This article and its photographs was first written by the organisers of Becoming Bishan, and was first published at Bukit Brown’s website. 

What is Bishan? A concrete jungle of million-dollar HDB flats? The futuristic, award-winning architecture of SkyHabitat and Bishan Library? Or even the bustling activity of Junction 8? These are the conventional perceptions of the young, vibrant town of Bishan – an ex-cemetery transformed into a heartland showpiece.

Our team, however, felt that there just had to be more to this rising area. Whether we were lifelong residents of the district or saw it as a mere part of our daily commute to school, we became increasingly curious about how this place came to be. Why was there even a cemetery in Bishan in the first place? Did people live in Bishan before the HDB flats were built? What was Bishan’s place in the Singapore Story?

Driven by overwhelming curiosity, we, in conjunction with the Raffles Archives and Museum, embarked upon the Becoming Bishan Project, hoping that the outcomes of our research would be able to provide a poignant contribution to our country’s jubilee celebrations.

Our first step was to analyse the development of Bishan through maps. One of our members, Yilun, is an avid map enthusiast with an especial interest in urban redevelopment. With gusto, he surfaced many old maps of the area, the oldest dating back to 1924.  Through painstaking effort, he managed to highlight the stark changes in the landscape of the area, as well as match old landmarks of the area to more familiar present-day ones. The topographical studies revealed many details about the geography of the Bishan area. Today, the land that makes up Bishan is rather flat. However, the contours of old maps suggest that pre-redevelopment, Bishan was covered by rolling hills. Many photographs also show the grave-covered hills with the HDB flats of  Toa Payoh in the background. This explains the how the name “Bishan” (“Jade Hills” in Mandarin) came about. One of our interviewees even compared the view from a Toa Payoh flat to a green dragon, because of the undulating hills and the scale-like tombs on them.

The highlight is a series of maps of Bishan tracing the landscape of changes from 1924 to the present .

There were several kampongs within the cemetery, the most notable one being Kampong San Teng, whose kampong association members still meet regularly today. Interviews with the old residents revealed a rather self-sufficient community, with a school, farms, a teahouse and a market. There was also a cinema, Nam Kok cinema, in the Bishan area that screened Chinese and Western films. A worker in the KPT coffee shop in Bishan North told us of how he used to work there, proudly showing us his old posters of Elvis Presley and actors from Hong Kong. But when we asked about people’s impressions of Bishan before redevelopment, the greatest fears were not ghosts and spirits, but secret society activity.

We also made several exciting discoveries along our research journey. One was that Bishan was once a World War II battlesite! Jon Cooper, who also runs the Bukit Brown battlefield tours, managed to surface the battalion diaries and hand-drawn maps of the Second Cambridgeshire Regiment. These documented the action at Braddell Road in the dying days of the Battle for Singapore (1942).  Further research revealed that the battle positions occupied by the British troops are the present-day locations of Junction 8 shopping mall,  Bishan Library and Raffles Institution. This story was corroborated by many residents, who recalled the sounds of gunfire through the rolling hills of Bishan. Another revelation we made was that the philanthropist Wong Ah Fook was once buried in the Peck San Theng cemetery and his ashes now lie in the columbarium, something that even those running the columbarium had been unaware of.

A RI volunteer explaining the WW2 history of Bishan.

Along the way, our team has also met and befriended many diverse characters, who each have their own personal stake in Bishan. From the intriguing Mr. Molay, a Cantonese-speaking Indian man whose father once owned a hundred cows in Bishan, to the unabashed Mr. Loh, who once ate human flesh to survive the deprivation of the Japanese Occupation, it is the stories of these people who make the Bishan Story come alive. We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk to these individuals and learn more about the almost-foreign land that is the past. Later, we also spoke to current residents who told us about their thoughts and memories about this place. Though it is hard to say that the HDB dwellers of today have the same community spirit as kampong residents did, it was interesting to note how people develop, or fail to develop, attachments to Bishan.

Visitors to the exhibition have a chance to listen in on their memories of Bishan as a cemetery and its social community life then.

We feel immensely privileged to have had the experience of exploring Bishan’s story and curating this exhibition, and hope that you might find meaning of your own in our fruits of labour and love.

The Becoming Bishan Exhbition now at Bishan Library.

The Becoming Bishan exhibition will be officially launched on 11 July (Saturday), from 9 am – 12 noon, at the Bishan Community Library. This event will be graced by Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo. The exhibition will run at the Bishan Community Library from 1 July to 23 August, Ang Mo Kio Public Library from 24 August to 30 September and Toa Payoh Public Library from 1 to 31 October.

by Chew Cheng Yu (16S06L), Choo Shuen Ming (16A01E), Louisa Li (16A13A) and Qiu Kexin (16A13A)

In yet another instalment of Notes from the Underground, Raffles Press speaks to 2 of our school counsellors, Mei Hui and Zull, to work out students’ problems with their friendships, and how they can go about maintaining and fixing them. Click to read previous articles in our series here!

The Very Beginning

Press (P): How does one make friends?

Zull: Start with yourself – be friendly and open to others. Don’t expect others to initiate a friendship all the time! Friendship is a two way street; I’ve had students who fell out with their friends because they weren’t sharing anything, and the relationship became strained. So be more open with sharing about your personal life: likes and dislikes, etc.

Mei Hui: The most important thing is to take the first step. Students, especially those new to the JC environment like JAEs, often find trouble breaking into the RI crowd. Taking the first step for them requires even more pluck, so when someone comes to you, try not to shut them down. Going beyond that, if you see someone isolated, why don’t you go out of your way to try bringing that person into your circle of friends?

As for those who have problems finding things to talk about, I encourage them to read, and tune in to what’s happening in school (by reading Raffles Press, maybe) – that can give you things to talk about. Or you could look at the news! There are so many things to talk about, from politics, entertainment, music, to headline news. Look for people who share common interests, and talk about them. Alternatively, if it’s someone from your class or CCA, at least you can talk about those things.

P: How do you choose your friends?

Zull: Friends are like birds of a feather flocking together. The only way to know if you share the same interests is to, again, initiate conversations, find out what this person likes or dislikes, and if it doesn’t fit your expectations or your own liking, move on to someone else. So initiate as many conversations as possible!

Mei Hui: A lot of these friendships are part of your development as a teenager to find your own identity. Sometimes you only know who you are when you’re in an uncomfortable environment and being challenged. So it’s important to put yourself out there no matter how difficult it is; the more you experience, the more you’ll figure out about who you are as a person, and the more confident you’ll become. However, be careful not to be led astray – as teenagers, your peers are very important, and their opinions may matter more to you than your teachers, or even family. Be careful who you interact with, and decide whether you agree with what they say before following them.

Zull: Working backwards, sometimes the easiest way to find out who you are is to look at your friends, because they reflect who you are. Chances are if you hang around with people who are honest and dependable, you’ll have those traits yourself.

(Probably because you’re thinking of doing the same thing)

Managing Various Relationships

Press (P): How do I balance all my different social circles (CCA, class, OG, BF/GF)?

Mei Hui: In order to maintain a friendship, you need to invest time and energy, to communicate and have opportunities to interact. However, you have little time in JC, so you need to prioritise. You need to think about who you will end up still being friends with after 2 years – which friendships do you want to maintain? Also, boyfriends and girlfriends take up the most time and energy, so if you’re going to have one, be prepared that you will have very much less time for other friends. Is that something you’re willing to sacrifice?

Zull: Also, a lot of time has to be spent studying in JC. Ultimately, you’re here for ‘A’ levels, and to enter universities; during the application they don’t ask you how many friends you have. So prioritise what is important to you.

P: Given that everyone in RI is very busy, how do we balance our commitments as students and friends?

Zull: That’s a perennial question, because even adults are struggling to have work-life balance. I think it’s all about managing your time. If you can plan how much time you want to spend studying, or with friends, you should be able to maintain at least a semblance of work-life balance.

Mei Hui: There are three big areas we spend a lot of time on: studies, sleep, and everything else (social life, leisure), and I think that in JC people tend to sacrifice their sleep. Some people look at things in in terms of seasons, where at some times of the year, it’s okay to spend more time on CCA and friends. Then when it’s closer to CTs everything needs to be sacrificed for studies, and there’ll be more time for friendships afterwards. So your commitments depend on the school calendar, and that’s one way to balance things.

It’s very important to have friends in order to maintain that balance. Having social support insulates you against stress, and is important for your mental well-being. However busy you are, it’s important to carve out some time to spend with your friends – and it can’t just be through SMS or Whatsapp or Facebook, we’re talking about face-to-face interaction.

P: Besides friendships, how do we maintain familial relationships?

Mei Hui: At the end of the day friends may come and go but your family will always be there for you, because you’re related after all – although some can have bad relationships with their family. Families are very important, and students should spend more time with them. But students tend to take their families for granted since they know that their family will always be there. It would be good to retain some bond with them by spending time together: go to the supermarket together, watch TV together etc.

Quite a number of students are actually extremely close to their family, and it helps them cope with pressure from school and hardships of life. Families are a source of unconditional acceptance after all. Even if friends abandon you or you don’t do well in school, well, at least you’ve got your family!

Zull: From what I’ve observed, more well-adjusted students are generally closer to their families. As a teenager you start forming second families, which consists of your friends, as you explore what you want to be like; but don’t forget your family. How do you manage your family relationships? Set aside time, and start small: just eating dinner together is helpful even if you’re not close to each other or aren’t sure what to talk about.

Dealing With Difficult Situations

P: How do you deal with that one person in class I just can’t stand? Do I continue being friends with him/her for the sake of it?

Mei Hui: You’ll face these problems even as an adult; you can’t choose your colleagues. Maintain a professional relationship with the person; you don’t have to shout and swear or be nasty. It does require you to be very mature and adult about it. I would advise you to avoid the person as well, but if you have to work with them, don’t go out of your way to make it unpleasant. Maintain a cordial relationship, because ultimately it’s good to have friends rather than enemies. You never know when you might need a person’s help, so don’t burn your bridges. Recently, one of my friends broke her ankle, and she posted a photo of her cast on Facebook, and one of her Facebook friends from JC, who’s now an orthopaedic surgeon, saw it and asked for her X-rays, and operated on her leg immediately, preventing further injury. It was such a coincidence because she hadn’t spoken to him for 20 years. You actually never know when you will bump into someone you know in the future, and that person might be helpful to you.

P: How do I resolve conflicts between friends? Is it advisable to maintain a friendly facade?

Mei Hui: If you’re truly close friends, you shouldn’t need to maintain a facade. Honesty is really the best policy — you need to be able to be yourself, or else you can’t resolve issues. Say what’s on your mind. Conflicts usually come about because of miscommunication, so communicate your expectations and feelings clearly.

Zull: To pick up on that, expectations of the friendship are important too. Most students don’t verbalise what they expect from each other in a friendship. Do we share notes, or don’t we? Do we talk about family, or do we not? At least get that cleared up, so you won’t have conflicts to start with. Also, friendly facades get tiring and only strain relationships further, because every time you see them you have to pretend and you start linking them to a negative feeling. As much as you hope that the other person won’t feel it, they can tell how honest you’re being, and suspect some ulterior motive – so it could work against you.

P: What about those who aren’t as sociable? How do they fit in – especially if they’re actually alright with it?

Mei Hui: Some people are just more comfortable with close friends, and just because someone doesn’t have friends in your class doesn’t mean that they don’t have friends outside of those circles. Some people may need just a few friends and feel that’s sufficient. It’s about respect for anyone who wishes to opt out of socialising. If they’re not comfortable doing that, it’s their decision. You need two hands to shake and if the other person doesn’t want to shake it, then you’ll have to leave it at that. The important thing is to just make sure you don’t isolate anyone, and give everyone a chance.

Zull: We have to stop labelling introversion as anti-social behaviour — these people may not be as participative for personal reasons. Maybe socialising saps their energy, or they need to be alone to recharge, or they prefer interaction with smaller groups of people. Just keep an open channel so they have people they can reach out to when the time is right.

P: What if you’re always playing the same role in your friendships, and you’re uncomfortable with it?

Mei Hui: It’s an indicator of what you’re good at doing. What do your friends think of you? Why do they come to you? If you’re always the comforter they come to for advice, it may be a sign you would make a good counsellor! So look at the friends around you, and figure out what role you play – that way you can better understand what you’re good at doing .

Of course, you can’t always be the giver without getting anything back. If you’re uncomfortable always giving with nobody else willing to act as the giver to you – solving it depends on how assertive you’re willing to be, to say, “Look, I need some space, I can’t listen to your problems all the time,” and set the boundaries.

P: But society seems to shame people who are not nice to others, and they are made to feel guilty. So how do we establish clearer boundaries?

Zull: I don’t think it’s as simple as “I don’t want to do it, goodbye.” It would be good to explain to them why you have decided not to help, why you’re setting those boundaries for yourself; and with that they can better understand why you’re in that position in the first place. Don’t just say “No, I don’t want to talk to you, talk to my hand,”, or people might think that you’re rude.

Mei Hui: It’s important that you set boundaries too; you can’t be saying yes to every favour that everybody asks of you as you won’t have any time for yourself. It’s about protecting yourself as well. Give a good explanation, I’m sure your friend will understand your circumstances. Then again, if you’ve already prioritised certain things and you know that this friend is not someone you want to put in the effort and energy for, you need to make it clear to the person. If you’ve already decided on certain goals, like being on the Dean’s List or getting a scholarship, you need to tell the other person that you don’t have time for certain things in your life, and they just have to respect your decision.

Zull: At the end of the day, if the person can’t accept it even after your explanation, and chooses to break up the friendship, then it’s probably not worth having the friendship in the first place.

P: What if you’re in this very close group of friends, and everyone is close to each other, but you fall out with just one person in that group?

Zull: As adults we also struggle with things like that. Sometimes you and your boyfriend/girlfriend also share the same group of friends, and when you break up it’ll be very awkward. It’s something you have to learn to manage, especially if the rest of the relationships are important to you and you want to maintain them.

