience. It is this aspect that makes this memoir, his own memoir.

Throughout his NDE, the line between fantasy and reality is constantly blurred as logic is defied over and over again in place of surrealism and absurdism from the moment he died to his sudden return from death. In addition, the paradoxical theme of two contradicting things occurring at once recurs. For instance, he notes that the entire experience felt so real that he thought he was alive the whole time—a bizarre duality that seemed to underscore how he perceived things in the strange realm of the afterlife. It took him years before he finally came to terms with the fact that he actually died, passed into the afterlife, and returned back to life. 

What struck me as interesting is that despite not feeling a desire to return to the living, Desmond recalls having a great resistance holding him back, keeping him from fully passing on even as the angels beckoned him to join them—as if his soul was letting him know that his time was not up yet. Is this a sign that every one of us has a fate, no matter how much we want to believe in free choice? What would have happened if he had decided to heed the angels? It seems that the hallmark of a NDE is a reminder that some questions in this universe can never be answered, that some things in our world exist outside the realm of possibility and should be left untouched and unexplored. 

It perhaps does not come as a surprise that even after witnessing such ineffability, Desmond openly confesses that he did not come out of his NDE as a very changed person. Neither did he devote himself to spirituality, piety or devotion. His mind instead settled on denial as a form of mental release, unwittingly or not, and effaced this aspect of his past.

However, the aftermath of his NDE still remains crystal-clear in his mind. One common narrative among multiple stories of NDE survivors is a heightened sense of the paranormal for some time after their brush with death. He admits that he too became more sensitive to the supernatural post-NDE and started seeing apparitions. 

The first apparition he saw was after he had undergone an operation after an accident just over a week after his NDE. He remembered waking up in his hospital bed and sighting an ominous black figure standing in front of the window in his ward—he described it as most closely resembling the angel of death. It unnerved him to the point that it remains etched to his memory. He divulges that he had written about a character who had visions of angels—in particular Azreal (the angel of death in Jewish and Islamic religions)—in one of his previous works, Singular Acts of Endearment. 

Just like something out of Russell Lee’s True Singapore Ghost Stories, Desmond presents to the reader a few more perturbing supernatural encounters that he had over the years—the apparition of a transgender sex worker in Changi Village, a haunted museum in Malacca, and even a spiritual attack just to name a few. At times, I did find myself reading his encounters with the otherworldly apparitions with a grain of salt, but I did truly enjoy reading the mini ghost stories sprinkled throughout the book.

In his reflection, Desmond looked back on a class on Death and Dying in which his professor mentioned how little people even thought of death, not until they had to confront it in their life in some way. He notes that for most people, encountering an NDE is usually transformative and life-changing. It is evident that despite his denial of his NDE for years, it has brought about everlasting changes in his life, and he truthfully presents these changes and his own thoughts about the impact of his NDE to the reader. 

One change that he has adopted is a more gentle outlook on the world at large. Desmond talks about how he wants to think that he has become more receptive towards the perspectives of others and is willing to listen to all kinds of stories. He quotes a memorable phrase from his professor which he finds highly applicable to himself—“no patience for willed ignorance”. Yet despite his kinder outlook, he confesses that he still has his shortcomings, such as how he has lost his altruistic zeal which he had prior to his NDE because he learnt that it is as important to care for the self as it is to lead a life of service—something which he finds ironic. 

Another change is his appreciation for learning to let go and not hold on to too many sentiments. How each moment in life, each stop on one’s journey is nothing but a mere snapshot, a single frame in life’s movie. He strongly believes that detachment, as taught in the doctrines of Buddhism and Christianity, is the key to peace—a greater spirit of acceptance and lightening of the heart and mind. 

Perhaps the biggest transformation is being more conscious of being present in the moment. Desmond began to desire a lifestyle of purpose and balance, shunning away from the excessive lifestyle synonymous with Singapore and instead embracing the idea of decluttering and leading a simple life. He does so by doing things that bring deeper meaning to his life, such as art, teaching, reading and editing.

“I came back from the hereafter, knowing I needed to utilise my second lease of life better. These days, I’m more interested in immersing myself fully in my present lived experience.” 

The Good Day I Died is at its core a heartfelt and upfront confession of a man who died and was resurrected, and his transformed life after his return from death. It invites you to contemplate your own outlook on life, and in the process find your own existential path that brings you closer to the happiness you seek in spite of life’s vicissitudes.

There may be no answer to death, but there is an answer to how to live life to the fullest. And only you yourself can find the answer. 

By Shaun Loh (21A01A)

About a year ago, immediately after taking the Mother Tongue O Level examination, a small group of Year 4 students congregated in a classroom at Sheares Block.

“Should I call us Raffles Climate?” I asked, laughing at how banal the name was. 

“No! That’s so plain,” retorted my friend. “How about EcoGryphons? That’s more refreshing.” 

And there it was, the name of a new environmental group in Raffles. 

Coming back to the present—after an entire year of calamity, elections and protests—conversations on climate change have toned down tremendously. I mean, do we even remember the time when the name “Greta Thunberg” was in every one of our conversations? Just a week ago, I overheard someone remarking to his friend that talking about the environment is “so 2019”. 

Nevertheless, there is actually still a vast range of environmental initiatives within Raffles, across the RI Year 1-4, RGS, and the Year 5-6 sides. With their individual ways of spreading environmental advocacy, these initiatives have found new ways to be the voice of the environment even in this odd year of social distancing and mask-wearing. 

RI (Y1-4): ECOGRYPHONS 

Before EcoGryphons properly broke out of its nest last year, eco-captains (including yours truly!) had actually started out with post-exam recycling drives. Firstly, we passed two raffia strings to each class for everyone to gather stacks of exam worksheets. Then, we meticulously placed every stack one atop another at the Raja Block Foyer, preparing them for recycling. 

Nevertheless, we knew that a recycling drive was but only one way our campus could become more eco-friendly. Under the guidance of Dean Ms Melissa Lim, we brainstormed more ideas to make the Year 1-4 campus more sustainable. 

On top of designing posters to remind Rafflesians to recycle and adding more recycling bins around school, the very first initiative we started was the Bring Your Own Tumbler Campaign in February this year to reduce the use of single-use plastics in school. By bringing their own bottle for drinks in the Year 1-4 canteen 10 times, a student could redeem a free drink from the canteen auntie. 

Incorporating the House system into the campaign, every completed redemption card would also be collected by the Year 1-4 House Captains and added up to house points. 

Sadly, because of the COVID-19 restrictions, us Year 5 eco-captains did not get to visit the Year 1-4 canteen to see the initiative take place. After stepping down at the end of Term 1, the current Year 4s eco-captains of 2020 took over the reins. 

“We are having our Karang Guni project now. Continuing what you guys have started, we took note of how examination materials were outphased after EOYs, and decided to capitalise on this opportunity to recycle the paper used for exams instead of merely dumping it. Undoubtedly, it will save so much paper!” Malcolm Ngio, a current Year 4 eco-captain, shared about the new Karang Guni initiative taking place this year. 

RI (Y5-6): RAFFLES COMMUNITY ADVOCATES (THE FOOD ISSUE) 

THE FOOD ISSUE—the batch project of Community Advocates ‘21. As part of their efforts to raise awareness about environmental issues related to food, CA hopes that their ongoing series of initiatives and educational online posts will shed light on how we can all be more sustainable consumers. 

One challenge that just took place under The Food Issue was the #CALunchboxSquadChallenge. Witnessing how the rise of food packaging waste generated in our community has led to a myriad of negative environmental impacts, CA aims to get Rafflesians to change their eating habits. 

“I love the idea! I have so many adorable lunch boxes at home which I should probably use more often,” remarked Hadley-Hullett Captain, Xu Nuo (21A01A), when told about the challenge. 

Aside from the #CALunchboxSquadChallenge, CA has also initiated the Composting Challenge. Besides giving out composting kits which allow us to grow our very own spring onions, CA has also provided a list of materials required for composting. Composting is another way to reduce food waste and contribute to environmental sustainability. 

RI (Y5-6) AND RGS: THE WILD SIDE 

Aiming to educate the school population on the need to care for and appreciate our local flora and fauna, The Wild Side is a group of students hoping to familiarise us Rafflesians with the Wild Side of Singapore.

“We do not care for our natural world enough, [as we often take] a more anthropocentric, capitalist view of our relationship with the environment when it shouldn’t be that way,” lamented the student leader of The Wild Side, Samuel Sim (21S07B). 

By providing insightful research on local biodiversity and animals, alongside publicising the many webinars and activities organised by different environmental NGOs, The Wild Side bridges the gap between Rafflesians and environmental advocacy outside of school. 

When asked about the initiatives planned for 2021, Samuel shared, “What’s on our heads right now is really sustainability, and keeping some momentum going. We are looking to contribute something bigger on Earth Hour and Earth Day next year.” 

Currently, TWS holds a “Singapore Got Wildlife, Meh?” series on their Instagram page, offering insightful information on the origins of elusive animals that are relatively unheard of. 

One such animal is the Estuarine crocodile in the picture above. Did you know that in the 1940s, crocodiles could be kept as pets in Singapore? They could even be killed and skinned into a custom pair of shoes. 

Buckle-Buckley Vice-Captain Gemma Mollison (21A01A) commented, “Contributing to creating a more sustainable environment starts within our school. Sometimes I learn new facts when I see one of their Instagram posts about wildlife preservation. These environmental initiatives should really keep up the good work!”

“My hope is for Rafflesians to realise, you know, that we are part of nature and so much of what we do damages it. So from there, it’s really about seeing how the things we care about and our crises converge with what’s all around us,” Samuel relayed his goals with conviction. 

RI (Y5-6): RAFFLES ONE EARTH 

Last but certainly not the least, the resident environmental CCA in our Y5-6 side! As a tight-knit group of environmental enthusiasts, they host scintillating school wide events annually, such as the Escape Room during the yearly Team Raffles Games and Ecoweek. In 2019, they also collaborated with Raffles Runway to organise a fashion showcase in which all the clothes were made of recycled materials. 

Aside from physical events, the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in One Earth’s venturing into online outreach, hence opening up new spaces through which they can engage in environmental advocacy. This year, they started the online Eco-Waste Campaign during Circuit Breaker, sharing facts about waste, its impacts and small ways to reduce and recycle at home. 

Indubitably, the coronavirus this year has inflicted many drastic changes on our lifestyles. As we use the end of the year to reflect on the many adjustments and uncertainties present, it’s extremely important to remember that our environment is still an imperative concern. Like the pandemic, climate change seems to be a reprisal from nature on our growing intrusion. 

But we can still look on the brighter side. The virus has most certainly reduced the rampant consumerism of the past, alleviating the hectic pace of commercialism from before. We are now forced to embrace simplicity, as we face lesser options to choose from, whether be it food, travel, or recreational activities. 

Placed together, reflection and simplicity bring forth calm, and there is no better call for calm than the thunderstorm that is COVID-19. Let’s continue our fight against the virus and climate change, so that our environment isn’t just washed up into obsolescence, becoming a topic that is “so 2019”.

By Shaun Loh (21A01A), Noelle Leow (21A01B), and Samyak Jain (21S03A)
Photos courtesy of Michael Chow 

The President’s Scholarship is awarded to students who have ‘gone beyond excellence in academic pursuits and co-curricular activities to distinguish themselves’, and who have a ‘strong ethos in public service’. We conducted an interview with this year’s sole President’s Scholar, Alyssa Marie Loo, batch of 2019. Alyssa is now studying linguistics at Brown University. We also interviewed her Linguistics teacher, Ms Janissa Soh. 

With Alyssa being the first Linguistics student to win the President’s Scholarship and pursue Linguistics as a degree, her Linguistics teacher, Ms Janissa Soh, has many sentiments to share. Like many of us, Ms Soh is very excited about Alyssa’s future journey with the public service, and looks forward to the good work she will do. 

Alyssa also shared that she holds great interest in making government schemes more accessible to Singaporeans by integrating Singlish into ministry websites through artificial intelligence. Her proposal of a chatbot that can recognise Singlish aims to aid people in locating certain schemes on various ministry websites or understanding how a policy works. 

Alyssa’s interest in combining linguistics and technology probes us to question whether linguistics and technology complement each other. In answer to that, Ms Soh explained that language is “a means through which we express ourselves”, while technology is “a tool which offers many possibilities to spread a message or even simply and make information more relatable”. Hence, whether they complement each other “depends on the user and their intent”. 

According to Ms Soh, the issues discussed in English Language and Linguistics (ELL) invite students to explore the relevance and uses of language in our society, and how language reflects and shapes one’s culture and identity in Paper 2. Moreover, Linguistics has the potential to humanise and localise an otherwise very institutional text. Alyssa’s proposal of a chatbot is thus a timely and relevant one. 

Our interview with Alyssa: 

You were the recipient of Raffles Girls’ School’s pinnacle Rafflesian Award in 2017. What are your thoughts on receiving both the Rafflesian Award and the President’s Scholarship? 

Alyssa: Both have been surprising but I’m very grateful to be recognised by both awards. It’s a very big honour and I work hard to live up to the titles everyday.

You were a member of Raffles Press, President of Film Society and [other commitments]. How did you balance all your commitments?

Alyssa: I was lucky to be surrounded by people I loved being with, working hard on projects I believed in. It never felt all that tiring; even when I was physically tired, it all still felt worth it and I’d look forward to seeing the project through. For instance, making my own film for Film Society was beyond exhausting, but I found all the scrambling, late-night editing, turning up frazzled in class and juggling my assignments a very enjoyable hustle.