Mei Hui: If you have a true friend within that group of friends, you’ll find find some way of staying friends with them even if you’re not in that clique. True friendships are those that can stand the test of time, and last through all of these difficulties. If your friend can’t get past the fact that you’re no longer part of the clique, and doesn’t go out of her way to make time for you, then you know that this person is really not that close after all.

Zull: In fact, I’ve known all my close friends since secondary school, and we’ve literally watched each other grow up. We go through phases of life, but because those relationships are so important, they stood the test of time. Just 2 or 3 years ago I re-connected with my best friend from secondary school through Facebook, and it was as if we never separated. Those are the friendships that I treasure and cherish.

Mei Hui: It’s actually very interesting; Sumiko Tan’s (editor of Home section of the Straits Times) current husband was her ex-boyfriend from JC, and they picked up their relationship again after all those years. Close relationships often don’t change a lot over time, unless that person has done a 180 degree turnabout and become a different person. Otherwise, the things that made you friends with the person and attracted you in the first place will probably still be there after all this time has passed.

by Adelyn Tan (16A01E)

The cast of Our Sister Mambo from bottom left, in clockwise direction: Joey Leong, Ethel Yap, Oon Shu An, Michelle Chong, Audrey Luo, Moses Lim.

Produced by Cathay in commemoration of its 80th anniversary, Our Sister Mambo is the newest Singaporean romantic comedy to hit theatres this week. Inspired by iconic Cathay classic Our Sister Hedy, it illustrates the lives of the Wong household and the hijinks they get up to on our sunny island. The life of Mrs Wong (Audrey Luo) revolves around watching Korean dramas with her movie buff husband (Moses Lim), praying for her daughters to get married, and being constantly exasperated by those selfsame daughters.

Eldest daughter Grace (Ethel Yap) has a Mainland-born boyfriend who happens to be a divorcee with a young daughter; titular character Mambo (Michelle Chong) quits her successful job in a law firm to apprentice herself to celebrity chef Willin Low; sultry third sister Rose (Oon Shu An) goes through boyfriends like Hogwarts goes through DADA professors, and June (Joey Leong) is your average teenager who declares she can wake up on time for an important meeting and proceeds to oversleep the next morning. They each face their own trials and tribulations, and the happy ending is ultimately only achieved through understanding, patience and great love.

Funny and relatable, the characters sketched in Our Sister Mambo are all-too-familiar for a Singaporean audience. The plot is relatively easy to follow, though slightly disjointed and lacking focus- this stems from a commendable effort to give each of the six Wong family members equal screen time and a significant character arc. The stellar lineup is significant in bringing the movie to greater heights- Audrey Luo has impeccable comedic timing; Michelle Chong shines in her lead role; Ethel proves her mettle in her onscreen debut; Shu An turns Rose’s man-eater stereotype on its head. Even supporting characters such as aspiring star Siti (Siti Khalijah) and June’s boyfriend (Ebi Shankara) bring to the table brilliant performances and three-dimensional storylines. Despite the rapid pacing, the characters work with and around each other seamlessly to create a splendid story with a satisfying conclusion, leaving one with a fuzzy, warm, happy ending that’s classic but not cliched.

More than anything, the movie pays tribute to the golden years of the fifties and sixties, where Singapore was moving away from the post-war period into a time where we were known as the financial hub of Southeast Asia, marking the beginning of the rise of the metropolis it is today. In an age defined by impermanence, rapid development and cutting-edge technology, Our Sister Mambo gives us insight on how it’s actually possible to preserve the past without compromising on future progress, and indeed why we ought to keep our history alive. In this pivotal SG50 year, Our Sister Mambo is a timely reminder for us to reflect upon Singapore’s history beyond the pages of school textbooks and newspaper archives. Integral to the plot are details about how the entertainment industry has evolved over the course of fifty years, how our country has changed beyond measure and how despite all of that, familial and romantic love transcends time and distance. Through the course of the movie, Mrs Wong learns to loosen her apron strings a little and accept her daughters for who they are and who they love. The lesson she takes away is one the audience comes to understand as well- that above all, what’s most important is to love and be loved with no qualms.

If you’re looking for a feel-good piece of family entertainment this week complete with laugh-out-loud humour, Our Sister Mambo is the way to go. Just don’t be surprised if you leave the theatre wanting to ply your grandparents with questions about their childhood and fighting the overwhelming urge to break out in a spirited rendition of Grace Chang’s 说不出的快活.

JA JAM BO!

Trailer:

Our Sister Mambo has a runtime of 93 minutes and is currently being screened at all Cathay cinemas islandwide.

Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feelings? Check out Raffles Press’ new column, Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset, and our resident Aunties and Uncles will be glad to help you with your Rafflesian troubles! Submit your confessions to tinyurl.com/rafflesadvicecolumn and we’ll give them our best shot.

No matter how much I avoid thinking about it I can’t stop feeling insecure about the way I look. How do I convince myself that looks don’t matter?

– Mirror

Dear Mirror,

Personally, I feel the way to deal with your problem is not to “avoid thinking about it”, which is what you describe yourself doing. Actively avoiding any problem is not going to make it go away. To solve it, you have to take a breath, grit your teeth, and face it head-on.

It is very common for us to feel insecure about our looks, especially during this day and age when we are bombarded with superhuman standards of physical beauty, which enforce our own self-criticism. However, in your hands, too, lies the power to turn your insecurity around – and it’s not through telling yourself that “looks don’t matter”, but that your looks matter enough.

The truth is, looks will always matter. It has always been an unfortunate biological fact, as people need a way to assess you when they first meet you. But beyond that is the fact that if you were (I assume) born with a healthy body or a healthy mind, that is an incredible blessing. When you feel insecure, don’t channel that into self-pity! There’s nobody who can or should, for that matter, stop you from changing your appearance for the sake of you feeling more at ease with yourself. You could also channel all the negative energy towards exercise and healthy living. Not only will that increase the level of feel-good hormones, it’ll likely be an active step towards improving your physique (if you really want to, or if you’re leading a sedentary lifestyle) instead of languishing in front of a mirror all day.

Recently, a YouTuber called bubzbeauty posted a video of her own journey with self-esteem issues, particularly after the birth of her son. While giving birth itself isn’t something we’d have first-hand experience with, I felt she made one very impactful analogy. She used an apple cutter and a carrot grater to make the point that everyone has a certain unique look, but what you do with yourself is more important, and so having looks that differ from the conventional sense of “beauty” does not mean you’re somehow inferior.

You’re your own greatest critic, but “what you achieve inwardly will change outer reality.” (I didn’t say this, J. K. Rowling did!) Even if you don’t look physically beautiful, if you’re positive, kind and self-confident, this shines through in your bearing and gives you a warmth that even the most beautiful (but inwardly insecure) person will not have. Your true friends, and those who love you, won’t judge you because of your looks. They will be your friends because of your character and personality, and that is something that is unlikely to change according to the whims of age and fashion.

Good luck, and remember: you are enough, you are so enough, it’s unbelievable how enough you are! Even if it may not feel like it, you’re always more important than you think you are, just by virtue of the fact that you’re trying your best day by day.

I am a small, scrawny J2 with little muscle to show to my friends. I never had a need to bulk up (never a sportsperson) or to be stronger than I already am (functional enough to survive the day). But recently I’ve begun to feel insecure about myself, about my lack of shape and fitness. How should I go about kickstarting an exercise regime and keep disciplined to it? I wanna be Big Ben and make loud bell sounds, not Small Sam and sound like a triangle in the band

– Big Ben

Dear Big Ben,

Since you seem genuinely determined to start an exercise regime, I will try to give you some useful tips. However, the Aunts and Uncles here are not professional fitness coaches, and thus if you want to advice on how to target specific areas of your physique or map out a detailed workout schedule, we would suggest for you to approach a PE teacher or seek professional advice elsewhere.

To start off:

1. Calculate your BMI.

• It is incredibly basic, but a good tool for assessing whether your weight is in the healthy range or not.
• There are a multitude of BMI websites, one of which can be accessed here.
• However, do note that a “good” BMI may not be a  reliable indicator of your fitness level (or muscle-to-fat ratio).

2. Pencil out free time in your schedule that you can spare for exercising.

• A huge sacrifice won’t be necessary.  A good starter would be half an hour per day, every two days.
• Try not to stick to just the gym or running on the treadmill. Singapore has plenty of beautiful parks and walks, and exercising outside will also give you a dose of Vitamin D from the sunlight.

3. Vary your workout.

• Alternate between cardio (running, jogging, etc.) and strength (pull-ups, push-ups, etc.) workouts, because that will minimize the chances of you growing bored with exercising, and will also let you develop the different muscles of your body.
• Also, don’t fret about needing state-of-the-art gym equipment for you strength exercises. Most of them can be done free-of-charge at home, using your own body weight as natural “weights”.

4. Watch your diet.

• A lot of “skinny” people can be very unhealthy, as their naturally high metabolism rate hides the amount of salt or fat they consume in their diet. But these don’t disappear; they can line the insides of your heart and liver muscles, and will increase in the chance of future diseases. I know it sounds a little dramatic, but it’s true!
• Cut down on carbohydrates (especially white rice and white bread), and substitute it with more protein (chicken, soy beans, etc.). Carbohydrates are the main reason why you feel so sleepy in class after a big lunch, while protein is a better replacement which will help build your muscles as well.
• Eat more vegetables. Despite this starting to sound like your mother’s nagging, vegetables have fibers and they are really, really good for you.
• Don’t eat too many fruits. It is commonly thought that eating more fruits is healthy for you. While that is true to a certain extent, substituting fruits for every meal actually leads to an increase in sugar intake, as fruits have their own natural sugar as well.

5. Use technology.

• There are many apps and YouTubers that are dedicated to fitness as well.
• One particular app is MyFitnessPal, a food diary app that allows you to clock in your meals and count your calories.
• However, your Aunts and Uncles want to caution you about calorie counting. It is never completely accurate and may lead you to develop paranoid and guilty feelings whenever you exceed your calorie count. The best way is just to gradually adjust to your diet and make decisions that feel right, instead of lacing yourself into a straitjacket from the very first day.
• A good YouTuber to follow is blogilates; she’s preppy and encouraging (as much as she can be from a computer screen), and also made a video about physical image which I think you should watch.

Now that I’m done with the straightforward tips, I just have some advice for you.

It is good that you are aware of your “lack of shape and fitness”. However, try not to let it stem from a place of insecurity. If your main motivation is to achieve a mental image of “looking good”, what happens if that takes longer than you expected? Or what if you don’t end up looking like all those muscular sportspeople?

Exercise and a good diet are for improving your body, not just the image you want to project. If you try to think of it that way, then perhaps you will have more patience and internal motivation to carry on, as achieving your ideal fitness level may take some time. Ultimately, everyone has a slightly different body type. You may not end up with a bulky, “Big Ben” sort of physique, but it is our shared opinion that as long as you’re fit and healthy, then everything is as it should be.

People say good looks don’t matter, but why are we so easily swayed by appearances? We find it easier to trust better-looking people rather than shady or less aesthetically pleasing people, regardless of their intentions. Why are we so superficial?

– Lame

Dear Lame,

You have pinpointed – very perceptively, if I may add – a very relevant and persistent social issue (and one that has dragged on too long!).

Firstly, anyone who says, “good looks don’t matter” is lying, either to him/herself or whomever they’re telling it to. Humans physically can’t see beyond the surface, so we tend to rely inordinately on what can be surmised at first sight. The character and values of a person will need time to sieve out, while in the mean time good looks tend to receive a more positive reception than the less aesthetically pleasing.

Why is that, though? Actually, the way we go about analyzing appearances has a lot to do with survival. Being good looking can say a lot about you. There are first hand assumptions it could communicate to people: that you take care of your appearance and personal hygiene, and are thus a healthy, sane human being. It can also give some clues to your personality. Certain features, like wide eyes or slanting eyebrows, can even give the person a “look” of innocence or kindness, which helps one sub-consciously catalogue a stranger despite not knowing anything about that person. Also, to bring it down to the basest level – as we start looking for a mate, a “better-looking” person gives off the signal of being a genetically more advantageous selection, rather than someone who is not physically attractive to you. On some level, our fixation with physical looks has been all about the survival of the fittest.

However, we have by now grown past being like the animals in the wild. The benefits of having conventionally good looks will disappear over time if one’s character is proven to be untrustworthy. For me, intellect and morals hold more strength than simple good looks, as there are thousands of good-looking people, but a much smaller number of human beings with genuine characters. You seem to hold a slightly more pessimistic view (with your ending question), but I do believe that most of us are able to distinguish between a merely attractive appearance and intentions that are good and true. If one cannot, then perhaps it is the person him/herself that is shallow, not society’s concept of physical beauty.

Ultimately, being born good-looking is the result of a random combination of genes. It is completely out of your control whether you look good according to society’s standards of attractiveness. In fact, different societies have valued different perceptions of beauty throughout time, as evidenced by this lovely BuzzFeed video (you can search for the men’s version as well), so what is “beautiful” is actually a rather arbitrary concept out of your control. What lies in your control, though, is loving yourself and being comfortable in your own skin. If you maintain your health and look great according to your own standards, your natural confidence will inherently increase and give people a much more positive vibe compared to someone who looks beautiful, but is distant and/or insecure. Your true friends and those who love you should be willing to look past what you are on the outside.

Thank you, and I hope this adequately addresses your questions!

Sincerely,
Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset

If you have any queries or concerns related to the Aunt Agony/Uncle Upset column or its confessions, please direct them to press.raffles@gmail.com, with the title ‘Questions about Aunt Agony’.

by Collin Teo (16S06Q) and Ian Cheng (16S03M)

It’s been 369 days since the 34ths were invested, and 69 days since they stepped down. It’s been a mad term for them, with a litany of deadlines for proposals, preparations for events, but at the end of it all (like their 33 batches of predecessors), they have survived. Quite ironically, despite their theme of ‘no unguarded backs’, the last thing they ever did during their term was look back. As they hand over the mantle of leadership to the newly invested 35th Students’ Council, it’s about as good a time as ever to take a step back and review the legacy of the 34th Student Councillors. Through an exclusive interview with the Presidents of the 34th Students’ Council, we bring you through the good, the bad, and the memorable moments of their term.