But definitely it’s also about adjusting expectations. Don’t let perfection get in the way of good; sometimes our high standards can get in the way of us getting something out, and it chokes up our schedule because we’re stuck on it. I’ve learned that it’s important to just be willing to iterate as you go.  

What were some memorable experiences in RI that have shaped you as a person?

Alyssa: Being in the Humanities Programme gave me an amazing 2 years with my class 19A13A. I think it showed me how much a safe space and collaborative mindset can be enriching to everyone involved. 

Directing my own film in Film Society was also a mammoth task that sometimes I still can’t believe I pulled off. It taught me about finding the balance between consultation and direction in leading a team. 

We always thought A-Levels was the worst thing to be anticipating, but now that we are all faced with the rolling expanse of life and all its existential dread…we think about how nice it’d be to be back in school. 

Which teacher in Raffles has left the most significant impact on you, for whom you would like to thank in particular? 

Alyssa: I think the whole HP faculty has been incredible, but I’d definitely have to shout out to Mrs Nicola Perry. She always saw the best in us and taught us to be better as people too. A lot of the things she told us in Civics and in Literature classes didn’t make much sense to us at the time, but now that I’ve spent some time out of school I find myself going back to her aphorisms. She always kept telling us, for instance, “anything with an end is bearable”. We always thought A-Levels was the worst thing to be anticipating, but now that we are all faced with the rolling expanse of life and all its existential dread…we think about how nice it’d be to be back in school. 

Any advice for Rafflesians who are aspiring to become PSC scholars?

Alyssa: Get out there and do something! I think we are all very adept at being eloquent with our beliefs and interests, and “I’m interested in…” is a very common phrase that we throw around. But I think what matters is whether you apply yourself and do something out of it. It doesn’t really matter what field you choose; just give your best in anything you love to do and concerns about having a good CV or good university essay will naturally resolve themselves in due course.

We wish Alyssa all the best in her future endeavors, and hope she continues to shine not just as a Rafflesian, but also as a pioneer in the linguistics field in Singapore.

By Neo Xin Yuan (21A01D), Snehal Sachde (21S07C), and Soh Jing Yee (21S03Q)

Catharsis.

As you click on the IVY notification, you may come across this word and take a pause. It’s not a word we use daily. You might not even have heard of it before. Maybe it just sounds vaguely cool but you have no idea what it really means. 

However, when you start listening to the first video, your tense shoulders—having gone through a long day of HBL—relax. You start to feel lighter. And you start to understand what catharsis means.

A YouTube playlist isn’t what one would normally associate with a concert from the Raffles Symphonic Band (RSB), but it’s the only viable option due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Catharsis follows the charming tunes of Raffles Jazz’s Amour T’es Là? as the second segment of the Raffles Online Arts Festival. Its theme is wholly encapsulated by the eight pieces on the playlist, each of them carefully selected to bring viewers relief in these trying times. 

Every video begins with an elegant cover image: a blanket of swirling paint spilling over parchment in a brilliant myriad of colours. Every artist knows how therapeutic painting—whether one is engaging with it through creation or through appreciation—can be. It’s the same with music, and RSB proves exactly that.  

Ju Can (20S02A) starts off the 8-part performance with a charming rendition of Italian composer Ernesto Köhler’s “Etude 2 from Book I, Op. 33”. With Köhler being considered a renowned composer of his era, this piece isn’t something most of us can pull off, but Ju Can manoeuvres the étude skillfully, weaving a lilting melody in the air. In spite of the difficulty posed by the piece’s fast pace, the performance remains elegant—from the poised hold of the flute to the graceful trill of the melody. Truly, it is music to our ears. 

This short but satisfying piece evokes the innocent image of little birds, flitting from tree to tree, the warm breeze ruffling their feathers as they soar through the sky. But that feeling is fleeting—too soon, the talented musician ends with a cheerful note and contented smile. Nevertheless, it was a delightful prelude to the concert. 

Next up, playing  “Etude 15 from Book I, Op. 33”, another piece by Köhler, on the flute is Lucia Li (21S03M). She brings to life a soulful rendition of the piece, commencing with a light-hearted melody akin to blithe whistling. Though the delicacy and celerity of the etude may make it a challenging piece for some, Lucia navigates it with ease. The liveliness of the piece invigorates viewers; enrapturing viewers and creating a tense atmosphere for the ensuing piece despite its short length.

A single person playing four parts of the same quartet is rather unusual. However, Chua Jay Roon (21S03C) realises this in her performance of “A Fantasy on a Theme of Jupiter” by Holsts and Ito on the clarinet. Playing all four parts of a quartet and having them match well on video is no easy feat, but Jay Roon makes it feel effortless with her flawless switches in tempo and tone. The slow melody hovers on the edge of melancholy, before bursting into a fast-paced, lively tune. The return to a slower pace at the end of the piece echoes of hope and serenity, accentuated by Jay Roon’s dynamic expression.

The next piece brings us a short, yet joyful melody by Chan Yong Kai (20S06B). His version of Saint-Jacome’s “Duet in Alla Breve” brings a welcome change in mood from the previous piece, lighting up the atmosphere with its skilfully interwoven contrasting melody and counter-melody. It is by far the shortest piece in the set, but it adds a fresh pop of jubilation to the medley of emotions brought out by Catharsis.

Anyone expecting a wood-cutting tutorial from a video titled “Music for Pieces of Wood” would be surprised to see a glass measuring cup and spoon being used as musical instruments. A sense of bewilderment and amusement is evoked when one sees Chen Ruikang (20S06O) on a collage of screens in the video, using different household items as musical instruments in each one. Every surface layers a new texture to the piece, and you can’t help but tap your foot along to the beat created by this one-man drum circle. The end-piece, a harmonious percussion melody, is a statement. It is a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of Raffles Symphonic Band, even in such trying times. 

Way Yan Win (21S02A) then captures viewers’ attention with his classic rendition of “Three Equali for Four Trombones, WoO 30, No. 2” by Ludwig van Beethoven. Though the piece appears to contain little technical challenges, it, in fact, requires great skill for elegant execution. Way Yan’s mastery of this piece allows him to weave together individual segments of “Three Equali” and create a sublime listening experience. With the “Three Equali” being originally composed as chorale-style pieces, one can almost imagine the lilting vocals of a choir accompanying the rich, brassy tones of the trombone. No doubt, Way Yan certainly did “Three Equali” justice and his rendition of said piece is testament to why it remains a key work in the standard repertoire of all trombonists. Luxuriating in the tranquil ambience, viewers await the ensuing item.

The lively mood of the pieces tone down and grow more sombre nearing the end of the playlist. Wesley Henry Sudarman (21S06H) delivers “Saint-Jacome’s Duet” in a slow 6/8 time. His rendition of the piece feels like a solemn piece to commemorate the glorious memories of the past. With perfect synchronisation, the notes on the trumpet reverberate with a resonating effect, even after the short piece is over. 

Alas, Catharsis draws to a close with the final act: a euphonium solo. True to its name, the sounds that the bulky brass instrument produces are nothing short of euphonious. The euphonium might look heavy, but its size does not undermine Huang Xinshuo’s (20S06H) nimble handling of the valves. His other hand supports the whole weight of the euphonium, steady and strong as he blows out a grand and light-footed polacca—Italian for ‘polonaise’—a stately Polish dance popular in carnival parties. The rich baritone of the euphonium whisks us away to the heart of a lively carnival, where people dance merrily to the rhythm of the music.

Halfway through, the music mellows down as if in contemplative reflection, before building to a resounding conclusion. The Tempo di polacca sings of hope and gentle joy—a beautiful reminder that even in the uncertain times of COVID-19, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and even in the darkest of times, we can still find hope. 

The final note sounds and dissipates, and Xinshuo lowers the euphonium from his lips. He takes a final glance at the camera, and the screen fades to black, but the deep lull of the euphonium still echoes in our ears. 

Catharsis—true to its name—is an escape for students and teachers alike as we stumble through this unprecedented year, and a reminder that we are never alone in our day-to-day struggles. If you are feeling lost or stressed, RSB’s Catharsis 2020 is sure to be a reliable emotional outlet—because even in the most convoluted of equations, music remains a constant.

You can listen to Catharsis 2020 here. 

By Charles Toh (21A01D)

100 gecs just wants to have fun. In what is possibly the most unexpected turn of events ever, the experimental pop project of St. Louis-born independent musicians Dylan Brady and Laura Les has risen to worldwide internet notoriety, gaining traction on social media sites like TikTok and Twitter. A year ago, 100 gecs had little more than a dedicated cult following among online communities obsessed with underground music. So how did their polarising, abrasive pastiche of genres from music’s refuse pile capture the attention of both music critics and listeners worldwide, with virtually no radio play or promotion?

I remember my very first exposure to 100 gecs. About a week after their debut album, 1000 gecs, was first released on 31 May 2019, I’d begun hearing buzz on online music discussion forums, namely, 4chan’s music board and RateYourMusic, about a new, polarising group being touted with several intriguing labels. “easily the worst thing I’ve ever heard”, “the musical equivalent of Satan’s spawn”, “unfunny garbage trying way too hard to be different” and “the official sequel to music” were some of them. An online friend of mine sent me a link to their album, asking for my thoughts on it given our mutual love for experimental music, while also warning me that it was “easily the best worst thing to come out this year”. Naturally, I was curious. I plugged in my earphones and pressed play on 1000 gecs’ 10 tracks.

What ensued sounded downright horrible —  vocals pitch-shifted and auto-tuned to the point of sounding inhuman, tempos speeding, slowing, and stopping at will, saccharine bubblegum melodies lacerated with bursts of abrasive noise, songs no longer than 2 minutes cycling through bizarre combinations of musical genres without any respect for convention or tradition. Despite only being 23 minutes long, by the time the sound of 1000 gecs had receded into the background, I was left reeling, confused, and feeling almost violated. It was as if everything I thought I knew about music had been laughed at, ripped to shreds, and then crudely assembled back together.

Initially dismissing it as a novelty project aiming for originality by being as annoying as possible, I found myself almost inexplicably drawn back to 1000 gecs over the next couple of weeks. And almost immediately and without explanation, my repulse of 100 gecs’ unfocussed, hyperactive interpretation of pop music turned into obsession. 1000 gecs found its way onto my playlists, and I found myself endlessly replaying all 23 minutes of their debut album whenever I had the time to do so. 

Cynicism aside, nothing truly sounds like 100 gecs’ music, both sonically and aesthetically. Their music is deliberately engineered to sound wrong, at least by contemporary standards of what constitutes “good” music. As of the time of this article, their most popular song on Spotify, money machine, has just under 30 million streams. In just under 2 minutes, vocalist Laura Les opens with an increasingly nonsensical diatribe against the listener, before the song morphs into an auto-tuned emo-rap number, closing with an abrasive noise outro, with Les’ and Brady’s vocals distorted to the point where any discernible melody is lost.

In many ways, money machine is the perfect summation of all of 100 gecs’ music. Surreal and off-putting on a first listen, yet filled with endless reference points that only a generation raised with unprecedented access to the Internet could ever understand. The nonsensical monologue that opens the song, where Les calls the listener a “piss baby” and snarls “you think you’re so f—ing cool?” is reminiscent of the kind of childish quarrels one frequently stumbles upon online, where discussions can turn heated at the flick of a wrist. The rap section of the song, largely satirising braggadocious claims of wealth, is reminiscent of online DIY SoundCloud rappers working from their bedrooms, making crude imitations of popular rappers like Migos, who are known for their extensive “flexing” of luxury. Meanwhile, money machine’s more introspective moments recall the poetic and sombre lyricism of the late Mac Miller, another rapper popular with Generation Z. The noise outro brings to mind ironic YouTube remixes of popular songs with “bass boost” electronic filters abused to the point of unlistenability. 

In an era where digital streaming has made the music industry more lucrative than ever, music, too, has become mass produced and distributed on an unprecedented scale. Similarly, the music one hears on the radio isn’t bad per se (who can deny the catchiness of the past decade’s biggest hits like Sicko Mode, In My Feelings or Despacito?), but with this attention to mass appeal comes a certain safety, a refined, polished nature to the music that’s constantly shoved in our faces and promoted by the media. 

For better or worse, mainstream pop mostly adopts a stance that’s descriptive enough to be “relatable” to an everyman audience without being overly personal and descriptive to avoid alienating its audience. Take Drake, arguably the biggest name in music at this point in time. His lyrical themes include romance and heartbreak, and his “rags to riches” rise to fame. This isn’t so much a critique of the actual quality of Drake’s music as it is an inquiry into why his music is made and what effect it seeks to have on its audience. Drake’s music primarily sells its audience two ideas: that everyone can become a global rap superstar with enough dedication and effort, and that he understands the struggles of his everyman audience — he, too, experiences common human emotions of love and loss. His music brilliantly establishes the facade of relatability that has propelled him to success. It’s why Drake’s music enables him to connect with listeners from all generations, as it is with Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello and so many others.

And this is where the appeal of 100 gecs comes in. 100 gecs’ music is designed to be deliberately alienating. Its humour almost exclusively references that of the digital age; its lyrics both expose and poke fun at the dead-end, routine reality of living as a member of Generation Z. It exaggerates common musical tropes to the point where their emptiness is embarrassingly laid bare for all to see. 800 db cloud opens as a simpering ballad of heartbreak before devolving into a mindless indulgence in hedonism and drugs, complete with death metal growls and industrial production. 