The 34th Presidents pose for a picture with the writers of the Council Interview Series.
L to R: Ian Cheng, Cai Minglu (Vice-President), Isaac Leong (President), Chan Mae Yee (Vice-President), Collin Teo

The 34th Student Council’s Goals
Isaac told us that they had 5 clear aims in mind, saying that “they were all targeted towards building a sense of belonging and we broke down what sense of belonging meant.” By dissolving the ‘sense of belonging’ into its smaller constituent parts, the 34th Students’ Council had 5 goals they could actively pursue throughout their term:

1. To create opportunities for people to feel attachment with the campus itself through creating common spaces and capitalizing on current ones.
2. To create channels for support between students by establishing a solid base for peer support. This would encourage students to care more for those who needed help – building a more caring and considerate culture.
3. To create common experiences that students could remember and relate to, part of which encompassed the fourth goal.
4. To create relevant and attractive events that people would remember fondly.
5. To create a sense of inclusivity among students in school to ensure that no one was left out – all in line with their investiture theme of ‘no unguarded backs’.

It was therefore these 5 goals that guided every action of the 34th Student Councillors – from the events organized to initiatives planned, right down to the allocation of every budgeted dollar.

Initial concerns
While it was great that the 34ths were clear about where they were headed, we wanted to uncover the motivations behind their plans. From the interview, we learned that the Student Councillors formed an initial impression of the state of Rafflesian matters through observations made by the Presidents and feedback from other informal and formal channels. It was from this treasure trove of information that the 34ths derived their goals – aimed toward closing up gaps in the school and capitalizing on current strengths. In particular, they noted 3 areas of concern – a result-oriented culture, lacklustre participation and a lack of ownership.

• Result-oriented culture
“[The school] was a lot more focused on the tangible, the medals, the Golds, which are the sports teams that have won, which are the sports teams that are exciting to watch”, Minglu pointed out, and quite rightly so, that the school had an increasingly unhealthy obsession with results. Many Sports CCAs that didn’t do particularly well during the Sports Seasons were given less recognition. Worse was the case for non-competitive CCAs, which were sidelined almost completely. The disproportionate amount of appreciation and support for different CCAs was worrying to them because it bred a culture that placed less emphasis on effort than on results. While people may think that effort solely determines success, the 34ths recognised that results might not necessarily be a function of just effort, but can instead be influenced by many other factors such as extenuating circumstances.

• Lacklustre participation
The second area of consideration concerned the participation in events by students. Isaac felt that “there were events that were done by the 33rds that not a lot of students took part in…and therefore the events did not have as large an impact as they hoped it would have.” To organize such events was “a waste – no point in doing an event if no one takes part in it.” The 34ths attributed the occasional lacklustre attendance to the insufficient tailoring of certain events to the students, which reduced their effectiveness and footprint. Events therefore had to be reconsidered – either removed or reevaluated and improved.

• Lack of ownership
“It seems that one of the key problems we saw was that people didn’t feel that sense of ownership in school.” Isaac told us that the 34ths were concerned with the distinct lack of ownership Rafflesians had over their school. While it couldn’t be quantified given the intangible nature of school spirit, there were certain indicators that led them to this conclusion, which were closely related to the first 2 problems they identified. For instance, the lack of participation in events could have been attributed to the missing ownership over their school and a diminished sense of belonging. That said, however, Mae Yee felt that “the thing about Spirit is that it is a continual kind of thing”, which meant that it would always be a work-in-progress.

Changes implemented
While Isaac could provide a laundry list of events organized, initiatives pushed through and changes made to existing activities and systems, the legacy the 34ths left behind would go far beyond the tangible. But just for the record, here’s a list of just some of the many changes implemented during their term.

• Orientation
  • OG Hours organized for the first time;
  • Storyline styled as a musical;
  • Revised format for Station Games
• Welfare Department
  • ‘Pay-it-Forward’ initiative;
  • ‘Snack Attack’;
  • ‘The Humble Basket’;
  • ‘Humans of Raffles’
• Council Website
  • Retained substantial feedback from the channels provided;
  • Increased the transparency of Councillors’ work
• CCA Department
  • Match Support conducted by classes for the entire school for the first time
• Houses
  • BB’s ‘Wheel of Fortune’ initiative;
  • BW’s ‘make-a-wish’ initiative;
  • MR’s newsletter and Christmas Cards;
  • HH’s IHC encouragement;
  • MT’s unique House Parties
• Presidents and Secretaries
  • Lego Crest for Founder’s Day 2014;
  • Streamlined morning assembly – announcements posted onto Twitter;
  • Fundraising for Nepal – 2000 dollars accumulated at Press time

Despite this impressive list of revisions and improvements on the status quo, the 34ths saw these tangible achievements not as stand-alone achievements but rather as achievements contributing towards their central goals. In other words, what their achievements stood for – the spirit of it all –  was what mattered in the eyes of all 3 presidents. Mae Yee told us that through certain welfare initiatives like ‘The Humble Basket’, they managed to ‘[create] a very caring and supportive school environment’. Minglu took it one step further in saying that they ‘[involved] the school more in [match supports] and tried to get everyone to know what was happening.’ Indeed, it seemed that the 34ths were able to deal with one of their initial concerns of School Spirit in bringing it ‘further in the continuum’, as Isaac puts it.

As established earlier along with the initial concerns, the 34ths felt that upon solidifying the Spirit of the school, most other issues could be mitigated or resolved. Perhaps this could offer an explanation for why the 34ths focused most of their effort in building a semblance of belonging and ownership in their batch-mates. As Isaac said,“I think the initiatives that we have done encourage the people to feel that it was worth it and they have to contribute to it.” Of course, these are solutions which are very much in progress – though of course, solutions which have already brought about some positive effects undeniably.

While the impact that the 34ths have had on their batch-mates remains to be seen or quantified (perhaps it may never!), it is the genuine hope of the Councillors that “people have taken away something from [the] things that [they] have done.”

No turning back
Of regrets, the 3 Presidents had little to offer us except that ‘it’s quite sad to live with regrets’, as Isaac mentioned. That said, however, there were a few areas which the 34ths felt might have merited conscientious effort – but as with most regrets, we know they often cannot be helped given circumstantial reasons, and assuming that the best choice was made then.

Given more time and opportunity, Isaac would have liked to get to know each Councillor on a personal level. ‘It’s a big Council’, he quips, and given the size of the 34ths Students’ Council, and the scope of affairs he had to manage, it’s understandable why this had to be lower down the agenda.

Minglu was more concerned that not much was done to help struggling Councillors, or at least not enough. She told us that quite a number of Councillors had to be ‘off-loaded’ certain duties and could not take part in events like Orientation as OGLs. To this end, her chief regret was done more could have been done to support these Councillors – far earlier than before their inability to cope became an actual problem.

Moving forward
Looking forward, the Presidents admitted that there still exists work to be done, and that many new problems could arise in the near future. They gave us 3 probable areas of concern to watch – elitism, discipline and the relevance of the Students’ Council.

Very briefly, Isaac pointed out that with the increasing perception of RI as an elitist institution in the public’s eyes, ‘we need to be actively out there to deal with the perception’ instead of letting it fester. Some part of this could come from doing more community projects, but that can only do so much. Instead, Council could perhaps encourage Rafflesians to look at ways of reaching out to the community around them (like the Bishan community), which can help make The Rafflesian student a more personable and identifiable one.

Council should also consider its purpose in RI, and constantly evaluate if its role should remain the same. By doing this, it reduces the risk of becoming irrelevant, or performing a repeat role some other body in school is already doing. For instance, if getting feedback on its initiatives and the school management should be a function of Council, or the duty of a CCA like Raffles Press which actively pursues student discourse. In addition, the role Council plays in school discipline, if at all important to them, should be reevaluated, and perhaps newer ways of tackling the age-old problem of discipline can be found.

That said, the work of Council has been, is, and will always be a continual one. The 34ths have done their part – now let’s see how the 35ths will measure up and continue this legacy.

Trivia
The 34th Presidents are, like any other human, not without their quirks and fond interests. Here we attempt to probe into their personal interests!

Favourite food

• Isaac: Local food
• Mae Yee: Hokkien Mee
• Minglu: Japanese food

Favourite film

• Isaac: The Dark Knight, Interstellar, X-Men series (He can’t seem to make up his mind!)
• Mae Yee: Dear John
• Minglu: Into the wild

Books to read

• Isaac: House of leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
• Mae Yee: Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
• Minglu: Everyday by David Levithan

Click here to view the full transcript of the interview!

By Ian Cheng (16S03M) and Collin Teo (16S06Q)

To many Rafflesians, the inner workings of the Students’ Council may seem more foreign and mysterious than the A grade for Economics. After a chat with the 35th Department Heads, we at Raffles Press think we can demystify it for you.

First of all, what are the Departments and what exactly do they do? In addition to the 5 Houses, there exists 3 Departments in Council – CCA Department (CCAD), Welfare Department and Communications Department (Commz’D). Each department serves a distinct role in Council, which will be explored in greater detail soon. These departments are headed by Mukund Bala, Tricia Goh and Qiu Jiayu respectively.

The 35th Department Heads pose for a picture with the writers of the Council Interview Series.
L to R: Collin Teo, Qiu Jiayu, Mukund Bala, Tricia Goh, Ian Cheng

We began the interview with the Department heads explaining the role of departments in general. As put by Mukund, “[Departments] organize all these people and try to align them towards a common goal…[and] work actively towards it.” Departments facilitate the delegation of work so as to increase the efficiency at which tasks are completed and allow for a multifaceted approach to enriching students’ school experiences. They frequently engage in collaboration not just with each other, but with the 5 Houses and the school administration as well. In doing so, the Departments tap on each other’s distinct roles and strengths.

CCA Department (CCAD)
At a glance, one might think of CCAD as the cheerleader of the school. From the onset, the mission it has crafted states that it will “provide support and value for the efforts of all CCAs and to instill school pride, uniting  Raffles as one”. CCAD is essentially in charge of whipping up School Spirit or as we at Raffles like to call it, the Rafflesian Spirit.

Given the huge emphasis the school places on cultivating the Rafflesian Spirit (and rightfully so!), CCAD plays a monumental role in our school culture. Its main responsibilities include organising match supports as well as events such as IHC Remix and IHC sports. These events take place throughout the year, and are supposed to cater to different interests and increase students’ involvement in the events. To Mukund, they have had a great impact as they’ve “become culture for our school and the reason why it’s become culture is because it’s achieving certain goals, like bringing the school together in one place.”

With the bulk of its time spent on these activities, CCAD’s approach can largely be seen as a top-down one, a fact acknowledged by Mukund as he says, “maybe we should also take more of a ground-up approach” as it might have a more direct impact on students. Yet, it is worth noting that CCAD has come up with  unique initiatives that engage students more personally, such as the Season Packs or Spirit Week. The Season Packs are an ongoing initiative started by the 34ths, where CCAD provides sporting teams with refreshments after a match, showing their support and care. Spirit Week is a discontinued initiative by the 33rds. It allowed students to express their pride in a certain aspect of school for a week by wearing attire associated with that aspect of school, for example class T-shirts, CCA attire. (If this sounds familiar, it’s because it bears similarities to Team Raffles Day at the Y1-4 side.)

While these activities have had their fair share of problems, they’ve served as learning experiences for CCAD to enhance their initiatives. Mukund and his department fully intend to carry on with Season Packs, and also have an eye towards reviving Spirit Week. Furthermore, in line with a continuing emphasis on building inclusivity, Mukund gave his assurance that “we want to do an event that really brings the whole batch and school together and really support the achievements and the efforts of all CCAs … so keep your eyes open, keep your ears open and get ready to feel it, feel the School Spirit.”

Welfare
If CCAD is the rousing, enthusiastic student constantly shouting encouragement to others, then the Welfare Department might be seen as the calmer, quietly supportive friend. The Welfare Department aims to “to build a home within the school community” and “to provide sustainable opportunities for students to show care to one another”.  This speaks to a larger goal of developing a warmer school community which allows students to be comfortable being themselves in school, but at the same time, as they would at home, respecting and taking care of the school environment.

In the stress–laden environment that is JC, Tricia finds this goal to be a difficult one, as “[students sometimes] are very held back and tied back by schoolwork so it’s very stressful and they feel trapped and under pressure, so it might affect how they behave in school because they cannot be who they truly are.” Admittedly, the extent of help Welfare can provide may be limited (“it is an individual’s responsibility to be able to cope with their own workload, family and stuff”), but they’ll still try to help relieve the stress by helping students relax. One way in which Welfare tries to help relieve stress, is in the running and maintenance of the Hodge Lodge, where students can play games, enjoy movies and hang out with friends. It has also organised initiatives such as Snack Attack to provide students with some free snacks to munch on, and Friendship Appreciation Week (if you have friends).

Upon evaluation of these initiatives, one might note that, aside from the Hodge Lodge, they’re mostly small and one-off. The approach Welfare takes might therefore be lacking in sustainability and comprehensiveness, an issue we pointed out. To this, Tricia acknowledged the current situation and explained that “it’s quite hard for something to be sustained throughout the year…there are certain periods, like peak periods [when] you really want to go in and address the stress or the problem”. Jiayu commented that “Council operates within very realistic time limits … there can be a lot of long-term ideas, but we realize there really just isn’t enough time for us to roll out all these things.”

In addition, with respect to the Hodge Lodge, Raffles Press also pointed out the less than desirable state of the frequency of visits by students. To this, Tricia gave assurances that “the Hodge Lodge has really been overlooked and so that’s really something that [they] hope to bring back because it holds a lot of potential”. Overall, they’re seeking to be “more active in showing their care towards other people”, and in doing so, have a lasting impact on the school. Even though some students might not remember the specific initiatives by Welfare, Tricia felt that ultimately, recognition of the Department’s efforts wasn’t necessary. As she put it, “it’s okay if you don’t remember what Welfare did exactly as long as you manage to have a memorable and a good school life”.