Despite the obvious explanation that 100 gecs’ music is intended as a satirical critique of contemporary music trends, both members of the group have repeatedly sworn off any ironic intent. When asked to describe his group’s music, Brady simply replies “pop”. And he has a point — for Generation Z, 100 gecs’ music has more relatability and “pop” appeal than most of the music one hears on the radio or on Spotify’s Global Top 50. The outlandish, surreal appeal of internet humour? Check. The hyper-specific lyrics recounting the pain of being “ghosted”, “hitting the boof” and so on? Check. And of course, the earworm melodies of mainstream pop is an undeniable influence on 100 gecs’ music. Their approach to music is clearly reflected in their list of influences, ranging from radio heavyweights Imagine Dragons to death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse and avant-garde jazz composers like John Zorn. It’s a disorganised, deliberately messy approach that mirrors the attention span of a generation constantly bombarded with conflicting information from all ends, and their pastiche of conflicting styles speaks to a youth raised on absurd, quirky mashups made possible only through the magic of the internet, and its endless desire to shock or disturb convention.

In a sense, 100 gecs’ music is some of the most authentic and genuine you’ll ever hear. It’s the sound of two individuals raised on internet culture throwing together all possible stylings and influences and cranking the energy up to eleven while maintaining a thin veneer of pop appeal. For all the endless analyses of 100 gecs’ music and philosophy online by critics, 100 gecs is as much “a frustrated reaction of an unapologetic youth against the existential horrors of modern life” or “an optimistically nihilistic response to capitalism’s dehumanising impact on art” as it is fun pop music made for and by “the kids”. As they say, the emperor has no clothes, and as soon as you begin analysing 100 gecs’ music as high art, you’ve already missed the point.

By Max Chwa (21A01B) and Samyak Jain (21S03A)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

What would happen if we were all honest about our true selves?

That’s the question The Authenticity Project seeks to answer. In this novel, Julian Jessop, a once prolific artist, leaves the eponymous notebook in his local cafe. He has penned his deepest secrets in the notebook, leaving instructions for the next person who finds it to write down their deepest secrets as well. The notebook changes hands multiple times, with each owner baring their souls through writing. 

There’s something rather in-your-face about the premise as each character’s innermost struggles are directly stated through the notebook. Our introduction to Julian perfectly exemplifies this, which comes in the form of such an entry: through the aforementioned notebook, we learn about Julian’s daily habits, the regrettable treatment his deceased wife suffered when they were married, and his tortured isolation from the rest of  the world. All these details are divulged to us before we even meet Julian, effectively spoiling any suspense or intrigue surrounding his personal life.

While the sledgehammer nature of the writing is a rational choice given that the characters are relating their life stories in a notebook, it also leads to a dry, monotonous reading experience as nothing is left to the readers’ imagination. However, the author does experiment with the premise to create unexpected twists; some characters use the notebook to assist the writers of previous entries, while others use it for artifice, whether to deceive themselves or those around them. Therefore, the premise still retains an entertaining aspect despite the tell-all narrative style. 

As for the characters, they tend to be simplistic. Many side characters appear to be defined solely by their status as minorities or other identity markers. Benji’s homosexuality and Mrs Wu’s status as an Asian immigrant seem to be attempts at checking off boxes of diversity, rather than genuine explorations of their experiences.

If representation truly was the aim, this begets the question—why did the author sideline these “minority characters” by making them secondary to the main plot? In cases where marginalised narratives were explored more successfully, the sincerity of emotions and realistic portrayals came through. However, the novel’s reluctance to truly integrate minorities into the central narrative as viewpoint characters makes for a stunted effect, rendering the narratives of the marginalised decorative or even superfluous. True representation goes beyond simply creating a character of a marginalised identity, but giving them a voice within the novel itself.

Even the main characters are plagued with the same one-dimensional characteristics: Julian is eccentric and flamboyant, Monica is motherly and reliable, and Riley can be summed up in two words—attractive and Australian. The novel does select a few characters to develop within the cliches that define them; empowered by the support of their new friends, both Julian and Hazard begin to face their inner demons and Alice learns to love herself. 

That being said, their journeys are rather unconvincing. The way in which characters’ struggles are resolved and brushed aside conveniently is frankly comical. For example, Hazard suddenly decides to give up his years-long crippling addiction to cocaine and alcohol by dropping his (latest) iPhone into the toilet and escaping to a Thai Island. While a vacation may be what we all need right now, it only served to minimize the very real internal battles of an addiction. Hazard’s alcoholism hardly seemed as severe as the book claimed it to be; he was able to give it up without much internal struggle or deliberation, and when he eventually relapsed, it was quickly dismissed as an anomalistic circumstance rather than a symptom of a larger regression. The author’s careless handling of Hazard’s addiction reduced his condition to a mere inconvenience. Furthermore, after his relapse, he effortlessly returns to sobriety, seemingly unchanged, without any further precautions taken to prevent another self-destructive spiral. Hazard’s personal journey seems like a fairy tale, complete with a miraculous recovery and happy ending. 

Hazard was also separated from much of the narrative thrust for the first half of the novel, reducing him to more of a side character in spite of his intended status as a member of the main cast. This only served to make his personal journey even less convincing as there was little attention paid to him, and when attention was paid, it seemed as if Hazard was in stasis, with little changes to his present circumstances or state of mind. The chapters all seemed rather similar as there are little to no observable differences to illustrate Hazard’s progress as a character. Perhaps this was due to the lack of external stimulus in the form of other characters to drive his story forward. Therefore, his recovery appeared all the more unrealistic due to large gaps in the plot, with the author focusing more on his eventual recuperation instead of vividly portraying his addiction in a way that does it justice.

Alice’s progression as a character felt similarly lacking, with her abrupt change in her attitude towards her marriage not being reflected or explained through any sort of progression in her thought processes or her reactions to external circumstances. Additionally, she was only introduced in the second half of the novel, leaving insufficient time for the readers to familiarise themselves with her, hence making it more challenging to relate to her. 

The underdevelopment of character arcs was most likely the result of a large cast. The Authenticity Project seeks to craft a narrative arc for most members of its main cast through the use of the notebook. The reader is made to anticipate such a narrative arc as they learn about each character’s insecurities through the notebook and watch as said insecurities are addressed and resolved throughout the novel.

However, this might have been overambitious on the author’s part as it requires the development of four different characters, two of whom only join the rest of the cast in the middle of the novel. The use of four major different viewpoint characters that are engaged in different activities (sometimes in different locations) also prevented us from witnessing the growth of each character as we were only updated on their developments sporadically, almost like a quarterly review. Hence, the character arcs were rather undeveloped, with some ending too early while others were unfinished. In spite of all this, the positive change in each character’s life was still made clear, making said arcs successful in concept if not in execution. 

There is, however, value in having many viewpoint characters. These distinct characters offer a kaleidoscope of perspectives as we catch a glimpse of the varying ways in which different individuals can view the same situations. This is apparent from the very beginning of the novel, where Hazard used a rather unsavoury word to describe Monica during their first encounter. Hazard believes that the word was barely audible, but Monica is certain that he raised his voice intentionally for her “benefit”. This highlights the intricacies of human interactions, which are often fraught with such misunderstandings.

The Authenticity Project also reveals how our true selves often differ from the facades we put up. Alice is perhaps the most notable example of this. She maintains a polished, stylish image through her Instagram posts and pristine appearance, as observed by the rest of the characters, but this only masks the struggles that agonise her as a new mother. This contrast is cleverly revealed as we’re first introduced to Alice from her own point of view. The internal turmoil that we associate with her initially clashes jarringly with the serenity towards motherhood  that we learn she displays in public, challenging our understanding of Alice as a character and by extension our understanding of people as a whole.

However, the facades that we construct sometimes deceive even ourselves. Monica believes that her goal of motherhood defines her. It is only during a moment of epiphany that she realises that her identity has chiefly been molded by her self-reliance after her mother’s passing. Julian believes that he has shared his authentic self in The Authenticity Project, but reality remains elusive. As it turns out, choosing to be authentic is a process involving constant reflection and self-discovery.

Although striving for authenticity might not necessarily result in true authenticity, the willingness to be authentic, the willingness to be vulnerable, can give others the courage to do the same. After perusing the entries of those before them, each character that came into contact with the notebook was inspired to volunteer their own stories. By revealing these parts of themselves that would otherwise remain hidden, they forged a community of compassion and hope. Even Alice, who was more distanced from the rest, finds the perfect confidante in Lizzie through their shared struggles as women and the unreasonable expectations placed on them.

Perhaps this is the most compelling idea that The Authenticity Project puts forth: as long as we show our true selves to others, we will be worthy of love, and be able to love in turn. To be fair, such an idea is rather idealistic if not downright naive. However, shouldn’t we strive for perfection, no matter how unachievable it remains?

The compassion that the found family in The Authenticity Project features is unfortunately more flawed than it seems. There is one character that The Authenticity Project fails, and that character is Monica.

There is a certain irony in Monica’s situation: towards the end of the novel, we learn that one of the most traumatic events in her past was due to her not being able to rely on others and having to wrestle with her problems alone, without any friends or family, upon her mother’s death. “[We] were like two shipwrecked sailors, both trying to stay afloat, but clutching on to separate pieces of wreckage”, Monica says as she confides in Hazard about her feelings of powerlessness and her father’s own inability to help her. Hazard even points out that this was what Monica should have “written in the book”, hence allowing us to see how essential this tragic independence is to Monica’s nature. 

However, Monica does not learn to share her burdens with others in the novel. Instead, more individuals begin to depend on her, weighing her down with more problems and responsibilities.

Monica’s likeability stems from her usefulness to the other characters, but she still loathes herself internally. While this is a completely valid character archetype, the book glorifies this toxic selflessness, especially in the middle of the novel, only portraying her as a side character in other characters’ lives rather than the protagonist of her own. She constantly makes personal sacrifices for the development of others, be it her time, her energy or the little funds she was planning to finance her cafe with. Just as Monica’s cafe is the location that the book’s events revolve around, Monica is used as a doormat to move the plot forward while losing any sense of personality she might have had. Her personal struggles, expounded upon in detail at first, are conveniently forgotten afterwards to focus on other characters’ arcs. 

Additionally, the narrative constantly portrays her emotions as expendable, forcing her to simply “get over” her own distress so she can assist those around her. After facing betrayal from those closest to her, Monica “[cries] for what might have been, for the version of a perfect future that had…shimmered in front of her…for her lost belief in herself…But most of all… for the girl she’d thought she was becoming…She was gone.” As one of the most compelling characters in the novel, Monica’s emotional duress is immensely heartrending.

In spite of this, Monica is made to put her feelings aside to counsel a friend. Instead of focusing on her emotions, the novel chooses to use her as a prop for the emotional journey of another character and discounts Monica’s feelings as being “so wrapped up in [herself] that [she hasn’t] even thought about him”. To make matters worse, said friend’s emotions are only a result of guilt from ways in which he has hurt others, including Monica herself. The narrative chooses to uplift his guilt as an offender over Monica’s grief as a victim, completely dismissing Monica’s genuine pain in favour of the pity party that he has decided to throw for himself. The narrative does not even seem conscious of the way Monica’s character is truly portrayed, with numerous characters believing in Monica’s ability to stand up for herself, saying that she’d “never let anyone treat [her] [exploitatively]”, when in fact, this is exactly how she has been treated throughout the entire novel. 

A spark of hope emerges for Monica towards the end of the novel, where she is given an opportunity to pursue her own personal happiness and find love in carefree exploration. This creates the possibility of true growth for Monica, empowering her to care for herself and live life to the fullest, almost experiencing the childhood that she was deprived from in her youth. Unfortunately, Monica rejects this offer, instead deciding to continue mothering those around her.

Monica’s journey is rendered even more ironic due to the feminist impulse the book claims to possess. Alice is an example of this, being a self-proclaimed “huge believer in female solidarity”. Unfortunately, like the other characters, she chooses to disregard Monica’s emotions. While she seeks to comfort Monica when the other woman is at her lowest point in the novel, such an attempt is revealed to be performative as she does not show true empathy for Monica, instead choosing to hold a grudge against her after Monica lashes out due to her raw, justified pain.

The men in the novel feed on Monica emotionally, parasitically taking advantage of her kindness for their personal gain, while the women, in turn, offer her no solace. Monica, perhaps, reflects the state of patriarchy today, where women are often forced to suppress their personal feelings and desires in order to take care of and uplift the men around them. In glorifying Monica for her sacrificial instincts, the book ends up perpetuating existing inadequacies within society. 

Ultimately, The Authenticity Project is a novel rooted in idealism. Like most other idealistic novels, it has a great deal of love and hope. As each character finds it in themselves to open up to those around them, we see the emergence of friendships based on genuine human connection. The true authenticity of the book does not lie, then, in the stories written in the shared notebook but rather in the relationships between the characters, allowing for the unfolding of their own individual stories. Perhaps the true authenticity project here is not in their perceived anonymity but rather in finding individuals we trust enough to share our true selves with. However, in the same way that idealism often lacks the pragmatism to back it up, the novel’s execution fails to live up to the vision it has for itself. The stunted development of its characters makes for a novel that impresses in theory but baffles in practice, leaving us with a story that aches with the pain of what might have been. 

By Sara Chia (21S03G)

When one mentions Home-Based Learning, a shudder involuntarily comes at the reminder of all those days spent cooped up at home, with most of us spending them toiling away at our studies or getting some long-awaited rest. But while we kept ourselves occupied with that, there were heroes in our midst who were dedicating their time to lending a helping hand to the wider community.

I’m sure you must recall the time when just about everyone was frantically purchasing mask after mask to stockpile, the epitome of what Singaporeans would deem as kiasu. Unexpectedly, two childhood friends were doing the opposite — making their very own masks and selling them.

MaskeradeSG is a project created by friends who banded together for their common goal of helping the community. By designing masks for Singaporeans that are far more fashionable than regular ones (such as handmade masks featuring the Singapore flag), they are raising funds for students and providing jobs for stay-at-home mums in the village of Wonosobo, Indonesia, who have been badly affected by the global pandemic.

Here in Raffles, we have one of the masterminds behind MaskeradeSG. As one of its co-founders, seventeen-year-old Portia Sophie McCully (21S03G) has worked hard to make this project a reality, and is more than happy to be able to give back to the community. 

“It didn’t start [off] as a business,” she admitted. “My friend Michelle — the other member of the team — has a helper, Sopiyah, who’s extremely talented when it comes to sewing. After the circuit breaker, when the mask-wearing became mandatory, Michelle surprised us with news that she had learnt how to sew face masks. Michelle, being the kind friend that she is, made me and my family some masks too.”

Fifteen-year-old Michelle Yeo, who was the one who kickstarted the project, shared her reason for mask-making. “Surgical masks are so plain and boring, so we thought, ‘why not make our own reusable masks?’ Sopiyah’s hobby [is] sewing, [so] she ended up teaching me how to make masks with the sewing machine, and it turned out well, so Portia’s mum asked me to make some for her and her close friends.”

Funnily enough, the business came about after they were — for lack of a better word — forced to start selling masks. “I’m sometimes called Michelle the Magpie because I like shiny things,” Michelle said with a grin. “So I bought sequin cloth for the parents… But then the cloth was too thick, and we broke the sewing machine.”

With the machine being Sopiyah’s, they had to buy a new one to make up for it. In order to cover the costs, they ended up selling the masks instead of simply giving them away, which is how their business took shape. After which, they learnt that Sopiyah had been donating some of her monthly salary to help her village in Wonosobo, and they wanted to help her raise funds, leading them to continue their business even after replacing the sewing machine.

Of course, no business comes about without a plethora of challenges. “We had to learn the ropes of handling a business,” Portia said ruefully. “Everything had to be considered and accounted for by us, and there are so many aspects that go into [running] a business that you wouldn’t usually see as a customer. Then there were logistical issues too, like sourcing for cloth that was breathable yet could offer protection, and wouldn’t collapse on your face, and reliable sellers of nose pieces and ear straps.”

Michelle chimed in in agreement about how difficult the initial start-up was, with there being an entire list of things to do, from researching online selling platforms to working out pricing. Even the littlest of things had to be accounted for to prevent small mistakes from snowballing into much larger ones.

On top of that, there was a lot of learning and management to be done. “We had to manage Excel spreadsheets to account for spending, sales, materials, costs, data analytics — there was a lot to account for and we needed to figure out the most efficient way to [do] it. Michelle’s mum helped to ‘train’ us to learn how to construct formulas in Google Sheets to make effective and efficient spreadsheets,” Portia shared. She also pointed out that their parents had to help them hold money coming in from sales at the start when neither of them had a readily accessible bank account. “And when I finally opened my own bank account, I had to keep track of all the money coming in and make sure all the bank account numbers matched monthly bank statements. We had to watch how much extra money we could afford to spend too, because if we didn’t have enough then we would have to take a loan from our parents.”

While many of the initial difficulties faced have been resolved, they still face some troubles now. “It’s hard to find people to take [on] the jobs we’re trying to provide, like making masks,” Michelle stated. “We’re not sure if it’s because of the way we phrased the job offer or because no one is interested, or maybe it’s because they’ve never heard of us so they don’t trust us.” And as luck would have it, the only person to indicate her interest was put under home quarantine, rendering it impossible for her to work with them.

Their journey has been a long one, and they have come far from when they first began. Although they sell high quality, fashionable masks in the present, their very first prototypes were actually made from old T-shirts. “We only started buying cloth once we became more confident,” Portia shared. “And initially, we sold the masks through Instagram direct messages, which involved a lot of back-and-forth with customers. This got a lot better after we started using Etsy as our sales platform. Oh, and our thank you cards had to be hand drawn and handwritten as well. When sales picked up, we made a stamp instead so it would look more professional.”

Thinking back on their journey with MaskeradeSG so far, Michelle reflected that the business ended up taking a life of its own, blossoming forth from their main goal of helping people. “The hardest part was starting the business, but now that we’ve gotten the hang of things, it’s a lot better. It started off with us just selling to family and friends, but gradually, people we didn’t know started wanting our masks, and now we’re fortunate enough to be working with Noah Ark’s CARES, an animal shelter that helps neuter and take care of stray animals. Our CNA cover story gave us a lot of publicity too!”

MaskeradeSG has always had a specific goal in mind — to raise funds for students and provide jobs for stay-at-home mums in the village that Michelle’s helper hails from. They’re not just looking to help Wonosobo, however. Michelle shared that they have plans to expand their project in the future, both within the village and outside of it. Portia spoke further about their long-term plans, elaborating, “We hope to continue this for as long as possible, to cast our net as far as possible within the village outside of just students and stay home mums. And in the future, we hope to help more villages or expand to other countries. If [Covid-19] ends and mask-wearing isn’t mandated anymore, we may even produce different kinds of sewn goods.” Michelle affirmed this, stating that there is no “set deadline” for the project, and that MaskeradeSG will run for as long as it can.

When asked for their overall thoughts on everything they’ve done so far, Portia was the first to share. “It’s really been hard work, full of twists and turns, but the fruits of our labour have been ever so sweet and it makes it all worth it!” She listed all the times that they felt rewarded for their work, from seeing someone keep their card that comes with each mask to receiving a handwritten letter from their beneficiary. It hasn’t been an easy journey for them, but they are grateful to have embarked on it and have learnt so much from it. “We’re very thankful that we started this and have zero regrets. I’m so glad we got to touch the lives of those in Singapore and those beyond our shores! And of course, I’m really glad that my friendship with Michelle has gotten even stronger. She’s my friend, the sister I never had, and now my business partner, too.”

Michelle, as well, had only good things to say about the project. “Not only did it help other people, but it helped us too. I came to realise how fortunate I was through all of this, and it’s really helped me in learning how to work with others too; on top of that, it brought Portia and I even closer, even though we’ve known each other since I was born.”

So, if you’re looking for a way to make mask-wearing cool, do consider supporting MaskeradeSG by purchasing their masks, or even by joining their team. “We’re no ordinary mask company, and our work funds a very meaningful cause! If you’d ever like to join our team or help out for a short period of time as an intern, any help is welcome!” Portia said earnestly, adding that enquiries could be directed to her email (portiamccully@gmail.com).

Michelle added on to Portia’s response, chipping in: “Please support our business! With your help, we want to help even more people receive an education, just like the one we’re so fortunate to receive in Singapore, and provide even more jobs for [stay-at-home] mums. Thank you!”

Despite their young ages, Michelle and Portia have already done so much to give back to the wider community through MaskeradeSG, with the funds that they have raised so far being used to help a student from Wonosobo — Talia — with her school fees for six months. If you find yourself in need of a new mask or have time on your hands to spare, do consider purchasing from MaskeradeSG or joining their team to help out, and make your own mark on society!

For more information about MaskeradeSG, feel free to visit their linktree.

By Clarice Tan (21A01C)

Raffles Reads is a collaboration between Raffles Press and Times Reads which aims to promote a reading culture among Singaporean students.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

A military organisation (Atros) bent on world domination, evil ghosts, powerful warriors (Kulcans), ferocious beasts (Odats), and mind-readers (Ifarls). And in the midst of it all, there’s Keix—our half-human, half-Kulcan protagonist.

The Night of Legends weaves a dystopian-like setting together with fantastical elements into an action-packed tale of Keix’s journey. After being imprisoned and tortured for two years by the very organisation she devoted her life to, Keix escapes—only to find the world that she knows has changed drastically. 

Who can you trust if you found out everything you’ve been taught is a lie?

Here’s the first thing I noticed about this novel: it throws you into the action and leaves you to fend for yourself—very much like Keix in this new, unfamiliar environment with familiar faces. There’s no immediate worldbuilding; instead, the author chooses to reveal bits and pieces of information through dialogue and dreams filled with Keix’s memories. At first, I thought the dreams would be a clichéd way to introduce this world—it seemed like the easy way out of explaining her past—but thankfully it wasn’t overused as a plot device, since some of her backstory was also revealed through conversations between the characters.

However, this method of establishing the setting can be a double-edged sword. We might be spared from excessively long paragraphs of worldbuilding, but this also means  that there were some areas I wished the author could have delved deeper into, one of them being the various races represented in this fictional world. The diverse characters—the Kulcans, Ifarls, Odats—were undoubtedly interesting to read about, especially with their unique abilities: the yellow-skinned Odats are described to be “the foulest kind of mercenaries with limited intelligence and inexhaustible physical strength”, while the mysterious Ifarls are feared for their magic.

But here’s my issue. While reading the book, it’s clear that the Ifarls play a critical role in how the plot unfolds, along with the protagonists and the main antagonist (Atros). This, unfortunately, meant that we only got to know the Odats as the brute force employed by Atros to make the protagonists’ lives unbearable; and the Kulcans are basically non-existent unless you count the references thrown here and there about Keix’s Kulcan heritage.

Furthermore, because of how we seem to be getting information on a need-to-know basis, the overall setting is somewhat ambiguous. For instance, we know the city is split into different sectors, but other than a short description of a certain sector that the characters are currently at, there really isn’t much information provided. It would be better if we got to know more about what differentiates each sector, or why the world is split into different sectors in the first place. Hence, it can be quite hard to visualise the world as a whole, which dampened the overall reading experience.

The atmospheric writing is definitely one of the highlights of the novel, with intricately crafted descriptions enhancing the plot. While the author’s writing was lyrical, it was not too flowery, making the book a relatively quick read (especially if you don’t have much time on hand to invest in a lengthy fantasy novel).

A warm flush from the rising sun was creeping across the tarmac pathways, highlighting the cracks and weeds running haphazardly across them, like a budding painter’s tentative brushstrokes.

Perhaps what I was most impressed about with The Night of Legends was how much action the author managed to pack into a mere 248 pages—there was never a boring moment. Moreover, the plot twists scattered throughout made it even harder to put the book down.

The character development, on the other hand, was a little lacklustre, falling short of the plot. After all, it’s clear that the book is more focused on the plot rather than the individual characters. For me, Keix’s personality didn’t shine through as much as her extraordinary abilities. She was so task-orientated (from trying to come to terms with where her loyalties now lie, to attempting to save her friend) that it made her a less compelling character. Don’t get me wrong, I still like her on the whole—it’s just that it would be better if her character was fleshed out more to make it easier to root for her.

“Well, five of us against a crazy guy who has enhanced strength and speed because he’s bonded with some paranormal voodoo,” summed up Dace. “Should be a breeze.”

I did appreciate the humor sprinkled throughout the book: namely from Pod and Dace, Keix’s friends. Their hilarious comments interjected every once in a while made The Night Of Legends more lighthearted and enjoyable in spite of the heavy plot (after all, the protagonists are out to stop Atros and the ghosts from destroying their world, so you can bet none of it would be a “breeze”). 

But alas, every story must come to an end, and The Night Of Legends is no different. I was, admittedly, a little disappointed with how the resolution turned out. The climax was no doubt exhilarating to read, yet the book ended on a cliffhanger of sorts, given that there was a time jump to three days after the events that took place during the climax. The ending did set up nicely for a sequel, if there is to be one, given the plot twist at the end of the book. Otherwise, The Night Of Legends would work well as a standalone novel too as the plot wrapped up nicely. Still, I wished that the author could have shown more of the immediate aftermath of the climax.

Interestingly, Keix at the end of the book seemed different from the Keix we had gotten to know throughout the course of the story. To put it simply (and to avoid spoilers), she’s more mellow and surprisingly more willing to forgive others despite what they had done to her (for context, Keix can be described as stubborn and feisty for most of the novel). 

If you’re looking for a refreshing fantasy read with a fast-paced plot, The Night Of Legends fits the bill. It’s not every day you would chance upon a Singlit fantasy book, so that’s one of the unique aspects of the book. Although there are some things I thought could be better developed, I did enjoy reading it for the most part. And it is pretty impressive, considering this is the author’s debut novel. In the meantime, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel.

By Charles Toh (21A01D)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Spoilers for I’m Thinking of Ending Things follow.

“I don’t like… what’s that called, abstract art? I could do abstract art. Couple strokes on a blank canvas, I call that a con job.” 

She’s thinking of ending things. 

What things, in particular—her life, her relationship?—are never made explicitly clear. And who exactly is she? Lucy? Louisa? Amy? The Young Woman, as the credits refer to her? Is she a character, in the conventional sense of the word, or a metaphorical projection of her boyfriend? And why on earth is there a seemingly unrelated storyline about a school janitor, or a laughably out of place musical dance sequence that dispels an hour and a half of building tension? All these questions and more are likely to stump a first-time viewer of Charlie Kaufman’s surreal psychological thriller, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, which is currently available on Netflix.