Communications Department (Commz’D)
With a tagline of “Voice of Students, Voice to Students, Voice for Students”, the Communications Department, or Commz’D’s vision might seem reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln’s famous ending to the Gettysburg address. This lofty ideal is complemented by their mission, which states, “The 35th Communications Department is committed to empowering students to take ownership of their school life by building a culture of feedback between the students and the school and facilitating meaningful conversations within the student body in order to establish trust between the student body and the Students’ Council.” To the casual observer, Commz’D seems enamoured with high ideals and eloquent exposition.

Its responsibilities, however, are far more down to earth – it is in charge of gathering feedback and publicising events. Jiayu explained that the purpose of acquiring feedback is to understand the ground sentiments and enact noticeable change. “The school planner that we had at the beginning of the year – that was a result of Commz’D feedback!” The feedback-giving process also increases the involvement of students in the school as they are forced to “think about [their] role as a student or as a member of the student population, what are the things that you want to improve, what are the changes that you want to see, what is the constructive feedback that you can give to actively create a better school environment for you and your peers.”

To reach out and gather this feedback, Commz’D has various platforms for students to proffer their opinions. If you’ve noticed the Gryphon head-shaped box in the middle of the canteen walkway, that’s the Feedback Box installed by the 34ths as part of their Feedback Drive. Feedback can also be given through the Council Website, which happens to be run by Commz’D. When seeking more specific feedback, Commz’D has the option of holding focus group discussions, such as the recent one held with the outgoing batch of CCA Leaders, regarding some of the problems the CCAs were facing.

In the process of gathering feedback, Jiayu feels that a major obstacle is the inadequate culture of feedback in RI. She attributed this to how “people are very nonchalant about the condition of the school, so people don’t really care”, perhaps exacerbated by the general busyness and hectic schedule of JC. This results in a sense of apathy towards school matters, where many students fail to recognise the importance of giving feedback.

In their drive to improve RI’s feedback culture, Jiayu and her department have come up with a few solutions, which are mainly aimed at providing better acknowledgement of feedback. Her main goal is to make feedback “more dynamic” and “show people that they are heard at the end of the day.” Currently, you’ll get a written response of thanks for providing your feedback, but Jiayu is thinking of going a step further, providing concrete incentives (I wouldn’t mind Pizza, really) as a way to show their gratitude. She’s also thinking of collaborations with platforms such as Press, wherein impartial feedback (for instance, Pizza) can be provided to Commz’D.  However, Jiayu acknowledged that developing a culture of feedback is a work in progress that “[needs] the work of consecutive batches”.

New People, New Ideas?
As with every new batch of Councillors that enter into service, the 35ths bring with them novel ideas and fresh perspectives that lend a sense of dynamism to Council. As the 35ths translate these ideas into action in their separate departments, we wish them all the best and hope their plans accomplish the goals they have set for themselves. The proficiency with which they do this will, after all, determine their legacy as a collective 35th Students’ Council.

To view the full interview transcript, click here.

By Ian Cheng (16S03M) and Collin Teo (16S06Q)

“Be RED-y to say we BBlew you away. (laughs) Haha HHope that we will BWave the HHeights.” – House Captains 2015

For the readers who managed to read the above quote without cringing or heaving a sigh of resignation, kudos to you. That was but one of the many quips that Raffles Press experienced during our lively interview with the 35th House Captains, which will serve as the final instalment of our Council Interview Series. (Click here to view the full interview transcript.)

The 35th House Captains pose for a picture without the writers of the Council Interview Series.
L to R: Sim Wei Shi, Gao Yanxin, Zhang Anli, Cherie Poon, Valerie Kwan

Making up the House system are Buckle-Buckley (BB), Hadley-Hullett (HH), Morrison-Richardson (MR), Moor-Tarbet (MT), and Bayley-Waddle (BW). They’re led by a team of House Executive Members, which comprises the House Directorate from the Students’ Council, and the House Committee. Heading the Houses are the House Captains: Valerie Kwan, Gao Yanxin, Cherie Poon, Sim Wei Shi and Zhang Anli respectively.

Role of the Houses
“Houses exist to enrich our school experience because ultimately, that is what the Students’ Council wants to do – to add colour to our time in Raffles and to give us a sense of family and sense of belonging.” Anli began the interview by giving this take on the rationale for Houses. It’s clear from the House Captains’ responses that they believe fervently in the House cause. To them, the House experience is an integral part of JC life that gives students an opportunity to be part of “a community of friends that’s very big and diverse”. This allows for the formation of new friendships and is meant to develop a greater sense of connection to the school.

If this sounds similar to the Council’s mission, that’s because it’s meant to be – the House Spirit, as Yanxin told us, is meant to be a subset of school spirit. As she put it, “through Houses we help to build their identity and make them feel a sense of belonging to the House … by extension overtime, it will be a sense of belonging to the school.” The Houses, therefore, serve as groups to which all students can attach to. Ultimately, the ties built through interactions both intra and inter House are meant to add to the student’s overall school experience. Valerie summed it up to us this way, “House is like cake icing, with the cake base being the school. Icing may not be absolutely essential, because cakes are good stuff, but icing takes the cake to a whole new level. And that, is the purpose of the Houses: To make school more fun, more enjoyable, and more memorable.”

Mission
As with the Pressecs (Presidents and Secretaries), the Houses too have set their missions to guide them for their Council term. These missions are aligned with the main Council mission (which you can read about here!), and “even though it might seem different when differently phrased, they embody the same values”, Cherie explained. The five Houses’ missions are as follows:

BB: Forge a unique Buckle-Buckley identity that BB-ians are proud of. We will be a united House, an inclusive family.

HH: Being relevant to the needs of House members to create an inclusive and passionate family.

MT: Create a strong MT House identity through which we can cultivate an inclusive and bonded school community where everyone can create fond memories through fun and meaningful experiences.

MR: Empower MR-ians to be actively involved in House activities which cater to every MR-ian so as to create a sustainable sense of pride and unity within the House.

BW: Spread the passion for BW through a familiar environment where strong friendships are forged with every House Directorate member putting a concerted effort into creating personal friendships with every BW-ian, ensuring that BW’s presence is sustained as part of their school identity.

From the missions, it’s evident that there are certain themes consistent across the Houses, chief among them the idea of inclusivity. In fact, it’s so common that the word “inclusive” is used in BB’s, HH’s and MT’s missions, and the notion of it is also present in MR and BW’s missions. To build this inclusiveness, Yanxin emphasised the need to appeal to students, saying, “we target the different needs-what they want and what they are good at”. By tailoring initiatives such that students are encouraged and willing to participate, the House Captains can ensure a healthy level of involvement in House events.

The missions also focus on building passion for the Houses. This is, as earlier explained, in line with the Student Council’s goal this year to develop an increased sense of ownership. As students create closer ties to school groups such as House, they feel more attached to the school and have a bigger stake in shaping the school’s direction.

Finally, the missions touch on the concept of sustainability. The inevitability for each organisation in Raffles, be it the Student’s Council, the House System, or CCAs, is that each batch comes and goes. This means people with experience are constantly leaving, and their ideas and initiatives, which may not have been actualised during their term, are not necessarily picked up by the next batch. Thus, short-term initiatives that develop a certain value or passion aren’t sufficient-there needs to be a long-term plan to build a self-sustained community effort.

With these three main values in mind – inclusiveness, passion and sustainability, the House Captains look set to make a meaningful impact in their term.

Events and Initiatives
Every year, the Houses organise various initiatives both big and small. The major mainstays include the IHC Remix and IHC Sports, which are held every year under different themes. (This year’s themes are Orion: The Fire Within and TŪHURA: Uncharted Territories respectively). These events each have a wide variety of activities, with the Remix containing the highly popular Dramafeste, Dancefeste and Musicfeste while IHC Sports has what its name would suggest: different sporting acitvities. During these large-scale events, the House Captains do their best to whip up House Spirit and fervour among their fellow Housemates.

Aside from school-wide events, smaller initiatives are organized by the House Committees for their respective Houses. These small initiatives, as Yanxin told us, are where Houses can “give a fresh perspective in the sense that we try to find a different way to help the school in providing for the welfare of the students.” Anli then furthered this point by bringing up BW’s Make a Wish initiative, a novel initiative in which BWians would write wishes on notes and put them into a box in the Canteen Walkway, following which the BW House Committee would try their best to fulfill that wish. To him, this exemplified the special role of Houses as, “it can add a personal touch to the whole initiative that we are trying to carry out…I can just mass produce a lot of welfare packs and just distribute it out, but then there’s a difference in the personal touch.”

For their term, the 35th House Captains, along with their members from the House Directorate, have come up with some ideas of their own for new initiatives. Anli, Wei Shi and Cherie told us that they were considering a “House Week”, which would “basically [be] a week dedicated to encouraging the House Spirit of every single House.” It would be a time where “the whole school  celebrates the House…we can wear accessories or whatever represents the Houses on that day.” This sounds very similar to Spirit Week, but specifically targeted at Houses.

Problems, Challenges and Solutions
It’s comforting to know the House Captains have so many ideas and events planned out for us. Yet, Raffles Press did note some potential problems they might face in their term ahead.

• Unity or Division?
First, we raised the issue of whether Houses divide more than they unite. After all, House Captains encourage students to take part in the events with passion, which can lead to intense Inter-House competition. In turn, this might foster a sense of rivalry exacerbated by conflicts arising from the heat of competition.

However, the House Captains chose to see the competition taking place as light-hearted contests. As Wei Shi put it,  “the Houses interact through friendly competition because it’s not a very serious affair where you want to kill the opposition. It’s a work together kind of thing, where you want to have fun through friendly interactions.” At the same time, Cherie acknowledged the presence of some unhealthy rivalry and said, “I think our responsibility is to ensure that as House Captains, we have try to change this notion through our initiatives and emphasize this through friendly competitions, not rivalry.”

• Bigger – Necessarily Better?
As stated earlier, the highlights of the House experience are the big events – IHC Remix and IHC sports. Undoubtedly, these are excellent ways to forge strong and long-lasting experiences and memories for students to hold on to and cherish. As Yanxin said, “If we went through IHC or we go for Dancefeste and Musicfeste, then that would be a period which we actually invest a lot of time for something…when you look back on your JC life, that would be one significant event in your life that you would remember, and it was an opportunity that was given to you by House.” It’s often not the “small” matters (like the score for your recent class test) that we’ll remember in the future, but instead the time-consuming, pain-inducing, yet highly rewarding experiences that one might have during the preparation for a major event like Dramafeste.

With that being said, there might perhaps be an over reliance on these large-scale events to foster House Spirit, resulting in a lack of sustained House Spirit over the year. This was an issue admitted by the House Captains themselves as Cherie told us, “I think the issue of sustainability of House Spirit isn’t fully addressed in our school because after the big events and IHC Remix and Sports, there are not many initiatives that go on to keep the House Spirit high”. Anli further commented that, “During our CTs (Common Tests) and our Promos (Promotional Examinations), it’s very taxing from our point of view as well, for us to carry out any heavy initiatives.”

While it’s a difficult problem to solve, the House Captains were not without ideas. Anli raised the possibility of using social media to constantly communicate with Housemates and “create the same sense that the House is always there”. Wei Shi also chipped in, saying that “maybe during peak periods for students…a way to keep the House Spirit present would be to cater to the welfare of the students because everyone is stressed during this time.”

• Fringe Members
Some of us may have that friend or classmate who doesn’t really take part in any House events (or school events for that matter), and is disinterested in the whole idea of House or perhaps occupied with other commitments like studying. When we discussed this matter, Yanxin emphasised the importance of “[reflecting] on what we are doing [as] there must be a reason why they don’t participate, maybe they are just lazy, or they don’t feel the spirit and maybe what we are doing is just not what they are interested in.” She, like Anli, also suggested the use of a platform like social media to reach out and communicate with all students.

Houses within our Home
As a worldwide feature in numerous schools, Houses have the ability to build a sense of group loyalty, heightening our attachment to our fellow Housemates, batchmates, and the school. Ultimately, it all adds on to the notion that school is like a home away from home, a sentiment we believe is shared by many. It’s thus imperative that the House Executive Members take care to properly nurture the House Spirit.

Finally, nearing the end of our interview we asked the House Captains to provide us with a few rallying calls for their Houses, which we’re now going to share with you. In view of the concluding IHC sports season, we hope all participants have gone forth and done their best!

BB: Sup BBians! Be excited. Because you are going to have a great year ahead. BB House D is extremely happy to be serving you, and we’ll unleash your beast within. BB Bazinga!

MT: MT-ians, we will make sure that your JC life will definitely be a time to remember. We have a lot of cool things in mind, so just be RED-y

HH: HHians! Let’s all have fun together while we fight our hearts out for HH. Trust that HHouse is your family who will be behind you all the way.

MR: MR-ians, you all are the House’s pride and joy, just remember that we are one united wolf pack who will always be there to support one another and to reach greater heights.

BW: BW, we are a family, we are ohana, made up of brothers and sisters, who will fight our hearts out knowing that we have our family behind us.

Published online at Rafflesian Times

By Michelle Zhu (15A01B), Nicholas Baey (15S03F) and Teo Yao Neng (3G)

In 2014, two of our alumni, Major-General (MG) Perry Lim (RI, 1988; RJC 1990) and Rear-Admiral (RADM) Lai Chung Han (RI, 1989; RJC 1991) were appointed as Chief of Army and Chief of Navy respectively. In this interview, they share their candid thoughts about Singapore and the armed forces, as well as the life lessons they gleaned from their time in RI.

Left: Chief of Army, MG Perry Lim Right: Chief of Navy, RADM Lai Chung Han

WHAT’S ON THEIR RADAR?

PL: We’re concerned about terrorism at the global level. Even though the operations by the Islamic state in Syria and Iraq may seem half a world away, the threat that we face could involve self-radicalised individuals from Singapore, as well as from the region who go over to fight for what they perceive to be a religious war. When they return to the region, they will be trying to further their agenda here.

Singapore stands on the side of the international community to combat this terrorism and because of that, we may be a target of terrorists. That is why on a day to day basis you have the Army and Navy conduct operations during peacetime. We defend installations, places like Changi Airport, Sembawang Wharf, Jurong Island, to make Singapore a difficult target for terrorists.