Despite not enjoying much mainstream success, director and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has enjoyed significant underground acclaim from as far back as 1999, with his screenwriting debut in the black comedy Being John Malkovich. His collaborative and solo works have drawn frequent comparisons to some of history’s greatest surrealists, including David Lynch and Franz Kafka. Yet for someone whose career has been marked by puzzling, labyrinthian films (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opts for a less cohesive narrative in favour of a dreamlike trip through the psyche of a patient whose memory is getting erased; Synecdoche, New York is told through the lens of a mentally ill film director who constructs a life-size replica of his city to block out the existential threat of an unexplained apocalypse as the lines between reality and imagination begin to blur), Kaufman’s latest offering may easily be his most experimental, unhinged and bleakest work to date.

Initially disguised as a rather straightforward road movie or romantic drama, the first 20 minutes of the film follow Jake and his girlfriend (the Young Woman) as they drive to meet his parents. Yet the immediate sense of unease is there. The film opens with a brief but ominous monologue by the Young Woman: “I’m thinking of ending things. Once this idea arrives, it lingers, it stays, it dominates… Is an unspoken idea original? Maybe this is how it was always going to end.”

As the scene shifts to the road—with her internal monologue shifting towards more concrete matters—she begins to express misgivings about her relationship, at which point the audience is lulled into a false sense of security that the rather chilling title of the film refers to nothing more than the end of a relationship. Notwithstanding this, the film seems off-beat from the start, as the conversations between Jake and his girlfriend shift abruptly in tone, mood and subject. One especially unsettling moment occurs when the Young Woman recites to Jake a particularly bleak poem that she claims to have written about mortality and loss, on the verge of tears, before immediately snapping back to her lighthearted, conversational tone.

It is when the film begins to focus on the conversation with Jake’s parents in his family home that the narrative of the film becomes increasingly distorted and surreal. The Young Woman’s name changes from Louisa, to Louise, then to Lucia. Her occupation, too, abruptly changes with no acknowledgement of any discontinuity, from a physicist to a poet to an artist. The poems she supposedly claimed to have written, and the paintings she supposedly drew, are revealed to be decade-old works by actual poets and artists, all culminating in the grand reveal of who the mysterious Young Woman actually is. Jake’s parents, too, seem to travel through time with no acknowledgement from the characters whatsoever, appearing middle-aged and healthy in one scene to senile and frail in the next. At one point, Jake’s mother appears to pass away in the middle of a scene. But immediately afterwards, on the return drive home, he comments jovially about the success of the visit, as though the tragedy never happened.

The third act of the film is where the strangest elements of the film come into play. The Young Woman and Jake make a detour to his old school in the middle of the night, and the film transforms from a psychological thriller to a full-blown, flamboyant musical number. This is swiftly followed by a scene where the school’s mysterious janitor, seen in randomly spliced vignettes prior to the movie’s conclusion, has an existential conversation with an animated pig. 

All that being said, it’s easy to dismiss I’m Thinking of Ending Things as a load of pretentious nonsense crudely spliced together, eschewing rationality, convention and understandability in the name of high art. The overwhelmingly negative audience reception (47%) on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the generally positive critical reception (81%) reaffirms that this is a deliberately divisive film catered to a niche audience. 

Furthermore, the film’s multiple literary references to the psychological drama filmmaker John Cassavetes, the postmodernist author David Foster Wallace and (perhaps most out of place) the lighthearted country musical Oklahoma! potentially loses whatever audience the film had in the first place due to the obscurity of the aforementioned references. Yet for enthusiasts of more cerebral, abstract films, I’m Thinking of Ending Things proves to be a viewing well worth the challenge, as the various clues scattered throughout the film begin to unravel the method behind the madness. 

I recall my first viewing experience of the film vividly. After persevering through all 134 minutes of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, I felt cheated of my time and bewildered, like I’d just been played a colossal prank on. Extremely acute viewers will likely still struggle to comprehend and rationalise the various curveballs thrown at them by the film, which can definitely cause one to feel frustrated at times. Despite all my above gripes, I couldn’t help but admire how elaborately the plot was structured, especially the way it expertly challenged all my preconceived notions about how a story could, or should be told. It was as if there was a profoundly moving masterpiece somewhere inside the film that I hadn’t quite deciphered yet. 

In fact, after a week of compulsively rewatching I’m Thinking of Ending Things, it became more apparent that the entire film is not actually narrated from the perspective of the main characters, as one would expect, but rather from the perspective of a mysterious elderly janitor who appears only in brief scenes before the movie’s denouement. He is later revealed to be an aged version of Jake. Lonely and depressed, and nearing the end of his life, he begins to experience severe delusions. These delusions then form the core narrative of the film, and account for the seemingly random occurrences of illogical continuity errors, lapses in time and so on.

This explanation sounds simple enough—the things that our subconscious conjures up are often illogical and flat-out surreal. Any strangeness in the film can thus be attributed to the janitor’s failing mental health. But surely the recurring motifs throughout the film—the Young Woman’s fluid identity, the pig being eaten alive and so on—serve a greater purpose other than to confuse and bewilder the audience with the frequent occurrences of unlinked and out of place events?

The most obvious example of this would be the Young Woman’s lack of a concrete identity, shifting between names and occupations like quicksand. She isn’t so much of a character in the conventional sense as she is a haphazard collage of Jake’s idealised fantasies—the “perfect” girl, if you will. The entire first 90 minutes of the film are portrayed through the lens of the elderly Jake’s imagination: Jake as a decent-looking, introverted literature undergraduate student; and the Young Woman is assembled out of various works of art and literature that he has treasured over the years. 

On a second viewing, this connection becomes significantly clearer. Midway through their meal, the scene cuts to the janitor watching a cheesy romance flick where the main characters meet in a cafe. Immediately cutting back to the “delusion” storyline, young Jake tells his parents he met the Young Woman at the exact same diner. This delusion finally collapses when young Jake vanishes into thin air and is replaced by the present-day janitor, and the Young Woman—once amicable and tender—rants passionately about how Jake supposedly stalked and threatened her, leaving her with no option but to date him to avoid meeting the same fate with even more dangerous men. The young version of Jake then reappears, and after a lengthy dance sequence, the janitor Jake kills his young projection, representing the cycle of disillusionment that the film gradually introduced finally coming full circle.

Confused? I know I was when I first watched it. Even most recently, on my fourth viewing, there are still some obscure references and motifs that hide themselves from easy interpretation. 

If I had one criticism of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, it would be that the film occasionally comes across as self-indulgent, with Kaufman’s surrealist tendencies running amok without any rhyme or reason to this madness. The concept of elderly Jake idealising his perfect girlfriend through an assembled collage of memories, while an interesting one, at times becomes an outlet for Kaufman to indulge in his references to obscure literature, giving the film a somewhat pseudo-intellectual feel to it. Was the sequence where the Young Woman morphs into film critic Pauline Kael really necessary in contributing to the portrayal of elderly Jake’s declining mental health? Or was it merely a cleverly inserted easter egg for film buffs to catch and smile knowingly at each other?

Yet, all things considered, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a brilliant—if somewhat inaccessible to the mainstream audience due to its unconventional narrative structure and glacial pacing—addition to the canon of “unreliable narrator” films, one that pushes the very concept of an unreliable narrator to its extreme. Fans of cult films like Fight Club, The Sixth Sense or Memento will likely find this a fascinating, perplexing film open to endless interpretation. 

While I’m Thinking of Ending Things is certainly a challenging watch, with its long takes, intertextuality and lack of any clear exposition, it remains one of the most striking explorations of mental health I’ve seen all year. Criticisms of pretension aside, if you’re already sold on a film told from the perspective of a dying janitor ruminating on his life’s failures in the form of extended mental delusions, the occasional ostentatiousness of Kaufman’s scriptwriting likely won’t detract from the overall brilliance of his latest offering.

By Clarice Tan (21A01C) and Neo Xin Yuan (21A01D)

Like all other events in 2020, the Raffles Business Symposium (RBS) took a different form this year. Hosted entirely on a Zoom video conference call by the Raffles Entrepreneurship Network (REN), competitors, judges, emcees and viewers all attended from the comfort of their homes. Despite all these changes, the spirit of the Symposium still remained the same. The two main components of RBS are unchanged too—Symposium and Competition.

This year’s theme was Food Wastage, a relevant and important topic of discussion in today’s context. The RBS 2020 opening video provided news reports of increasing food wastage both globally and locally, and explained its negative impacts—wasted food not only produces methane, a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming, but it also serves to perpetuate food insecurity. 

The Symposium

The Symposium began with an opening address by Chew Khai Xing (21A01A), the Chairperson of REN. He expressed REN’s mission to promote entrepreneurship among students through the symposium. This hasn’t changed with the shift from a physical platform to a virtual one. He added on to the food wastage discussion by pointing out that the disposal of excess food in homes and restaurants results in food waste due to overly large food portions, stressing the need for organic and ground-up initiatives to tackle the issue. He brought up The Food Bank Singapore and SG Food Rescue, two local ground-up initiatives that rescue and redistribute food to the needy. It’s clear that innovative and diverse ideas are needed now more than ever to reduce food waste.

The three speakers-cum-judges of the RSB included Ms Yeo Pei Shan, co-founder of UglyFood, Mr Preston Wong, co-founder and CEO of Treatsure, and Mr Rayner Loi, co-founder and CEO of Lumitics.

Ms Yeo started her speech on food wastage by introducing her social enterprise, UglyFood, which strives to maximise the value of food resources, offer healthy and delectable food products, and educate people about food waste. Their slogan “ugly is the new tasty” sums it up perfectly—they rescue excess and blemished fruits, vegetables and mushrooms and transform them into juices, milkshakes, sorbets, and many other products. 

UglyFood started out as a student project from 2016-2018, only working with fruit stalls and wet markets to sell transformed food products. Now, it is a full-fledged social enterprise that works with food importers, supermarkets, and wholesalers to sell not only these products, but also fresh produce. 

Mrs Yeo urged budding entrepreneurs to be willing to ask questions and to avoid making assumptions. She added that interacting with people in the industry by joining programmes to meet like-minded people and potential mentors is also important in constructing a more effective solution, before emphasising the importance of being ready to fail and taking in feedback.

To end off her speech, Ms Yeo gave a few pro-tips for managing a business like hers. The suitability of target group(s) and stakeholders, feasibility and ease, sustainability,and the availability of collaboration opportunities are some important points to note when running a social enterprise, but most importantly, business owners must remember the need to ‘pivot’ when necessary. The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of this: prior to the pandemic, UglyFood relied on footfall at their physical stall at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and other events. Now, in the midst of this new normal, they have switched to e-commerce, which has enabled them to reach out to more customers—truly a blessing in disguise.

A clip of applause sounds was played, ushering in the next speaker, Mr Preston Wong, the co-founder of Treatsure. Treatsure is Singapore’s first food-saving reservation app, connecting F&B businesses with surplus food to consumers. As the name suggests, Treatsure aims to get businesses and consumers to treat food as treasure.

Of course, the road to the app’s launch was not easy. Mr Wong brought up several challenges in app development, where a lack of resources with a small team meant the app was purely functional. They proceeded to experience business inertia, where rejections were plenty and a lack of consumer awareness proved an obstacle as the concept of Treatsure was considered too novel and idealistic in 2016, when sustainability wasn’t talked about much.

To raise awareness, they set up booths in schools, which took time. In 2018, they launched the first takeaway buffet-in-a-box concept in the Asia-Pacific region. When buffet-in-a-box is implemented, during the last 30-60 minutes of a buffet, surplus food can be packed and sold in a box for less than ten dollars. This ‘pack & go’ concept was instantly popular as customers enjoyed the economical prices and convenience, and tasted a wide variety of food, all in this fun package.

In 2019, Treatsure ventured into the delivery of surplus grocery produce and packaged food in collaboration with grocery suppliers and UglyFood. Overall, Treatsure has saved over 20,000 portions of food and boasts a user count of 20,000, with a 30% drop in wastage. 

Ending off his speech, Mr Wong remarked that he is optimistic in reducing food wastage as he has observed an increasing trend in sustainability in government agendas, rising local  (Hong Lim Park’s Climate Change Rally) and global climate activism (Greta Thunberg’s efforts), and the rise of ground-up and corporate environmental  initiatives.  

Mr Wong’s speech was followed by that of Mr Rayner Loi, who told the audience that he was from RI’s class of 2012, revealing his fondness for the school. He is passionate about food waste and entrepreneurship, making him the perfect guest speaker for this year’s RBS. He proceeded to share his personal reflections from the last three and a half years of his journey. Back in November 2016, he was a freshman in university taking a finance module, but already, he knew that it wasn’t for him—what he really wanted was to be his own boss. 

Naturally, he decided to set up a business of his own. He learnt two lessons from his experience embarking into entrepreneurship, which then formed the backbone of his speech. 

Firstly, he thought he knew what the market wanted and was too ready to launch as he thought his solution made perfect sense. The problem was that he made assumptions that he did not validate—even assuming that food waste was a problem for them was an assumption. As a result, not a single restaurant agreed to collaborate with him. Hence, he emphasised the need for a clear methodical process to validate assumptions and encouraged entrepreneurs to speak with potential customers.