LCH: Terrorism is a very real threat because the world is getting “smaller” and more inter-connected. Singapore is a maritime nation and we need to watch our maritime borders very carefully. Regionally, South China Sea (SCS) disputes, as well as tensions in the East China Sea, are on our radar. These tensions affect the freedom of flight and navigation in the region. As for Singapore’s role, we are small and we have no claims in the SCS, which puts us in a good position to be an interlocutor. We’re also non-threatening, which makes us ideal to facilitate the discussion on maintaining regional peace and stability.

PL: While we are maintaining our capabilities to deter conventional threats and to defend the country, over time the SAF has re-organised our forces to be more flexible, and to respond to a range of scenarios. Our army is capable of a spectrum of operations, including counter-terrorism and other sorts of peacekeeping operation. These peacetime operations include responding to natural disasters, like the Boxing Day Tsunami and earthquakes around the region, in terms of providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

MG Perry Lim visiting a Unit

THE CHALLENGES FROM WITHIN

PL: I think that the fundamental problem now and going ahead for the next 5 to 10 years is our population size. Our cohort is getting smaller, in the sense that the people who are enlisting for national service gets fewer. As a national service army, we will eventually have to manage an armed force that will be smaller in terms of numbers. So the challenge for us is to continue to strengthen the army and achieve our missions, becoming just as capable and ready even though we have fewer soldiers. To do this, we would have to rely on military technology in terms of hardware, networks and better trained soldiers. So demographics provides a long term challenge to the army.

LCH: Well, the navy is slightly different. The army is largely a conscript force, but the Navy is largely a regular force. There are still similar issues though, since as the cohort shrinks, there are competing demands and it becomes more challenging to recruit regulars. We’ve been looking at how to recruit more women and mid-careerists as regulars.

PL: Our soldiers today are more educated. One of the advantages of this, is that they pick up soldiering skills much faster and are more adept at operating our 3rd generation capabilities. However, they also have higher expectations and bigger aspirations. We have to adjust our approach in the way we train and teach them to acquire skills, as well as how to engage them so that they find meaning and purpose in National Service. So the main issues are related to demography: how do we continue to be effective and capable with a smaller army? How do we motivate and inspire a more educated army?

LCH: For the Navy, the issue is one of retaining talent. There’s an increasing trend of people wanting to try different things, people not staying in the same job like they used to. It used to be that you had one profession and you would stick with it for decades and that would just be your career, but now there are changing preferences. We’re addressing this in two ways – how to bring in people from other professions, and how to encourage people to stay on.

We need to help our people feel that their job is meaningful and worth doing for the long haul. We also offer a very strong programme for professional development and there is a range of scholarships available. In terms of career value proposition, we started a military domain expert scheme (or MDES) a number of years ago, where our servicemen are offered a full career until they are 60, to go deep in a specialised area. On the other hand, our naval officers on the combat scheme retire young at 50, and so to get people to stay we need to ensure they have clarity of purpose – why they are doing what they are doing. The sense of personal conviction is very important.

The idea of the Navy family is also important, with the sense of belonging and solidarity that it provides.

PL: The Army has transformed its training system, such that it is in line with the experience that our students go through in school. In the same way that students use laptops and tablet computers to learn – there’s a lot more self–directed learning currently in place. Because of the emphasis on group learning and projects in our schools, we are able to restructure our ground forces such that they can operate in smaller groups – they are able to handle technology, communication systems, such that we are able to effect new ways of fighting and operating at the soldier level.

We are conscious that we have to give our soldiers a positive experience. Over the 2 years we must make them feel that their time is well-spent, and that we are not wasting their time. We try to give them moments that they will remember for life – our term for this is defining moments and positive experiences.

That said, it’s not that training has become easier. Every generation would think that their training is tougher than the new generation. When I was undergoing training 20 years ago, my seniors would say that we were having it easy, during my time blah blah. Then, when it was my time to be a senior, I would tell the soldiers at BMT or OCS, ‘Hey my training was tougher than yours!’ The fact of that matter is that the way we are training our soldiers has changed. It is a different generation and the soldier’s learning experience is very different from now as compared to 20 years ago, and they respond to different means of instructions. We take greater care to ensure safety in training, and we don’t just tell them to do things – we explain the reasons behind what they are doing so that they can be committed to learning the tasks. Out in the field, we give them missions and tasks to do, which are no less tough than before.
And in spite of the tough training, at the end of it we hope they can find meaning from the process, understand it is for a good reason and with the rest of their team they are able to have a positive experience. We actively design our training to facilitate that.

FEMALE CONSCRIPTION AND THE VOLUNTEER SCHEME

PL: In the case of the boys, it is a universal system of conscription. This means that it is not selective conscription – we enlist all the boys in the cohort. It isn’t the case that we enlist some and not the others. But we are not at the stage where we need to double the number. So what we are trying to do really is to do more or to do just as well with fewer soldiers.

Obviously it is not the decision for us or the armed forces to decide, but it a decision by the government. And it needs to take into account the public’s support. The only reason why we are able to conscript our young men for 2 years of NS, and 10+ years as operationally ready national servicemen, is because the public continues to support national service and believe that NS is vital for the defence of the country. People generally accept that it is a fair and equitable system. And on our part, we are, in a sense, in a fairly good position in that we continue to have firm support from the public.

LCH: With regards to the SAF Volunteer Corps (SAFVC), the volunteers will come in at specific windows, and some of the jobs are quite specialised – so people can use their specialised skills from their civilian work to contribute to defence. Through the SAFVC, we also hope that the volunteers from all segments of Singapore society will gain a better understanding of what it takes to defend Singapore and in turn better appreciate the contributions of NSmen.

PL: The objective is to allow those not liable for national service like PRs and Singaporean ladies to contribute to defence. There are quite a number of vocations they can choose from, such as a security trooper or medical trainer or legal advisor. First we have to put you in uniform and get you familiarised with how to be in a military organisation. The initial programme lasts from 2-3 weeks.

Even though the corps is small, they are able to provide a valid contribution. The reason being, if I can fight with 10 people why would I fight with 9? Obviously it would not replace national service and we are also quite careful to make it clear that our volunteers will not be trained to the same level as some of our servicemen, considering the fact that the servicemen have a longer term of service and undergo more rigorous and specialised training.

The other objective is to allow people who are not acquainted with the military to know more about our armed forces and national services, so as to better appreciate for what the guys do, and foster greater support for NS. This helps sustain our national service system in the long run.

IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL IDENTITY

PL: Well there is this view that goes something like this: ‘With the large number of foreigners, I don’t feel that Singapore is ours anymore, therefore why should we defend it?’ I don’t understand or accept this view. Just because there are foreigners in Singapore or people joining us as PRs or new citizens, it shouldn’t take anything away from defending the country. It is a Singaporean’s duty to defend their own country. In times of conflict, foreigners will leave to countries which are safe, but we as Singaporeans must stay and fight. If no one defends the country, who will?

LCH: The immigration issue is not in any way unique to Singapore and many developed countries have similar challenges. We’re still a young nation – 50 years is a short time when you set it against the history of other countries – and our grandparents were themselves migrants who settled in Singapore several decades ago. There is a bright future for Singapore to be forged together with all who are prepared to be involved and who want to contribute positively. Ultimately, we ourselves need to get involved, because a national identity and national pride are best forged when you are involved.

THEIR PRIORITIES

PL: The mission of the army is to be Ready, Decisive, and Respected. The Ready part involves being ready for special operations, and Decisive in the sense that – should there be a war, we can achieve a quick and decisive victory. That part is something we have achieved and continue to achieve, with a steady investment in defence, acquiring and operationalising military technology with the soldiers that we have. It is the third part where we have to continue to strengthen the army as a Respected organisation in the eyes of the public. In terms of the soldiers and their self esteem, if they are not afraid and shy to wear their uniform in public, then we’ll know that we’ve succeeded, when they respect themselves as soldiers. We also strive to be respected by the other armed forces in the world, to the point where they seek to train with us so they can learn from us.

LCH: Having taken over as CNV only in August 2014, I am quite clear that organisational priorities don’t have to be changed just because there is a change in leadership. Continuity is important for us, and I’m very grateful for all the work my predecessors have done. Truly, we stand on the shoulders of giants.

My predecessor RADM Ng Chee Peng (RI 1986, RJC 1988) coined the term TEAM Navy, which I am very happy to continue advocating. TEAM is an acronym: Transforming into the 3rd Generation RSN, Engaging our people and stakeholders, Advancing integration with the other two Services (Army and Airforce) as well as whole-of-government, and achieving Mission success. So TEAM Navy describes what we do as well as how we work as a team. Equally important is the idea of Navy FAMILY which describes who we are and the close-knit community that we are. When you put TEAM Navy and Navy FAMILY together, we have a very strong sense of purpose and community. My constant refrain when I visit the different units in the Navy is that we have to believe in our mission, be proud of the role we each play, and to strive to great at what we do.

RADM Lai Chung Han (extreme left)

RI AND THE CHARGE OF ELITISM

LCH: Let me first point out that competition can be a good thing. The question is – are we assessing our students holistically? And this reflects trends and developments in the wider society. For Singapore to have developed so quickly, some trade-offs have been made. So it’s not really a question just for RI or for our schools, but for our society as a whole.

On RI’s part, as long as the school is still giving opportunities to students from diverse backgrounds to join RI and to succeed, I don’t see intense competition as a problem. At the same time, it is about seeing our students through multiple lenses – not just academic achievements, but also leadership, character and values.

PL: You can’t really expect RI to be the same as it was 30 years ago. This is because our society has changed. People generally have become a lot more affluent, so there are fewer cases of RI students coming from very humble family backgrounds.

But I think that RI must continue to be the beacon of meritocracy, such that every able Singaporean after PSLE, should feel comfortable and not out of place in RI and RGS. It shouldn’t be the case where there is social exclusion or intimidation when entering RI. As long as you qualify on your own merits, you shouldn’t feel out of place. So we need to create that environment, and we need that culture.

You can’t really point a finger and blame the school for the change in the student profile, because that is really a reflection of society and its nature. But we must continue to maintain RI and RGS as a place whereby students will come of their own merit and feel at ease in the environment. It is about educating our students to be more inclusive and to not judge other people by their background. I hope it’s still the case.

MEMORIES OF RI

RADM Lai Chung Han in the 1991 Yearbook of RJC

LCH: Some of my teachers made a very strong impression on me. Mr Mag was my Prefect Master who taught us that some things could be done differently, rather than just observing tradition for its own sake. I also particularly remember Ms Miiko Tan who was my form teacher in Sec 1 and 2. She taught us to see the good in others, to laugh at ourselves and to understand that life is far bigger than our own lives.

RI definitely taught me to be independent. It gave me the autonomy to do things and make decisions. It gave me leadership opportunities and instilled in me a sense of service to others and the community. The Rafflesian Spirit is about rising above oneself and serving a larger cause – we all have to work at serving a larger cause, because life is bigger than you. This ethos of service is certainly something that’s very relevant beyond RI – in the Navy, it is about believing in the larger mission of safeguarding our waters and defending our nation.

MG Perry Lim’s photo from the April 1991 issue of Rafflesian Outlook, an RJC publication.

PL: You would probably all agree with me that it is a rather competitive environment in RI. It is now and it was 30 years ago. Now when you are in RI, with a bunch of highly driven people who all strive for excellence, they really apply their minds to the subjects which they have to learn and the things that they do. So in a sense, because of this environment, you are also driven to excel, take initiative of your own leadership. These traits are what stayed with me even when I left RI. Well, I played sports in school. I was in both the rugby and swim team. You learn how to develop discipline and juggle your time. Of course, in those days you don’t win all the time. So I learnt to be gracious in both winning and losing. I also learnt about sportsmanship, fighting spirit, teamwork. These are the big lessons which I have learnt from my time in RI.

PARTING THOUGHTS

PL: Well, I think you should make the most of the opportunity you have to learn as much as possible. Not just learn to do well in exams, but to read more widely and to make good friends, I would say. Because I would find that a lot of my friends who are not my colleagues who I am close to and keep in touch with are my primary school friends. School is not just a place to excel but also a place to build closer friendships. Not just to stay within your close group of people, but to make friends with everyone in your cohort and across cohorts. Because when you go up to the workplace – sure, the networks are important, but it’s your friendships which give you a more fulfilling life.

LCH: Well, just know that you’re in a very good school. Be grateful for this, enjoy the experience, and give back to the school and the society. And also don’t forget to have a good time! I did!

PL: We shouldn’t have the assumption that when you reach a certain standard you have learnt everything and there is nothing else to learn about. You need to be humble and believe that there are people who know a lot more than you and learn, and to apply yourself to every job you do. I have tried to improve to become a good listener. When you’re younger, you ironically think you know everything. And so when I was in my junior leadership positions, I made my own decisions and told people what to do and got things done quickly. But as I moved up the organisation, I learnt that you don’t have all the answers and that it’s good to get various perspectives before arriving at any conclusion.

It is also important to achieve buy-in, because if people are not convinced, usually there won’t be a lasting outcome. And when people do the things you ask them to do, but once you are no longer there, you would not have a lasting outcome. To remain accessible to people, you shouldn’t create a culture where people are afraid to give bad news, or people only tell you things you want to hear. If people are afraid to come to you to just ask about your plans and to clarify, because they are afraid that they may appear to not seem to be too smart, then you know that the culture is in need of positive change.

Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feelings? Check out Raffles Press’ new column, Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset, and our resident Aunties and Uncles will be glad to help you with your Rafflesian troubles! Submit your confessions to tinyurl.com/rafflesadvicecolumn and we’ll give them our best shot.

Dear Aunt Agony,

The exams are nearing soon, and I think I’m spending more time these days dating my books than my girlfriend. Though we understand the incredible need to prioritise Promos, I’m beginning to see my partner less often now and I’m somewhat concerned about us becoming distant in this period. How do you Relationship during exams?

– Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

As you’ll have noticed by now, as the examination period draws near increasingly our attention will be redirected to booking consultations, rushing out incomplete tutorials, using lecture videos as background music, and deciphering illegible scrawls in obscure corners of notebooks made earlier in the year – the list goes on. The school gradually becomes a pressure cooker and those who have dedicated themselves to a relationship with another person, may bump into additional worries: Are we spending too much time together? Or are we spending too little time on each other? Will we survive the notorious “peak break-up period”?