His second insight was that he had gotten too caught up in thinking that their solutions were the best. He learnt to fall in love with the problem and not the solution, and developed a sense of self-awareness and humility—if their solution was not providing value to the customers, then they need to pivot. Seeking to understand the problems of customers and the industry is the first step to identifying and tackling the root problem.

“Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.”

—Mr Loi in his speech

Hence, Mr Loi’s company, Lumitics, aims to give hotels visibility and information on their food waste situation by collecting granular data on food waste and actionable insights on how to reduce it. He encapsulated his strategy in four simple words: Measured, Managed, Controlled, and Prevented. 

As students are largely inexperienced in entrepreneurship, sharings by the speakers allowed them to learn and understand more about how businesses in real life work, and to find holes in their proposals which tend to be too optimistic and idealistic.

Next to follow was a Q&A session for the judges. There were many questions for each of the judges, each pertaining to their individual specialised knowledge and experience with different facets of the food waste issue. For example, Mr Loi was asked about the trends in food wastage in Singapore’s outlets, and how to develop AI further to reduce specific food wastage, while Ms Yeo was asked to share ways to tell the difference between unsafe and ugly food. On the other hand, Mr Wong was asked about the impact of COVID-19 on air and hotel businesses. 

Questions for all three of the judges discussed intentions to expand their businesses beyond Singapore. All three judges answered each and every question earnestly, imparting valuable lessons and leaving a lasting impact on our hearts even as the spotlight shifted to the highlight of RBS—the competition. 

The Competition 

Finally, the symposium ended with the highly anticipated pitch competition between six finalist teams. Unlike previous years where they presented their ideas in front of a live audience, this year’s presentations took the form of pre-recorded videos. Nevertheless, they managed to put forth their innovative business ideas to both the panel of judges and the audience. From sharing the unique features of their products to delving into their financial plans and future developments, their pitches were certainly very compelling and interesting to listen to.

First up was Team Xanadu from St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI), who started off their pitch by painting a picture of the food waste situation in Singapore (Did you know that the current food recycling rate is under NEA’s target?), which highlighted the urgency of tackling the issue of food waste. They then went on to unveil their app Foodbar. The app ultimately provides an innovative solution to reducing food waste while priding itself on being efficient at the same time. For example, some of its services include a virtual marketplace and a food wastage tracker. The team also revealed their ambitious plans for the future, with them wanting to eventually expand globally.

Next, the pitch by Team Food Loops from Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) was centered around tackling plastic pollution and food wastage. Their product, Shellophane Sheets, is a form of biodegradable plastic that makes use of unwanted food waste, providing them with a competitive edge over plastic. The efforts put into market research were clear, with them giving a detailed explanation on the feasibility and immense potential of their product. Overall, the aim of Shellophane Sheets is to allow businesses to have more options when it comes to eco-friendly and sustainable packaging.

Team Cibus from RGS took the stage next to introduce their app Cibus. According to them, Cibus is an all-encompassing app that helps to tackle food waste meaningfully. Some features of the app include recipes which make use of ingredients available at home and a meal plan function. While they admitted that their entry into the market may be tricky due to the issue of economic stability, the team remained optimistic about the success of the app, as reflected in their implementation plan and financial projections.

Afterwards, it was SJI’s Team Target Zero’s turn to present their app Track X. They started off by declaring that “zero waste starts with us”, which undoubtedly demonstrated their commitment to tackling food wastage. As the name Track X suggests, one will be able to track the expiry dates of food items conveniently through the app, hence reducing food waste. Along with the more practical aspect of finances, the team also mentioned the special aspects of the app which will allow them to stand out in a market rich with competition. For instance, the app’s personalisation feature will definitely attract consumers with its customisable sorting system and varied selection of fonts.

The next team was another team from RGS—Team Waffles, with their solution named Forgotten Food. They hope to work with local farms to target food wastage as this partnership will fulfil the increasing demand for locally-sourced food and resolve the disconnection in the local food chain. Their presentation was supported by statistics which enhanced the workability of their business idea. The proposed strategies were experiential workshops, food and beverage services, and educational programmes. Similar to the other teams, they also wished to expand into foreign markets as part of their future plans.

Lastly, Team Enigma from RI presented Foodnigma, their solution to the increasingly common problem of food wastage. This is aptly summed up by their slogan, “nothing is ever wasted”. While composting might be something that not many of us have thought of doing, Foodnigma aims to turn this situation around by bringing composting directly to our homes. It operates on a point-based system where users can convert waste into rewards, thus incentivising consumers to use their product. The team also demonstrated how to use their product, which made their presentation all the more compelling as the audience got a firsthand look at how it worked.

After the impressive presentations by all the finalists, the judges then shared their insightful comments on each group’s business pitches. They not only commended the teams for their efforts and dedication, but also provided personalised feedback to the individual teams on how they could improve. 

As the symposium came to a conclusion, it was time for the awards presentation. Without a doubt, all the teams performed extremely well despite the constraints of Covid-19. The judging criteria included  the feasibility of the idea, the business strategies and competitive edge among others. Ultimately, Team Food Loops from RGS clinched first place, walking away with the grand prize of $400.

Results:

2nd runners-up: Team Xanadu from SJI

1st runners-up: Team Cibus from RGS

Champion: Team Food Loops from RGS

Congratulations to all the participants!

By Matthew Ethan Ramli (21S03F) and Thet Hninn Zin (21A13A)

Behind the grand piano at the Yusof Ishak Block atrium lies a room that not many know about. Commonly thought of as just another storage facility, it bears the remains of the previous Heritage Gallery, the long-standing precursor to what we now know as the Raffles Archives and Museum. It has largely remained out of use for the better part of the decade, until a new exhibition discussing the life of Stamford Raffles necessitated its use as an annex of the museum. 

To those who have previously peered into the dark, cobweb-strewn space, its refurbishment is astonishing, with its polished wooden flooring and carefully positioned art gallery lighting. This new look befits the novel student-led exhibition about our founder himself, curated against the backdrop of the bicentennial. 

Who was Raffles? 

As the title of the showcase, these three words invite all of us to question our beliefs regarding his life and legacy. We start off by considering his role as a statesman, the position we most commonly associate him with. 

Beginning from his early days as a humble clerk at the British East India Company, a private enterprise representing the crown, the exhibition chronicles his cumulative rise in rank to the Lieutenant Governor of Java, arguably the most important post in his political career. We are taken through many aspects of his role in Singapore, from his takeover of the island comprising controversial dealings with Sultans and bloody massacres, to policies he championed for rapid modernisation and growth. 

When the Dutch retook control of Java after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Raffles relocated to Bencoolen, on the southeast tip of Sumatra, where he served as an administrator for another five years. The economic failings of the port against the backdrop of the Anglo-Dutch rivalry then created the impetus to find a more centrally-located port, one that we now know as Singapore. 

The rest of the Raffles story is something we should all be familiar with: the signing of the treaty with the Johor Sultanate, the creation of the free port, the mapping of the ethnically diverse town plans, and finally, the founding of the Singapore Institution, as it was then called. Surely the exhibition doesn’t feature anything that we don’t already know?

Hold on, the exhibition warns cryptically, arguing for a more holistic view of the narrative. What exactly were Raffles’ contributions in “founding” Singapore? While the nation commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance last year, attributing much of Singapore’s rapid development to early colonial successes, the exhibition seeks to explore said colonial successes further by uncovering the unsung contributions of those sharing his enterprise and the major falling-outs between them that led to their erasure from the history books. 

As many museums across the country stage new exhibitions attempting to revise conventional narratives, we need to ask ourselves why we put Raffles on such a pedestal. After all, his time spent in Singapore totalled less than 9 months, a short duration compared to the first appointed Residents of Singapore, William Farquhar and John Crawfurd, both of whom served integral roles in developing the city. 

We base so much of our nation’s identity on Raffles, his name written on history textbooks as the founding father of modern Singapore. As a school for which he laid the foundations, we, too, carry many of his family traditions, adopting his family crest and motto as our own. Having his values as the bedrock of our identities calls into question the values themselves. Was he really the beacon of progress that we perceive him to be? 

Yes, the exhibition answers, although we must understand that he was nonetheless a man of his time. As a keen naturist, he commissioned many drawings and research on the nature of the Malayan Archipelago, which was much unknown to the Western world. He also chronicled rich Javanese traditions for ethnography’s own sake, and most importantly, believed in educating the future inhabitants of the island. 

One aspect of his liberal pursuit which is much explored in the exhibit was his abolition of slavery in Java, thinking it a colonial responsibility to “uphold the weak, put down lawless force, [and] lighten the chain of the slave”. As modern as his ideas were, they were often slighted by colonial imperatives. In 1812, the aim of extracting natural metals at Banjarmasin, on the south coast of Borneo, led to his relocation of 3200 locals to work as forced labourers. 

In the same vein, his colonial perceptions of slavery, i.e. the African slave trade in England itself, led him to ignore the intricate socioeconomic role that slavery played in local communities. Due to the inexistence of the cash economy and credit institutions, people in debt often agreed to work for another person without wages until a specified date, after which they would be free. This was the version of slavery practiced in Java. After the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, the locals who had lost their means of subsistence were unable to rely on the safety net of slavery, resulting in a staggering 100,000 deaths. 

As for a topic closer to home, Raffles strongly believed in creating an institution that would impart knowledge to the rest of the Malay world and  transfer the moral benefits of education from the upper to lower classes. However, despite his efforts to democratise education through the Singapore Institution, as it was then called, this failed to materialise in the early years, when the school mostly served children of wealthy local elites. 

In contrast to our traditional understanding of a colonialist, Raffles did not conduct much of the day-to-day administration of the territories that he overlooked. Rather, he sought to gather as much knowledge as possible about the new frontiers. He commissioned the drawing of thousands of previously undiscovered plants and animals across his voyages. However, only 3000 made it safely back to England, the others lost in shipwrecks. He encouraged the proposal of the extant Singapore Botanical and Experimental Garden to the East India Company. Desiring to share his interest in his newfound discoveries with the British community, he finally founded the London Zoological Society in 1826.

Despite this, some of his other interests in historiography evidence his role as a colonialist possessing the ideals of his age. His book, the History of Java, was a comprehensive account on local traditions published in 1817. Unlike preceding work about Java by earlier colonialists, which were often political, there was a new focus in noting the rituals and customs of the region. That being said, the work was deeply cluttered with inaccuracies aimed to convince the locals, the Europeans and his own superiors of the contribution of British rule to the prosperity of the island. Paintings show neatly trimmed greenery against unearthed palaces and flourishing agriculture as a result of his land tenure policies. 

However, what stands out, interestingly, is how he tried to depict the local civilisation as a “civilised” one as opposed to traditional colonists who portray indigenous populations as primitive to justify colonial exploitation. In an effort to show that the Javanese had “historical consciousness”, a term commonly popularised in Britain as an integral characteristic of a “cultured” civilisation, he described the largely mythical wayang kulit shadow puppet plays as a way of transmission of historical information across generations, although it mostly had the purpose of entertainment. Similarly, drawings of the locals show them with European features and European dancing postures, in contrast to the colonial exaggerations of local caricatures that were more common at the time. 

In a sense, this exhibition tries to give us a more personal view of Raffles in discussing his interests and beliefs as well as his childhood and family, instead of narrowing in on his “founding” of Singapore. 

When asked about the extent of his research for the exhibition, curator Justinian Guan (21S03F) mentioned the sourcing of piles of primary and secondary sources of books not only on Raffles’ life, but also on the zeitgeist, or the spirit of the time in which Raffles lived. The research mainly comprised inquiring upon the vast catalogue of archives at the Raffles Archives and Museum, most of which have not been reviewed before. The compiled research was then sent to an ex-Rafflesian graphic designer to be condensed into panels, before sourcing for traditional crafts from the Malay world that Raffles was likely to find himself engaging with. 

Starting in November 2018, the process from start to finish took a whole year. By the end of last year, it was ready for a soft-opening for visitors from the Ministry of Education. Although it added to the workload of preparing for the Year 4 Final Examinations, Justinian described the process as rewarding, the most enjoyable parts being the refurbishment of the room and seeing months of hard work eventually amounting to something greater. He credits Mrs Cheryl Yap, the teacher-in-charge of RAM, his teacher mentors Mrs Sharon Tan and Ms Adriana Wong from the Y1-4 History department, as well as his peers for the successful completion of the work. 

Scheduled to open in March this year, the RAM’s opening has been delayed by COVID-19 until the situation improves and students are allowed to gather in groups again. Early estimates would be the end of this year. Yet even with the delayed opening of the exhibition, we can all find out more about what the name “Raffles” means to us, as an institution. With less than a thousand days to our bicentennial, this reconceptualising of our school’s identity in relation to her founder is a task left to all Rafflesians. Justinian hopes that we can actively reconsider our beliefs on who Raffles was holistically, and agree on a fair view of history. 

To find out more about the Raffles Archives and Museum, check out this article: Prelude To Our Bicentennial: The Raffles Archives and Museum

By Young Yun Xuan (21S06L), Captain, Jonathan Lio (21S06D), Vice-Captain, and Amadea Hong (21S03J), Vice-Captain

Have you ever wondered how many of the seven continents the mere seven of us have been to for our sport? Answer: almost all of them except Antarctica!

Even though we have never sailed with the penguins or polar bears, we have had the incredible opportunity to sail with many other majestic marine animals like dolphins, sharks, sea turtles, and whales. Along with all the amazing sea creatures we have had the chance to sail with while we are training overseas, we also interact with many of whom the immigration authorities would call “aliens”—but we call them our competitors at sea but friends on shore. However, behind all the fun and glory of traveling with friends, we also put in long hours on the water and in the gym to ensure that we are at our peak performance when representing Raffles and more importantly, our country. 