The prospect of ploughing through the past year of content while still keeping in constant contact with one’s significant other poses itself as a tricky balance. Worse still, high stress levels that come with examinations may build greater tension between two individuals, morphing what was once sweet nothings into the yells of fiery quarrels. The Aunts and Uncles here at Raffles Press shall adjourn to offer you, and other luckier Rafflesians of your like, some tips to help keep your relationships intact and thriving.

1. Study together

The good ol’ study dates return. With the looming horror of examinations, it may be hard to enjoy a good movie or walk in the park. In times like these, the only guilt-free activity may be hitting the books. Yet, trawling through practice papers and stacks of notes alone is no fun task. What better way to spend time with your significant other and get work done than a study date?

For once, you’ll need a third wheel.

To start, find a conducive study spot which works for the both of you. If sitting together is too distracting, try situating yourselves at separate tables that are still in the same place. Capitalise on each other’s company: remind one another to focus when one of you drifts away from the books. Appreciate any time spent together in the midst of the hectic period, even if it means sacrificing some fun time for the sake of studying.

Of course, don’t forget the importance of taking breaks! Be it sharing a dessert or watching videos to reward yourselves, have fun in going through the whole process together. That being said, remember to keep your mind on the books; just because it’s called a study date, doesn’t mean you should study your date!

Don’t: Go for a date without the study!

2. Set “ground rules”

Inevitably, lovebirds cannot spend every waking moment together. On occasion, some may burn the midnight oil alone or choose to study with other friends.  This separation may bring greater restlessness in the midst of this highly stressful period. Both of you may wish to hang out all the time, but the impending examinations make it difficult. To remedy this, try setting some “ground rules” for the next few weeks.

Set aside, for instance, an hour each day where both of you text or Skype. Look forward to this hour every day. Apart from this time, minimize distractions by putting away your phone and any other distractions. Just because you aren’t talking to each other, doesn’t mean you’ve been forgotten!

In the long run, the time spent apart may lead to both of you being happier, be it through better grades or a sense of accomplishment from productivity. Whatever it may be, it’s up to you to discover which “rules” help your relationship blossom at a time when studying should be at its peak.

3. Help each other with weaker subjects

When faced with an endless list of questions after days of studying, it may sometimes be difficult to find a peer who is willing to answer them all (but don’t forget that your teachers will always be there for consultations)! We always hear about how peer tutoring enforces your own learning, so this is the best chance to study in an enjoyable way, as a couple!

One Twitter user shared the notes her boyfriend made to explain some questions to her. Perhaps such frills may be unnecessary, but be patient with each other, you will get through it together.

This may come much easier for class couples or those who take similar subject combinations. Nonetheless, if you disagree on whether biology or physics is the superior science, or you’re an arts-science couple studying almost all possible subjects between the two of you, fear not—there’s probably some Maths or GP to help with!

4. Little surprises, not-so-little encouragement

When buried under a ceaseless mound of books, many may feel easily disheartened, tired or upset. This is where a little surprise from the one you care for can go a long way! If you notice that your boyfriend/girlfriend is down, a can of coffee, some flowers or even a short note would be greatly appreciated.

Once again, this depends on the nature of your relationship. Even if you aren’t the gift-giving sort of couple, a tangible form of motivation and encouragement in this pre-exam rush can really serve as an incentive to keep going.

5. Use bets to motivate one another

Some friendly competition between each other can spur you both on. With tension coming from every corner of life, injecting some fun while competing can help make the whole process more bearable. Stress is a known factor to land couples in an argument. So why not convert stress into fun? One way to minimize stress is to have fun together, even when studying.

You can do this by placing small wagers between the two of you, getting the loser to treat the winner. For example, you may bet on who would finish all the practice paper questions on dative covalent bonds correctly. This gives the both of you something to anticipate, and make you try your best not to let the other down. By the end of it, not only would you cover a portion of the syllabus, you might have increased bonding between you, gotten a date and improved your chemistry!

Date or Dead?

Of course, many other factors contribute to discord, but for the sake of both of you, it’s necessary to find the balance between academic work and your relationship. Changes may have to be made in terms of your relationship dynamic, but remember to set your priorities straight and make it clear to each other. Every relationship is fundamentally different and it is important to understand each other’s aspirations and needs. Do not have unrealistic expectations of one another, both of you are probably going through a tough time and stressing over work individually.

Some of these tips may work better, others not as well, the rest not at all, but the bottom line is to stay committed to your relationship even in the most trying times and remember: communication is key.

We advise you then, to motivate each other during this tough time – if nothing else, you can look forward to the post-exam life when you can spend more time together. The Aunts and Uncles here advise that, of course, even if you have your BABES, ideally you should still aim for AAAAAs! And to everyone else, all the best for the upcoming exams!

Sincerely,
Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset

If you have any queries or concerns related to the Aunt Agony/Uncle Upset column or its confessions, please direct them to press.raffles@gmail.com, with the title ‘Questions about Aunt Agony’.

by Karen Cuison (16A01D) and Qiu Kexin (16A13A)
Photos courtesy of Gan Yu Neng (09A03A)

Thinking about which university to apply to, or already a J2 beginning your early admission applications? Raffles Press brings you our Please Mind the Platform Gap (Universities Edition), a series of articles dedicated to providing information on Rafflesian alumni’s experiences at their respective universities.

Situated within the modern comfort and scenic expanse of North Yorkshire, England, the University of York is an established institution with plenty to offer. Among other things, it is renowned for its reputation within the Russell Group of Universities, its eminent standing among the UK’s Top 20 universities, and also its own brand of quirkiness partly borne out of its vibrant student-led culture, and partly out of its exceptionally large on-campus duck population (for which there exists a Duck of the Day blog that posts daily photographs of these waterfowl!).

Recently, Raffles Press caught up with Gan Yu Neng (Year 2009), a Literature graduate, to find out more about his fascinating experiences at this University.

Profile:

Press (P): What CCA were you in back in RI, and what subject combination did you take?
Yu Neng (YN): I was from 09A03A, and I took Theatre Studies and Drama, Economics, English Literature and Mathematics (MEL TSD). I was the vice-chairperson of the Writers’ Guild, and also casually performed in the Piano Ensemble.

P: What course did you take?
YN: I have just graduated from the University of York, from the Department of English and Related Literature.

College Living

P: Describe a typical day in your life as a university student.
YN: At eight in the morning I awake with a start, check the time on my handphone and go back to sleep.

At half past eight my handphone wakes me. I brush my teeth and shave, then spend some time on my laptop clearing emails and notifications. I then put it into my bag (which already has my texts and notebooks) and leave the house at 8.45. My first seminar at 9 AM is twenty minutes away but I can make it in fifteen if I walk fast.

From nine to eleven, I discuss technical elements in the staging of Samuel Beckett’s later work, adapted from originals written for film and television. By this point in the term, it’s easy to guess who has done the reading and who hasn’t; which coursemates may be able to respond credibly to your points and which coursemates would be unable to contribute. The seminar tutor for this particular module requests each of us write a small essay-standard paragraph each week in order to have discussion material and also in order for each of us to maintain a fluency with academic language over the course of the term; now we draw on these for our discussion.

Occasionally I come up against someone who makes a point that I have not thought of, or substantiates an easy point in an incredibly eloquent or an unusual manner. These are the times when I hurry to scribble things down in my notebook, either because these would be useful in my essay, or simply because I have learnt something new. Swot that I am, I quickly learn to secretly despise people who regularly make me feel this way!*
(*not really)

I have a break from eleven until noon, and I had planned to do some reading after my class. On the way out I start chatting with one of my coursemates and we both mention that we haven’t eaten breakfast; we end up at one of the campus cafes having sandwiches until twelve. From noon to one I have a lecture on the Interregnum period, which is meant to complement my understanding of the poetry of Andrew Marvell and his obsession with Oliver Cromwell.

Immediately after the lecture, I have a meeting with the Teaching Committee – a group of staff and student representatives that regularly meet to make decisions on issues to do with undergraduate pedagogy and course structure. I sit on the Teaching Committee as chairman of the student representatives. The Interregnum lecturer is also on the Teaching Committee and we head to the meeting room together. At the meeting, I put forward a small report made from collated student feedback about the recent assessment, and make some suggestions; there is some discussion about this.

The meeting ends at half past three. I run straight for another meeting, this time organised by the International Students’ Association, which I also chair. This is a coffee afternoon, an event intended to foster an international student community with regular free coffee, snacks and conversation; it allows the ISA committee to learn more about the current issues international students are concerned about, and also gives us some rapport with the National Societies which we would draw on each year for Global Week. At this point it is too late for lunch, so I steal as many snacks and biscuits as I respectably can. At half past four, I have a quick meeting with the ISA committee to update everyone on the status of our university-wide event, Global Week (more on this later!) – venues, budget, participating societies.

By the time I leave campus, the sky is already dark. I walk home briskly in order to stay warm, and cook myself pasta for dinner. I spend the night reading for next week’s seminars with my laptop and Facebook open in front of me to catch any notifications. One of my housemates joins me in the living room and we chat about the latest conventions she’s traveled to; she shows me selfies with actors from Lord of the Rings and The Flash. I go to sleep around one in the morning.

As you can see, university life is pretty similar to JC life, with some small but significant changes here and there!

P: Tell us about the extracurricular activities/enrichment programmes you’re currently involved in.
YN: I am the Vice-President of the International Students’ Association (ISA) – I effectively lead the organisation, as the President sits on the Student Union and is neither elected by the ISA nor holds any actual power in the committee. The ISA’s mission is the Integration, Representation and Support of all international students in York, and we organise regular welfare events and trips around the UK, as well as annual college-wide events (attended by thousands of students) for international students to put up performances and exchange different foods and beverages.

I am also the chair of the Student-Staff Committee (SSC), a group of student representatives that sit on the English Department’s Board of Studies. The Board makes decisions that affects the entire Department, and frequently looks to the student representatives for the student view on events or changes. I sat on the SSC for all three years of my degree, and became the chair in my third year. It is largely thanks to this role that most of my year-group knows who I am – and all of my professors, too. It means I have excellent references, and a place to stay in every part of the UK!

I’m also the Performing Arts Editor for The Yorker, an independent magazine (i.e. the student union doesn’t fund us, we have to make our own money from advertising) – my job is to procure free tickets for people who wish to review theatrical productions, and then proofread and publish the reviews.

In my first year I was also the Production Manager for the Juba Anthology, which collects works from students in York and students in University of Juba along a common theme, and publishes them side by side as a comparative work.

P: What other extracurricular activities/enrichment programmes does the university offer?
YN: York has an enormous number of student societies catering to all interests. To keep up my post-National-Service fitness, I was a member of the Boxing Club for a while; I was also a member of Hitch Society, which organises an annual charity-stunt hitch-hike from the UK to Croatia or Morocco. There is a Harry Potter Society, a Pokemon Society, a Taylor Swift Appreciation Society… Some of you may be interested to hear about Fetish Society, which trains couples in different forms of rope-bondage (“Remember kids: safe, sane and consensual!”); others might be interested in York Student Cinema, a society with a proper professional projector that can effectively create a mobile theatre, which screens current films every week.

P: Tell us more about the student profile. Do people come from diverse backgrounds?
YN: As a member of the ISA, meeting people from diverse backgrounds is par for the course – but the type of student you meet will depend enormously on how wide you spread your social circle.

Diversity also takes diverse forms – people can have incredible family backgrounds, but they can also be interesting because they are particularly talented, or particularly intelligent, or have particularly involved stories to tell. On my course are twin girls with German citizenships who identify as South-African, have Orthodox Greek families, and were educated in an international school in Singapore. One of the regulars at the ISA events is often mistaken for being Latin-American – he tells me he is a mix of Swiss and Caribbean. The girl who persuaded me to join the Boxing Club is one of my closest friends – aside from Boxing, she does Lacrosse and Pole-Fitness, and is incredibly skilled at painting.

P: Are there any major university-wide events, and/or events organized for the entire course cohort?
YN: Yes, and I organise them! Global Week is organised by the ISA every year, involving almost thirty different national societies and thousands of participants. Global Week always comprises three headline events: a Cultural Performance, a Beverage Festival, and a Food Fiesta.

A mouth-watering stall set up by York’s Brunei Cultural Society, as part of Global Week’s Food Fiesta.

As a student rep, I also leveraged on my position to organise book fairs to allow students to sell used books to incoming students. I started this initiative in my first year, and it became so successful that the student reps began organising one each term.

In addition colleges regularly organise balls (fancy dinners) and smaller events over the term. The student union also has occasional large-scale events, usually at the beginning and end of each year.

P:  Tell us about the school spirit. How deep is it compared to what you felt in RI?
YN: School spirit is an odd question for me. I love the university and I’m sure many of my coursemates and friends do as well, but this doesn’t tend to find expression in big banners and painted faces and loud cheers (except during our annual sports tournament War of the Roses, with the University of Lancaster). It’s probably not really in any culture outside of America and Singapore to go around with university-logo shirts with university-logo decals on your car and university-logo pennants hanging on your bedroom wall. But what do I know! I express my love for York through sharing posts from Duck of the Day.

Still, in York, as in RJC as well, I identify deeply as a member of the university and the Department. I really believe that how deeply or “intensely” you feel a sense of belonging is directly proportional to how intensely you were involved in the machinery of the institution!

Yu Neng (4th from right, standing up) poses in this photo taken at one of York’s winter balls with his college-mates.

P: Did you have trouble acclimating to York’s environment (e.g. homesickness, cultural shocks)?
YN: I had no trouble acclimatising to university whatsoever. There was a day in my first year when I had a sudden and (for all I know) unprovoked stab of homesickness, and I had to go back to my college room and have a chat with some of my friends in Singaporean universities.

I know that many other Singaporeans do get occasional bouts of homesickness – I’m told that it helps them when they group up together. My own advice is to throw yourself with gleeful abandon into your new life, knowing that it will not last.