Although sailing is a largely individual sport, we are always there for our batchmates. Being close friends for more than a decade, we have done almost everything together. From braving the seas to near-death experiences during strong winds and big waves, we’ve been through it all. We have cried together, studied together, and spent many special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas and New Years’ together with our endless karaoke, stargazing, and gaming sessions. We have also suffered and persevered through our coach’s torturous trainings together such as swimming and running long distances with our full sailing gear for PT, doing numerous manoeuvres out at sea, and—of course—puking together afterwards. After all, in such a unique sport where spectating is almost impossible, our only support system is each other. 

When our teachers ask for our season period, we reply with “it never ends”. While other sports CCAs have a definite answer, we have regatta (also known as competitions) almost every month along with Inter-Schools competitions. Ask any sailor what their favourite local regatta is and chances are the response is “INTERSCHOOLS!” Additionally, we have buffets and barbecues after every regatta (actually, we also have them even if there is no regatta).

Once a year, we get to sit on our coach’s super cool power boat without him making us pick up anchors but just to cheer for our teammates. On normal training days, however, we have to earn our spot on his power boat. Coming back to shore, we are greeted with mountains of food from our lovely teammates and parents. When the Inter-Schools competition is finally over after four days of intense racing and cheering, we go all out on our feasting and watch blockbuster movies in a cinema full of only sailors. But of course, what comes before that is bringing home the champion trophy, and scrubbing and polishing ours and our coach’s boats while he complains of spots we missed. Jiaolian we still love you!

All in all, from predictable factors like currents, wind strength, and directions to unpredictable ones like the fleet, Sailing is not only fun but also a very technical and complicated sport to master and understand. It requires us to always be at the top of our game physically and mentally by thinking on our feet and making spontaneous race-changing decisions on the water. We are not only masters of our boat but also masters of the sea. Being one of us is like being Aquaman: the sea is our home and the beaches are our backyards.

By Damien Low (21S06A), Chairperson and Justinian Guan (21S03F), Vice-Chairperson

Even if you’ve never watched a Chinese Orchestra performance, you probably think you know what a Chinese Orchestra sounds like. At the very mention of the word, distressing Chinese New Year memories of cacophonous flutes, strings, and cymbals invading seemingly every supermarket in Singapore start to flood your mind and you begin to cower in fear involuntarily… That’s what a Chinese Orchestra is, right?

Well, no, actually. The discordant stereotype of Chinese Orchestras (and we admit it is discordant) belies the beauty of a well-practiced and motivated orchestra, with its unique timbres, fascinating rhythms, and sensuous melodies. But at RJCO, such a euphonious orchestra—a family of many, many wonderful musicians exploring a hugely varied repertoire—is exactly what you get.

Interested? Let’s find out more.

So, what exactly is a Chinese Orchestra? Simply put, what we have at CO (like in all other COs) is an ensemble of five sections: Huqin (bowed strings), Tanbo (plucked strings), Chuiguan (winds), Daji (percussion), and Cellobass (speaks for itself). Each section, of course, has its particular beauties—put them all together and you get a mesmerising interplay of timbres that is at times unexpected, but always piquant, always satisfying.

As an orchestra, we perform regularly at school events—Chinese New Year, of course, but also National Day and Open House. Here, the diversity of the orchestra’s repertoire is made clear: far from playing only Chinese orchestral classics or the greatest hits of Chinese New Year, the orchestra makes a point of playing pop music and other relatable songs too, like Camilla Cabello’s “Havana” and Kit Chan’s “Home”.

Outside of school, the orchestra has also performed at venues like the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre and the SCO Concert Hall—and it’s at performances like these where the gold of the orchestral experience resides: in the quiet thrum of a pipa, with the fervent expectancy of a packed audience; or in the catharsis of a full-orchestra climax, ending in the applause that is to every orchestra member’s delight.

Concerts like these are generally biennial, and, in between them, the orchestra prepares for the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Arts Showcase, at which the orchestra has, with its hard work, achieved Distinction regularly in past years. (In 2021, we’ll be going for SYF again—you could be part of this too!)

The road to prepare for performances like these can be rocky: every one of us needs to spend time practicing and making sure they are familiar with their parts. Still, this journey is made always more manageable and enjoyable by our wonderful instructors—who tirelessly work to make sure section standards are kept high—and our iconic conductor, Mr Yang Ji Wei. For he is nothing short of iconic: with his trademark jokes (please come to our combined sessions for examples), rhythm formulae (1-and­-2­-and—count your semiquavers!), and, above all, an unmistakable passion that makes him a friend and mentor to everyone in the orchestra.

What makes RJCO more than an orchestra but rather like a real family is what happens behind the scenes—behind all the performances and practices. It’s things like our weekly batch dinners where, during less socially distanced times at least, the whole orchestra gathers at the Junction 8 rooftop to eat with each other and, more importantly, to talk to one another. It’s things like our birthday tradition where each member is given a cake, a soft toy, and a card filled to the brim with notes from the whole orchestra. It’s things like our annual March chalet, where the whole orchestra sleeps over and enjoys activities like Fright Night and BBQ (because who doesn’t love BBQ?).

At the heart of all these activities is a culture of care for one another, an understanding that we’re all there for one another. As cliché as the phrase sounds, the orchestra is a family, and family sticks together. What this boils down to is a sense that everyone—regardless of where they come from, what they play, and who they are—is welcome because we’re all tied together by music and by shared experiences. This ineffable feeling of warmth is what makes all the time spent with each other (not studying) worthwhile in the end.

With that said, in the RJCO family, each member is part of an unbreakable web held together by threads of comfort and care, working together with our one-of-a-kind instructors and conductor to make one-of-a-kind music. Here, all of us are the music makers—as the poet Arthur O’Shaughnessy put it—and the dreamers of dreams; the movers and shakers of the world forever.

If all that sounds appealing to you—incomparable experiences on stage; instructors and a conductor who become none other than friends; that warmth, comfort, and care; moving and shaking the world—then why not join RJCO? Our CCA sessions are on Monday from 5.30pm to 8.15pm (sectionals) and Tuesday from 5.30pm to 7.30pm (combined) RJCO is open to all, even if you’ve never touched an instrument before. Come join us, the adventure of a lifetime awaits.

By Insyirah Iman (21A13A), Captain and Fatema Maimoon (21S05A), Vice-Captain

Have you ever wondered why soccer is often referred to as ‘the beautiful game’? 

It could be because of the vital, perfectly-timed tackles executed by centre-backs to defend a narrow lead. It could be because of the brilliant displays of teamwork that take apart the opposition in a few clever passes and dribbles. Or, of course, it could be because of the glorious, glorious goals—the decisive advance forward, the nerve-racking build-up, and the moment when the ball finds the back of the net. There’s really nothing like it.

To us, the true beauty that lies in the game is best appreciated through experience. The death-defying tackles don’t speak for the hours of grit and hard graft during training, the slides in the mud, the scraped-up knees. The passages of play seen during a game are a reflection of a team in sync, built on a strong foundation of mutual respect and communication. And the goals are the products of passion and determination, the collective efforts of a team.

If you’re interested in becoming intimate with all these aspects (and more) that make soccer beautiful, then Soccer Girls might be the CCA for you! Moving away from the captains waxing poetic about how beautiful football is—we have to warn you that while our CCA, as a developmental sport, does not have strict prerequisites, we expect a lot from our members in terms of character. 

Attitude is the key requirement that undergirds everything, and is what we look out for first and foremost during trials. Trials are open to anyone who has an interest in the sport, and will consist of simple skills such as dribbling, passing, and shooting, as well as a short five-a-side game—which tests your agility, basic ball skills, game sense, and awareness. Skill and fitness can be trained, but more importantly, potential members should have a willingness to learn and an open mind to advice. Many of our members were not from sports CCAs in secondary school, or have never even played the sport extensively before; but we have one thing in common—a passion for the game, accompanied with an iron-clad resolve to do our best.

A good attitude is what gets us, as a team, through our trainings—which can be quite tough and physically demanding. You can expect gruelling Physical Trainings (PT) to improve your fitness, as well as intense five-a-side matches. Soccer is, at its core, a physically demanding sport, so expect to be pushed to your limits. Hence, a strong mentality is key. The importance of a good attitude is succinctly summed up in our motto “Desire, Hard Work, Believe”.

Furthermore, just like any other competitive sports CCA, soccer is a considerable commitment, particularly due to the need to compensate for a previous lack of experience. Training takes place thrice a week: Monday PT (4:30-6:30pm), and ball training on Tuesday (4:30-7:30pm) and Friday (4:30-7:30pm). While training pauses briefly during CTs and Promos, it continues during the holidays. As a team sport, the individual contribution of every member is key to our collective performance—and thus, commitment to attendance is expected.

Besides the trainings on-the-ground, members are also expected to commit to gaining knowledge of the tactical aspects of the game. Due to the COVID-19 situation and being isolated from the field (and one another) for almost 3 months, our online ‘training’ consisted of watching and analysing videos, learning the theoretical basics of attacking and defending, and spending nearly half an hour understanding the concept of offside. These few sessions, although unable to compensate fully for what Could Have Been, were definitely useful—after all, being an all-rounded football player takes not only just fitness or technical skill, but also positional sense and an ability to read the game. 

When told in prose, the commitments and expectations may seem daunting, but rest assured that all is mitigated by the experience and value of being in a team. Over the course of your journey in RI, you will come to realise that being a soccer girl is not merely an after-school role but something that eventually becomes part of you—the support system provided by your fellow girls is something you will come to value more than anything. When times get tough, you can always count on your girls to have your back like a reliable defensive line (see what we did there). The team is a vital part of the Soccer Girls experience. It is knowing that if you shoot way off, the batch will fall over laughing (there is a lot of laughing and rolling around on the grass in Soccer Girls) before reaching out a hand to pull you to your feet. But it’s also knowing that when you’re surrounded by defenders much, much taller than you (spoken from experience), or a pile of homework that never seems to end, your highlighter-jersey-clad batchmates will also surround you with the support you need. When a training is particularly tough—and the four rounds you have left to run seem impossible—completing them alongside your teammates makes it all the more doable. 

To be honest, due to the pandemic, our batch has faced numerous obstacles in reaching the level of cohesion all of us were striving for. After all, a lot of us have had less than ten CCA sessions, and we have yet to experience our first friendly match. Despite this, we persevered as a team—the importance of camaraderie and mutual support has never seemed more apparent. However cheesy this may sound, the power of love—for the team, for the sport, and for one another—will get you through the most painful losses, the most tiring trainings, and despairing months of the cancellation of CCA. CCA in JC is short; but like the sunsets over the field that get progressively more stunning every time we train, it is a brief but beautiful experience with memories that will stay with you for years to come.

By Raffles Art Club

Do you enjoy doodling on your math tutorials? Have you always dreamt of interacting with like-minded artist friends? Or are you looking for opportunities to hone your artistic skills? If your answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’, then Art Club is the CCA for you! 

Everyone’s experience will be unique, but one thing we can guarantee for sure is that your experience will definitely be fun. Every Wednesday from 2.30 to 5.30pm, you can be sure that we will be in the Art Room or meeting up virtually on MSTeams, drawing together with all our fellow CCA friends.

It doesn’t matter what CCA you were from, or whether you have a background in art—as long as you have the passion, Art Club will welcome you with open arms. Here, we celebrate all forms and mediums of art: be it graphic design, embroidery, character illustration, or even memes just to name a few. So, do come by and say hello! You might just be the next addition to our diverse cast of members.

Due to COVID-19, we were unable to host physical sessions for most of the year, but this did not stop us from providing fun and interactive sessions for our members. In our virtual sessions, we tried out aggie.io, an online collaborative drawing platform where all of us can draw together on the same canvas. We also played skribbl.io, a competitive multiplayer drawing game—but instead of trying to gain the most points, many of us tried to challenge ourselves to draw each prompt in a unique manner, making the game a lot more fun to both draw and guess. 

During these online sessions, we also contact instructors from professional art studios to conduct workshops for our members. These workshops help members discover new mediums and practise different artistic techniques. From character illustration to perspective drawing, these workshops are chosen by our CCA members themselves and are tailored to suit the interests of all our members. For a change of pace, we also view and appreciate artsy films together such as Double King and Pitbull during the more relaxed sessions. 

Although art is an individual activity most of the time, you are sorely mistaken if you think that Art Club sessions consist of people drawing silently on their own for three hours straight. We make sure to place an emphasis on bonding between members and on creating a comfortable environment that is conducive for creative expression. For instance, members were asked to showcase their unique art styles and personalities through a ‘Meet the Artist’ activity during our first online CCA session.

Art Club also provides opportunities for members to showcase their artistic talents through our contributions for the school, like decorating the canteen blackboard for school events and providing illustrations for VIA projects. We hope that through creating and sharing art, we can add a dab of colour to your otherwise bland school life. 

Be sure to explore our instagram page @rafflesartists to find out more, and remember to visit our CCA booth during Open House as well! We hope to see you there! 

By Lee Rui Xuan (21A01C), Chairperson, Celine Yang (21A01A), Secretary, and Tiffany Li (21A13B), Quartermistress

What do you think of when you hear “Players”? 