P: Does the school provide student support?
YN: Student support in the UK is far more professional than student support in Singapore, and to some extent that makes it better. In Singapore, having learning difficulties is stigmatised, emotional problems are regarded as inconveniences to be shoved aside when academic matters come into play, and reports of anxiety and mental issues are regarded with deep suspicion.

In the UK, I have helped students with welfare issues ranging from inability to cope with grief to crippling anxiety find the support they needed among members in the Department – all I really had to do was assure the students involved that the Department would be willing to help them (and it was!).

All students have a pastoral supervisor that is essentially their advocate – if they find themselves facing any difficulties with their studies, their pastoral supervisors would help argue their case and arrange for them to take the necessary measures that would allow their studies to proceed smoothly — whether it’s an adjusted deadline, a medical appointment, an assessment resubmission, or even a leave of absence.

Course:

P: Could you provide us with a brief overview of the course you took?
YN: I’m studying a single-subject English degree in the Department of English and Related Literature. The degree structure will be changing in the next few years, but in essence, first all students are exposed to a quick “tour” of the development of English Literature through the Medieval, Renaissance, Romantic and Modern periods, as well as another introductory module in classical (Greco-Roman) influences on literature through the ages.

Following that, all students also take a module titled Global Literature which introduces them to Literature in English written in non-EuroAmerican countries – generally (but not always) postcolonial nations. In the following years, students choose between three types of modules – period modules, which focus on one of the four periods listed above; special modules, which focus on specific areas or types of text (e.g. a module focused on the life and works of Samuel Beckett, or introducing students to different movements in European film, or even a module centered around texts that base themselves in urban landscapes); and topic modules, which are like special modules but with more independent research which is assessed by presentations.

Throughout the degree, there are modules that train students in thinking critically and theoretically, and in third-year there is a dissertation module that wraps up the course.

P: Why did you choose this course, and why study at the University of York?
YN: I chose early on to study English Literature, but I chose York thanks to a recommendation from a senior in RJC. Something she told me that left a big impression on me was that York didn’t assess English students with closed examinations, but with essays. I decided that I preferred a mode of assessment that rewarded research and in-depth thinking as opposed to one which demanded brilliance under timed duress.

Yu Neng (1st from right) with friends during graduation.

P: What is the teaching style like at the University of York? How does it compare to that in RI?
YN: Although it varies from tutor to tutor, in general, seminar teaching with English tutors in York tends to be pretty similar to seminar teaching with Literature tutors in RJC. Student exchanges are more demanding and in-depth; at the same time however texts tend to be covered in less breadth which can also make seminars easier. If I remember right, tutorials in RJ tended to march sternly through passages of the text itself, which made it great in preparation for examination essays and passage-based questions – in contrast, seminars tend to bring in a good deal more secondary or theoretical material, and topics discussed can end up diverging wildly from the text itself.

P: What do you appreciate about the course?
YN: I appreciate many things about my course but most of all I appreciate the tutors. In the university, we are taught by the writers and editors of our own texts; we engage with and argue with (and against!) academics who are considered the experts in their own field. This all sounds very intellectually grandiose but what I most appreciate is how incredibly nice they are – as teachers (in seminars), as colleagues (on the Board of Studies), and as people (in pubs!).

After my time in York, I am beginning to believe that a study of Literature is a study of the construction of narratives and the staging of ideology. History creates a narrative out of events and uses them to explain ideology; sociology creates a narrative out of policy and attempts to use it as evidence of ideology. Literature is more primal than either of these – it is the study of the construction of narrative itself, and the staging of ideology in all cultural production – from art film to advertisement poster; from the choice of colours on a canned drink to the Chew On It comics on the Reach! Singapore information pamphlet. Literature is to the rest of the humanities what mathematics is to the sciences.

P: Are there ample opportunities to get to know students from other courses, or do you tend to only meet people from the English Literature course? Is it hard to make new friends?
YN: Something I end up saying to many international students is that York is full of opportunities to meet people, to get involved, to have fun – but it doesn’t really prompt you to do so. If you wish to make friends in a UK university, you’ll have to deliberately reach out for yourself in a way you never had to in RJC – you’ll have to look for societies and then attend their meetings, you’ll have to approach people and introduce yourself and then make conversation, you’ll have to go out (and I do mean “go out”) on socials, talk to drunk people and sometimes help carry them back to their rooms.

It can be difficult to make friends outside of your course and country at first, especially since it is so easy to make friends from Singapore and then just stay close to them instead.

Personally, I have multiple friendship circles as part of the many things I do in the university. I have groups of European friends due to my involvement in the ISA; I have a large number of Chinese friends that I am quite close to as a result of Chinese events that I have volunteered as a bilingual host for; I have a number of South Asian, East Asian and South-East Asian friends from the National Societies as well. With each circle I tend to do different activities – my European friends are more the coffee and cake sort, while my Chinese friends enjoy big hotpot dinners and karaoke nights. These are all in the general case, however – there are always exceptions between groups. In exchange for having so many non-Singaporean friends, I tend to be slightly estranged from the other Singaporeans in their group activities, although I am close to several of them individually.

In my experience, the most difficult person to befriend in a UK university is a British student – there are some complicated reasons, but Tan Teck Howe explains it best in his novel The Secret Goldfish and Other Follies. The book mentions how it’s easy to think the British are friendly, but later realise that they’re merely polite, that there is a warmth and personality in their interactions with each other that is absent in their interactions with internationals – even those who speak English fluently. English students are unerringly polite and careful, and after living with them and studying with them you begin to recognise that while they would loudly proclaim you as one of them, you find yourself left out – for the most part – of their social events and personal dramas, with the expectation that you would always just take care of yourself. Over the years I have become close friends with many individual English students, but I am not in any social groups of English students; at a big party I could be friends with half the people there and yet feel entirely left out.

Physical Environment:

P: What is your accommodation like? Do you live on-campus or off-campus?
YN: I lived on-campus in my first year, and off-campus for the second and third year. In my first year I was in Alcuin, which was the college closest to the library. The accommodation was a set of flats with a common corridor and a large shared kitchen – the room was small but had plenty of shelf space. For the past two years I lived in a house on a main road, with an enormous room and a double-bed (apparently it is the norm for students to get double-beds. LUXURY!). I chose to live off-campus not because campus accommodation was bad, but because off-campus was simply much cheaper. I also decided that I may as well experience living in a house while I’m in the UK, since I’m not likely to have the chance back home…

Students enjoying a brief respite in the accommodation building’s cozy kitchen.

P: What’s the general ambience of the campus like? Tell us more about its architecture, environment, etc.
YN: The University of York is not, architecturally, a pretty university by today’s standards. It was built in the 1960s when really efficient brutalism was in vogue: to hell with architectural flourish, it’s time for good, square, modernity!

York is tremendously improved by its green spaces, its flowers, its lake, its waterfowl; I try to focus on those rather than on the university buildings themselves.

A view of the University of York’s premises. Of note are the beautiful central lake, and the abundance of lush greenery.
Source: University of York

P: What are some of the facilities available on campus? How adequately do they meet your needs?
YN: Facilities on campus are as you’d expect. Campus-wide WiFi (much more generous with that than RJC as far as I remember), two gyms (one on each campus), a number of cafes and bars (some of which are pretty good!), a library with spaces for discussion and spaces for quiet study (24 hours! A real treasure, and equipped with a shower too!), a number of study spaces, some equipped with computers (not everyone has a laptop, and sometimes the library fills up), as well as an on-campus supermarket for groceries…

While I was at York I never lacked for anything – as a student. As a society leader, I wish student societies were allocated offices or storage spaces, because the SSC, the ISA and the Yorker all frequently relied on the generosity of committee members and people we knew to store the logistics for our events.

Some of the university’s resident ducklings basking under the sun: the subject of many Yorkians’ affections.

P: Tell us more about the surrounding town/city. What activities do students do there?
YN: What activities do students do in town? Clubbing.
York is a beautiful city, and it’s very small. It’s difficult to get lost because walking straight in one direction for long enough will lead you either to the river or the city wall, and the Minster is visible from most of the city. York has many little cafes, a number of pubs (I am told one could visit a different pub every night in a year without repeating a pub) and a good number of restaurants with Western, European and international cuisine.

Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feelings? Check out Raffles Press’ new column, Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset, and our resident Aunties and Uncles will be glad to help you with your Rafflesian troubles! Submit your confessions to tinyurl.com/rafflesadvicecolumn and we’ll give them our best shot.

I’m a really nice dude but some people think that the people I hang out with aren’t, and by association I’m not. What should I do? I am myself too … and I think I’m really nice.

– Baby Bento

Dear Baby Bento,

To start off, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are, truly, a lovely and kind person. Perhaps what you should do first is examine why people don’t like the friends you hang out with. Do they behave in a way that is deserving of such a reputation? Do they just participate in immature joking, or actual, hurtful actions?

If it’s more of the former, I think it’s safe to assume that “some people” are just easily offended and/or like to spread rumours, thus it doesn’t provide sufficient grounds to really examine your friendships. After all, a “bad rep” doesn’t necessarily equate to being a bad person. However, if it is more of the latter, I feel you should to take it one step further and really think about what kind of friends you’re “hanging out” with, and whether or not they truly have the most suitable doses of personality to complement your social circles.

While you’re at it, it wouldn’t hurt to turn the mirror on yourself as well. You are indeed yourself – but honestly speaking, if you’re really so nice, why do people automatically associate you with just your friends? Do you unwittingly participate (or act as a bystander) to some of their “not nice” actions –– and by extension, seem like you’re condoning them?

Perhaps, if you want to differentiate yourself from your friends, you could try to exhibit more of your personal qualities . Don’t always hang around school in a clique; try to do some activities alone or go with different groups of people. This will establish your identity as you, and not some part of a collective whole.

There’s this Chinese saying called “近朱者赤，近墨者黑”. Translated, it means “when you get close to vermilion [good], you get dyed red; when you get close to ink [bad], you get dyed black”. It is extremely over-used in Chinese compositions but very relevant to life and your current situation. I hope you have a good think about it, and good luck!

How do you help friends who are struggling, or know what they need? I’m really bad at talking about feelings, and these friends don’t tell me about their problems, but signs of dysfunction/issues are definitely prominent/noticeable. :-( I don’t want to cramp their styles but also want to be there for them so I usually turn to giving them sweets and notes and Concerned Looks (which – do they really do anything?). How do I know how far to probe/how much support to shower/if I’m the right friend? [As the occasional Struggling Friend I’ve pushed away people’s help I was in desperate need of for fear of being a burden, hurt by some other’s seeming uncaringness, but also felt suffocated by other’s attempts to help. I also didn’t ask for things (e.g. hugs, time spent together) that could really help] so how do I know my friends will express what they need? What if when I try to help by maybe asking to spend time together they agree just to humor me but it really adds more stress/unhappiness etc.!

– Floop

Dear Floop,

I can see that you are a very observant person, and also someone who genuinely cares about your friends’ problems. By expressing your concern and wanting to improve the situation, you are already being a better friend than most. I do understand and have experienced what you’re describing, and hence I’ll try to express some of the lessons that I’ve learned.

The unfortunate truth is, none of us humans can learn how to discover an imaginary Magical Meter to measure the extent to which one should “to probe/support/shower”, or to gauge if they’re being the “right” friend. You cannot be a “right” friend; there is no rubric for these sorts of things, and being yourself is far more useful than trying to fit into a nonexistent mold of a “friend”. With your sweets, notes, and concerned looks, you are already telling your friend that you care –– whether they choose to take you up on further advice/shoulder-leaning is entirely their choice — and if they choose not to, it is not your fault. Some people prefer to lean on friends, some people prefer to deal with problems themselves, and that is entirely their prerogative. If you offer help, be assured that most times, it is far from the wrong thing to do.

You can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves –– I suppose you’ve already heard others say that before. From your experience as a Struggling Friend, the reason you know that you could have used the hugs and caring is because you pushed it away in the first place. That is something your friends need to learn (by themselves) as well. Sometimes, all people need is a listening ear for them to vent out their emotions, because talking it out loud is better than keeping it all circling inside your head. For moments like these and depending on the person, sometimes just being a willing listener is significant help.

However, don’t stop telling people you care, because the closest your decisions can get to resemble the aforesaid Magical Meter is if you do it by trial-and-error. Some friends will not respond in kind, but maybe some will. When they do, stay earnest and sincere, and use that same skill of observation to see when they’re getting uncomfortable with the prodding. If you don’t feel the most comfortable with face-to-face talks, or if you felt that after the talk there were things you wanted to articulate, then write it in a letter. You could also ask them honestly if they want you to actively do things to help them, but anyway, I’m sure s/he will appreciate your help very much.

All the best, and don’t forget to take care of yourself as well!

Throughout my entire childhood and teenage years, I have many friends. However, I don’t feel close to them at all. I don’t trust my friends. Somehow, there’s no feeling of connection between me and my friends. I thus see them as an acquaintance, since I am not ready to award the title of “friend” to my “acquaintance” just yet. As a result, I often feel aloof and distant from people. I am pretty sure many of my “acquaintance” think I am weird since I am often quiet. I am not ready to trust my “acquaintance”, because of many reasons. Some are trivial, some are more serious, but I take it to heart nevertheless. I am weary and tried to protect myself from the outside world, but for so long, I do not have anyone to share a deep and meaningful conversation with. I have no one to confide in. I feel uneasy to be stuck in an awkward situation, where I want to speak my mind to someone so bad, yet is afraid that the same person I trust betrays me.

Recently, I found out I am an INFJ. It’s one of the 16 personality types in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). I can relate to the many articles on the internet about INFJ. It’s one of the rarest personality types (which does not make it the best), with about only 1-2% of world’s population being classified as such.

Being an INFJ has its downsides. I tend to overthink, and am highly sensitive. I view many common acts as betrayal of trust. That could be one of the reasons why I do not have any “friends”.

I am truly quite desperate for people whom I can call “friends”, instead of an “acquaintance”. I need someone to confide in, someone who understands, someone who can be trusted.