The first thing that comes to your mind is probably, well, acting. Of course we act. But Players and putting up productions involve much more than that—joining the CCA will reveal to you the wonders of the backstage world, the joys of bringing a script to life, and the intricacies of the study of theatre itself! 

What do we do?

Of course, like any other CCA, we have a completely different schedule due to Covid-19 (read about how we manage drama online below!). But this section will give you a sneak peek into how Players usually functions over a two-year cycle, just so that you know what you’re signing up for once things get back to (some semblance of) normal.

Singapore Youth Festival (SYF)

The SYF’s drama section alternates between Secondary school and JC levels every year, meaning that we participate in this on a biennial basis. The SYF performance typically takes place by the end of April and consists of a short theatre piece (around 15 minutes), giving J1s a great opportunity to try their hands on the production process.

2020 was supposedly an SYF year. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of rehearsals of our SYF piece, What Are You Doing Here? (by David Campton) when Circuit Breaker hit, and SYF was unfortunately cancelled later on, but here are some pictures from early devising sessions!

Dramafeste

The Dramafeste takes place in non-SYF years, and it is what you will be welcomed with when you enter Players. The five houses will each put up their own 15-minute plays, and you will get to participate in putting together this full-scale production!

College Production

As the highlight of the year, the College Production is a full-scale production held in the Performing Arts Centre (PAC) where both batches come together to bring a 2-hour script to life. CCA members are able to gain experience in the various aspects of theatre such as Acting, Publicity, Lights & Sounds, Props & Sets and Stage Management.

 This production is where most would probably find it to be the most stressful, but the most fun too. It is where creativity knows no bound—we have the freedom to showcase whatever we may wish —and it is also where the Y5s step up and prepare to take ownership of the CCA, while the Y6s strive to leave a legacy in their final performance as Players. 

Preparing for any production is stressful, especially one on the scale of the College Production. But when the lights blaze in full intensity for the last time and the entire CCA bows as one, it is the peak of a Player’s year—and we guarantee you’ll enjoy every bit of it. 

J1 Production

After a year of training and as the exhilaration from the College Production starts to fade, the Y5s come together at the end of the year to put together their very own production as a batch. Again, the script choice has little restrictions, and the Y5s typically take this opportunity to bond as a batch while expressing what they collectively wish to convey through the first time they shoulder the full responsibilities for the production process.

Training: What we do normally (What we did in 2019)

With all that we have going on in a year, training sessions are essential in our development. Conducted every Friday (and the occasional Wednesday) afternoon from 3 to 6pm, professionals from the industry make time out of their busy schedules to teach and mentor a class or workshop. 

From comedy and clowning, to animal studies, and even special effects makeup, CCA sessions help us to gain insight into the different aspects of the industry and serve to hone our skills in many of these areas. During those sessions, we are introduced to the complexities of acting which incorporates theories of Stanislavski’s system to encourage a more emotionally expressive performance.

These sessions are said to encapsulate the essence and joy of Players—with its vibrant and energetic atmosphere, and our members’ eagerness to learn is almost palpable in the air. They not only provide an escape from the stress and buzz of normal school life, but are essentially also a time of honest enjoyment for our members. 

What we do in the COVID-19 situation

As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the flow of our lives and everyday activities. As such, we have had to adapt to the new circumstances and adjust the way we carry out our CCA sessions. But don’t worry—despite the challenges, we’ll still get to continue to learn about theatre and working on projects together with an open mind and positive attitude!

Training

Firstly, the frequency of our CCA sessions have been reduced from twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) to once a week, on Fridays only.

As of now (August 2020), they are still being carried out online. Although learning about spatial awareness and getting a sense of the physical space is an important part of theatre—due to the limitations of safety measures—we may not be able to work on that just yet. Don’t worry, though, because there are many other essential aspects of theatre to learn about! 

For example, for the past few weeks of online sessions, our drama instructor has been conducting lessons on how the voice works, and how we can learn to use it effectively, which is essential to good acting. The lessons include the hands-on aspect of us trying out what we have learnt, and receiving feedback from our instructor. Despite the sessions being online, they are still effective and enjoyable!

When we’re not training…

Before we started training sessions with our instructor, we had self-organised sessions where we would have discussions about full-length plays or short clips related to theatre which we would have watched prior to the sessions. We would discuss what we found interesting about the staging, costuming, lighting, et cetera. It’s always fun and intriguing to check out new and different ways of telling stories, and to share them with one another!

Who we’re looking for

We welcome anyone who shows keen interest to learn more about theatre! 

With theatre being a more abstract and borderless form of art, we value the willingness to go beyond your comfort zone, exploring different ideas and styles in their time here in Players. Since theatre is more flexible in nature, it is important that CCA members are willing to learn from each other and remain open minded to all sorts of ideas. Such open mindedness also needs to be translated when receiving feedback from our mentors. It is inevitable that mistakes will be made in the exploration of theatre, but what’s more important is the ability to receive constructive feedback and improve from then onwards! 

Passion for theatre is also essential as it will motivate us to do our best when it comes to producing a piece of work and such devotion will eventually translate to something we can be proud of. 

Commitment is also needed as production season will, of course, be more hectic than usual. So we will definitely wish to select CCA members who are willing to push through and remain engaged with their roles. While our official CCA sessions are usually held on Fridays from 3pm to 6pm, extra hours are spent on other days during the intensive yet rewarding production season to build sets, work on publicity materials, go through rehearsals, and design costumes.

If you are passionate about theatre and want to challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone to produce your very own production, do sign up for auditions! Auditions generally take place some time in February with segments such as group improvisations, monologue reading, interviews and more! Don’t fret about the difficulty of the activities as there will be seniors to guide you. Just immerse yourself in the experience and have fun, and we hope to see you at auditions!

By Ultimate Frisbee

Over the years, people have referred to us as many things: Frisbee, Performing Arts Club, Jock CCA… But we prefer to refer to ourselves as Raffles Ultimate (RJU). Because Ultimate is more than just 14 people on a field chasing after a round piece of plastic. To us, Ultimate is a sport. Ultimate is a journey. Ultimate is a family. 

Ultimate as a sport involves two teams of seven players playing on a 100 x 37 metre field. Points are scored when a player catches the disc within a designated area known as the end zone. If you have ever watched a professional game of Ultimate, instances of people sprinting, diving, and jumping mind-blowing verts to catch the disc will not be an uncommon sight. One might also notice that the game is self-refereed, and relies heavily on players’ mutual respect for one another, as well as a respect for the sport. These are the characteristics that define Ultimate. More than just honing skills and abilities, the Ultimate community values character, sportsmanship, and a desire to preserve the basic joy of play.

The journey for members of RJU is characterised by numerous competitions, events, and camps. However, the highlight of this journey is the annual Inter-Junior-College competition (Inter-JCs). This is the most important event in a player’s journey in RJU. At this event, teams from different schools vie against one another in numerous intense games over the short span of two days. Strength, determination, grit—these qualities will help one to get through the competition. But above all, team spirit and camaraderie is most emphatically displayed. And this is what we as a team value the most. 

Although only lasting a short two days, Inter-JCs is a memory that would have a special place in every player’s heart for many years to come. In fact, this brings to light something that is also unique to RJU—our strong alumni culture. Even years after players graduate, many will come back regularly to help out at trainings. This is their way of giving back to the CCA that gave them so many treasured memories and experiences back in their JC days. Thus, our journey here in RJU transcends our time here in JC. 

Lastly, more than just being a sports team, we hope to cultivate a culture where everyone is treated like family. A family where each and every one of us gives our best to honour the time and effort of our teammates. A family where we look out for one another, both on and off the field. A family where no one gets left behind.

If this is something you want to be a part of, Ultimate might be the CCA for you. Our doors are open to everyone—we do not require players to have any prior experience to join us. Though be warned that while there are no prerequisites, Ultimate is not for the faint-hearted. As our coach always says, “Nothing worth having comes easily.” Committing yourself to this team means that passion, hard work, and discipline will be expected. For those who have an open mind, willingness to learn, and drive to improve yourself as a player and person, we welcome you with open arms. 

“Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.” Generations of RJU players have stood firmly by this motto. While we are a team deeply rooted in our traditions, the journey is never set in stone. If you’re up for the challenge, come join our Raffles Ultimate family!

By Russell Choy (21A01B), Mikail Firas (21S06E), and Teo Jie Xuan (21S030)

HSTA is more than just a CCA about ideas and speeches—it is about diplomacy. It is about those moments when you find yourself cornered in a tough spot and need to negotiate your way out of the predicament. This is what separates Model United Nations (MUN) from any other debate-centric activity. 

Model-United Nations (MUN)

Specifically, a MUN conference gathers a diverse array of youths from multiple institutions, ranging from Secondary school, Junior College, National Service and even to University. It then puts them through rigorous sessions of debate and discussion to settle on solutions to problems, both local and global in scale. Each student takes on the role of a delegate and must represent the best interests of their portfolio.

In this process, conflict tends to arise when different delegates have varying conceptions of how certain problems should be solved, how certain trade-offs should best be made, and thus have vastly different agendas they expect to advance. 

Raffles Model United Nations (RMUN)

The standards set by the Singapore Model United Nations circuit are of high international regard. The quality of local conferences such as Singapore MUN (organised by NUS) and NTUMUN have consistently been applauded by overseas delegates.

As one of the few school clubs across the island that specialise in Model United Nations, HSTA is proud to have contributed to this legacy by organising the annual Raffles Model United Nations (RMUN). With an illustrious history of nearly three decades, RMUN was Singapore’s first MUN conference and stands as a respected bastion of academic rigour and professional conduct. 

Every member of the club is involved in the organisation of RMUN and contributes uniquely to its success. In so doing, we learn more about the inner workings of Model United Nations, while also having the opportunity to organise a massive inter-school event of nearly 400 participants. 

This is where the lessons we learn as a club come into play. 

The Club

As a club, we believe that anyone who has the willingness to learn has the potential to excel at Model United Nations. To this end, we aim to guide this process of growth by helping each other become more adaptable, learned, and discerning in approaching current affairs and public speaking. 

The MUN simulations we organise provide a safe space for club members to express themselves and to become more confident in their ideas, so that they may be more persuasive in their interactions with those they encounter both within and outside MUN.

Furthermore, beyond preparing the club for participating in conferences as delegates, the club focuses on laying the groundwork for members to lead in their own way. In preparing for RMUN, we ready our members for helming their own committees and departments that they may take ownership of. 

Who should join HSTA

Although “History” is in HSTA’s name, taking history as a subject or even having an interest in history is certainly not a prerequisite to joining HSTA. People who benefit the most from HSTA tend to be those who are interested in current affairs and who have a desire to express their thoughts to other people in a persuasive manner. 

Whether you are just starting out or have gone for multiple conferences, we assure you that there will always be new things to learn about MUN—and HSTA is here to help you along this journey, wherever you may be right now. 

By Soccer (Boys)

Though football may not have the history and heritage like rugby or have the flashiest achievements hockey attained in the past few years, never let that alter your perception of footballers. After all, we are still playing the world’s greatest sport dubbed “The Beautiful Game”. You better believe we’re dead serious about it. 

What we are certainly not is a recreational CCA. Every year, we compete at the highest level just as everyone else does, and each year we aim to go further.

Just about anyone is welcome to join the football family. Whether you’re an experienced football player or a beginner who is interested in learning more about “the beautiful game”, we welcome you. We are a developmental CCA, which means many of our players join with next to no experience of playing competitively. However, thanks to the leadership of our fearsome coach, Mr Iqbal, we are all groomed to excellency. Trainings are intense and serious, with the basic expectation that everyone should put in their 100% and push themselves beyond their limits. You can expect sessions to include drills like possession, high press, crossing, and practicing the D (our signature move). 

Speaking of Mr Iqbal, he’s our head coach who is very much a father figure to us. Think strict, kind, a magnificent-looking beard, and a touch of narcissism (he insists that #IQBOYS be printed on the sleeve of all our jerseys), and you have Mr Iqbal. Don’t be surprised to see Mr Iqbal join in on our training sessions occasionally and flaunt his wonderful technical abilities on the ball. Thanks to Mr Iqbal, injury rates are fairly low despite the haphazard tackles that happen occasionally. As an expert on physiology, he frequently shares his expertise on shin splints, muscle injury treatment (ask him about the hot towel and cold towel method!), and a more-than-vivid description on how one can tear his ACL during a tackle. However, as an avid fan of Liverpool Football Club, do expect gloating especially after Liverpool finally won their Premier League title in a minute. 

Furthermore, don’t be surprised to see the footballers putting in the extra work, be it with self-trainings or going for extra runs throughout the week. With our motto “Believe, Desire, Teamwork”, all footballers are expected to put in their all to bring out the best in themselves and their teammates.

Another added perk of being in football would be that you’ll never be taunted for “skipping leg day”. We can guarantee that the regular 2.4km timed tests, PTs, and trainings will leave your lower body disproportionately larger than your physique.

Many of our alumni have gone on to play in the National Football League and form teams to win other local leagues. In addition, the regular video-analysis sessions will get you up to speed with the strategic aspects of the game. In these sessions, previous matches would be analysed to improve our positioning and movement and to iron out any mistakes (often through the meting out of 20 pushups to offenders).

Lastly, apart from having to pay for missing balls, the school invests in you as players. This includes complimentary cans of 100plus on match days, a goalkeeper coach who has trained the likes of Bayern Munich, and a lush, green competition-grade stadium.