This might sound simple, but how do I make a “friend”? How can I trust a “friend”? How can I make sure I trust the right person? What do I do should the person betrays my trust? What if he gets too bored? What if he doesn’t understand? …

– The 1%

Dear The 1%,

You have presented a very difficult and multi-layered situation, and I will try my best to offer some pieces of advice and answer all the questions you have asked. But firstly, you should know this Aunt is an INFJ as well! In fact, most of the Aunts and Uncles here are. A coincidence? I think not, for the universe is rarely so lazy.

Firstly, I am relieved you say that being the “rarest” personality type does not make it the best. Although discovering your MBTI type can be life changing, it is not the only determinant of a person’s personality, or his/her future. It is thus dangerous to confuse “rare” with “best” and develop a sense of hubris.

I think your problem lies with trust – not for your friends, but for yourself. You made statements like “I am pretty sure [so-and-so] thinks …” or “How can I make sure? …”, but the thing is: you cannot control everything in this world, and what others think of you is one of those things. Sure, your intuition may let you glean certain insights into behaviour, but since humans can’t read each other’s minds, you cannot be absolutely sure of another person’s intentions unless you ask said person directly.

The only person you can trust, then, is yourself. But I feel that you don’t trust your own judgement. When you speak of befriending someone, your thought process turns from the process of “making a friend”, to immediately preparing for a future outcome where s/he betrays you. Why do you not trust that the people you select to be your friends will be just that –– your friends?

It could be that you have been hurt by people you’ve trusted before, as evidenced by your “many reasons” and “common acts [of betrayal].” This may have had two consequences: a) you lost the ability to trust people easily; b) you set the bar for a “friend” too high, which resulted in a reduction in the amount of friends you have. However, I would like to point out (and you yourself have said) that some of these reasons could have been “trivial”, since you are self-admittedly “highly sensitive”.

Being aware of that character trait –– hypersensitivity –– is one thing, but acting upon it is another. Hypersensitivity often leads to circular thoughts, and “overthinking” (as you are wont to do) almost always creates a mountain out of a molehill that wasn’t even there. As an INFJ myself, I would very strongly encourage you to cease this and start practicing directness with your acquaintances. When you find yourself hurt over his/her perceived “betrayal”, don’t bottle it in! Please, please, tell that person that you were hurt, and you might find that s/he really had no intention of doing so. Conversely, if you decide to go the normal route –– distancing yourself –– you will not only end up hurting yourself, but the other person as well, since s/he most likely has zero clue to what s/he has done. This is what the MBTI community calls the “INFJ doorslam”, as INFJs seem to have a certain affinity of coldly cutting someone out of their lives while inwardly feeling much suppressed anguish over it.

You might be aware on some subconscious level that you protecting yourself from the “outside world” has only led to loneliness. That is because you both desire companionship and fear the risks it entails. Nevertheless, being lonely is never a good thing. As you’ve said so yourself, you have no one to confide to and no one to trust and speak your mind with. Without confidants and their intellectual debates, the mind and heart grows weak –– and there might be another consequence, which is when you do find someone who seems utterly trustworthy, all the suppressed emotions may well up and cause you to start being over-dependent on him/her.

While I have said that being lonely is never a good thing, being alone — which is different from loneliness — is. You have to be your first and foremost friend, and believe that you are a truly unique individual. Eat lunch alone, without questioning why no one is with you. Write in a diary for as long as you want, and befriend your own thoughts. Trusting a friend takes time, but it can never happen if you don’t trust in the strength of your own heart. If the person ends up bored or does not understand the thoughts you share, then s/he probably won’t benefit from being your friend and vice versa –– but s/he will most definitely become bored if you lock yourself away and give no sign of your inner world. Being your own friend will also protect yourself if you end up being betrayed, because then you will be mentally strong enough to weather it and move on.

Remember to keep calm and carry on. The Aunts and Uncles here all have your back!

Sincerely,
Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset

by Olivia Tan (16A01E) and Liew Ai Xin (16A01A)

Let’s get real. For most of us who came from single-sex secondary schools, “Junior College” (JC) was originally seen not as “the two years before A levels”, but as “that land of the other genders”, filled with people whom we have not interacted with (on a daily basis) since primary school. Armed with rumours and vague estimates of relationship statistics, as well as stories of famous senior couples who have survived JC together, many of us waded into Orientation and found ourselves submerged in a new world, complete with wafting clouds of pheromones, awkward silences and sundry glances. Before we knew it, that one new word “relationships” started being thrown around; and now, it seems like nearly everyone we know is either in a relationship or knows a couple in the school. Indeed, if you are one of the lucky lovebirds, you might have had to deal with floods of such comments from the adoring masses:

Pursuits in the amorous department have always thrived despite numerous wise sages telling us that our main purpose in life is to study. That is easier said than done when they conveniently miss out on teaching us some ancient method of disabling emotions and setting aside romantic wishes. As the favourite retort goes: students have lives too! — and it is hard to deny our feelings during this fleeting, golden period of our youth. But despite the known risks of engaging in a relationship, such as the baggage of confusing feelings and emotional commitment, why do couples still get together in JC? Do both sides desire the same qualities, or are they looking for different things to gain?

These questions are hard to answer as there is a distinct lack of empirical knowledge about relationships. We are, after all, a school and not a dating agency. But thankfully, with a new survey, we have attempted to remedy that situation, and hopefully shed light on a part of school that is very much inherent in our daily lives (albeit overshadowed by all that academic mania).

In our questionnaire, we asked 77 interviewees questions about their relationships, and what had attracted them to their partner (or ex-partner) in the first place. Most of the participants were speaking from past experiences, although some were still in a relationship. The results were ranked according to frequency, as shown below:

Boys  

• Personality (with a marked preference for traits like “patient”, “kind-hearted”, “compassionate” and “genuine”)
• Chemistry
• Looks (though it was usually stated as a “bonus” or as an initial reason, not as a deciding factor)

Girls

• Intelligence/Wit
• Character (with a marked preference for traits like “responsibility”, “humour”, and “confidence”)  
• Chemistry
• Ability to demonstrate physical affection and emotional vulnerability

These results were intriguing, particularly in the way that the boys tended to use the words “personality”, while the girls wrote “character”. The adjectives used to describe what they preferred speak for themselves, and without trying to stereotype the preferences of all specimens of the same gender or orientation, we can see that boys usually go for females with an amalgamation of Snow White characteristics while girls tend to find confident and emotionally open males really attractive.

Yes, they fell in love in 1 min 28 secs!

A majority of people also stated that it took less than 3 months for them to “get together”, with the next closest duration being 3 – 6 months. We can understand why they took such a short time. The reason why people proclaim things like “it was like something out of a chick flick”, or “I feel like I’m in a romantic novel”, is because a romance is simply exciting. Everyone hopes to find The One amidst the flurry of lectures and tutorials, and everyone secretly wishes to have a better love story than Twilight.

In our honest opinion, this is not a high standard to aspire to at all.

However, not all fairytales come true. As we begin to delve deeper into our analysis of relationships in JC, we must confront the inevitable truth: most of these relationships do not succeed in the long run, and the countless examples of the screenshot shown above may disappear en masse as their accompanying photos are quietly deleted after 6 to 9 months, which was the most common length of time respondents said their past relationships had lasted. Why is that, though?

Perhaps we ought to take a moment to think about those 3 – 6 months it took to enter the relationship in the context of a year, as well as the disparity between the reasons that both sides have stated above. How long does it take for us to truly determine if a person is a compatible partner? Do we really enter into relationships thinking the other has the same reasons for doing so? What happens when wit, intelligence and that initial spark of chemistry runs out? Just like one respondent said, “Most of what had attracted me to my ex-partner wasn’t her personality, but rather her looks and ‘dressings’ –– all things superficial. I wouldn’t say that her personality, her smile and her quirks weren’t part of what attracted me to her; it was more like they weren’t factors as significant (which I regretted)”.

Inevitably, these short-term reasons might result in a short-term relationship. But is that solely why relationships end in JC?

Not entirely. A variety of other reasons for breaking up were stated, with the top few being:

• Different schools/JCs
• Stress from academic matters
• Eventual incompatibility (with reasons like  “character changing”, “misunderstandings/disagreements” and even “different political views” being cited)
• Emotional distance (“losing the ‘feel’ for each other”)
• Parental objections
• Religion (to a lesser extent)

It is a sad truth that, in this high-pressure environment, it can get rather lonely dealing with all the stress by ourselves. Most students would then innately desire mutual comfort, support and security (whether or not they are conscious of that fact). In the glorious light of a physical or mental attraction, we are vulnerable to jumping the gun and assuming that this initial chemistry means this could be our other half, and this could be the end to all the empty nights staring at pictures of your friends, who seem much happier (on social media) with their partners. Although this yearning for a special someone can come as a natural need, the very word “need” demonstrates that, perhaps, we are not yet prepared to be emotionally strong for ourselves. This realisation was echoed in reflections by several of our survey respondents in the wake of their break-ups. “Come to think about it,” one of them said wistfully. “I don’t think we should have gone into a romance so quickly.”

However, The End is really just another page –– all we have to do is flip it.

Whenever a relationship ends, our next logical decision should be to move on, but that is definitely not easy. We are largely a goal-oriented, hardworking bunch, and the very fact that we are in Raffles Institution suggests that we may not be very well acquainted with personal failure –– so the end of a relationship may hit one hard and precipitate self-recriminating thoughts on failing to do “damage control”, or recognise some supposed “signs” that had foretold the break-up. It may also be possible that your now ex-partner may be from your CCA, your orientation group, or –– horror of horrors! –– your class. How, then, do people deal with the emotions that will inevitably stem from this soup of awkwardness?

The most immediate thing after a breakup is to have a good cry, of course. Throw yourself down and sob your heart out.

Good ol’ Disney, setting examples since 1937.

No, seriously. Crying about it will do you a world of good, instead of bottling up any negative emotions and pretending like they do not exist. The second thing to do would be to distract yourself. Go out to the park, read a book, play games, study, or just sleep. Slowly, you will rebuild the life you had with yourself before the relationship happened, and re-establish yourself as one whole instead of one half of a whole.

The final and most important thing to do is to reflect upon this experience and accept reality. The truth is: you two were either going to stay together forever, or break up. A happily-ever-after is not that easy to attain, and it is what happens after ever after that matters. Love has never had a guaranteed success rate, and that shouldn’t scare you. Neither does it mean that you should aggressively interrogate every potential partner in the future or over-analyse how long your bond could last. As an interviewee stated, “Sometimes, getting to know the person well enough first before delving into a serious relationship is a very important factor of maintaining the essence of it.” Life has many bends in the road, and this particular stretch that we are on –– the teenage years –– can be full of twists, turns and dead ends, so the moral of this story is to take your time and try not to immediately dive into a relationship.

“She changed in a manner that I didn’t particularly like and I didn’t see a future between the both of us … She was not the same type of person she used to be.” As we mature as individuals, we may lose certain traits that we had valued in the past, or our tolerance level could shift, causing us to realise that we may not like our partner as much as we thought we once did. It is not that your partner had lied about their good qualities (though there was one respondent who had experienced that). It is the inevitable fact that both of you have changed; neither for the better nor for the worse, just not for the both of you.

Relationships can be a source of mutual support and comfort, but a large percentage of them end in JC because most of us do not know ourselves or our emotional strength yet. Eventually, everyone lives life alone (a painful truth), and binding yourself to someone out of “need” at such a young age can mean melding yourself so closely to the other that what made “you” you is now inseparable from that of your partner –– and that is not conducive to becoming a well-rounded, independent individual.

As the philosopher Ayn Rand once said, “To say ‘I love you’, one must first know how to say the ‘I’. The meaning of the ‘I’ is an independent, self-sufficient entity that does not exist for the sake of any other person.” In order to carry and support another person, we must first be able to handle our own emotions and baggage. Only then can the “need” for a relationship be transformed into a “want”; where I can live without you, but I would rather not.

by Ching Ann Hui (15S03A), Michelle Zhu (15A01B), Daphne Tang (16S03M) and Ian Cheng (16S03M)

This article is a preview from the upcoming Issue #5 of the Rafflesian Times, slated for release this week.

Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Law and Education.

Having juggled a successful law career at Drew & Napier along with her duties as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar GRC and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Indranee Rajah (RI, 1981) is perhaps one of the most eminent of the Rafflesian alumni involved in the governance of Singapore today.

Now Senior Minister of State for Law and Education, her career has been nothing short of illustrious, making partner at Drew & Napier within five years and Senior Counsel by 2003. In 2001, she joined politics and was elected as a member of Tanjong Pagar GRC, eventually switching over to full time politics in 2012 at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s request.

A debater while she was in RI Pre-U, she fondly remembers her time in the school and credits debating as being ‘great training for a career in law and politics’. In addition, she also hailed from the school netball team, which helped her stay physically fit, and may explain how she still manages to fit gym trainings into her already overscheduled days. Ms Indranee shares with the Rafflesian Times some of her insights on the political scene in Singapore and key challenges faced with the changing political and social climate here as we celebrate our nation’s golden jubilee.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
When asked about the key challenges facing Singapore in the next 50 years, she identifies three areas – the demographic challenge of an ageing population, social cohesion in view of the increasing diversity in our society, and maintaining economic growth for everyone in the face of global competition.

Social cohesion has been a perennial issue for Singaporeans, but one that has been amplified recently because of globalisation. With the myriad of people from different backgrounds and cultures that call Singapore home today, the government has in recent years solicited views from Singaporeans about their ideal Singapore through Our Singapore Conversation (OSC) and various more informal online platforms. For Ms Indranee, ‘OSC saw Singaporeans from all walks of life share their aspirations and visions for the future – there were many common aspirations, but many also heard contrasting views of fellow Singaporeans for the first time.’

She shares that the traditional community conversations have been overtaken by the pace of life and social media technologies, meaning that many Singaporeans were not aware of the differing views of fellow Singaporeans. She adds, ‘It is through engaging our people that we learn more about their concerns and needs, which in turn helps us to refine and formulate policy that is citizen-centric and genuinely benefits our people and our nation.’ Despite how the government increasingly and actively tries to understand the concerns on the ground, Ms Indranee is careful to point out that ‘any national policy must also be made with national interests in mind’, and that ‘this must be balanced with considerations that Singaporeans might not be aware of – for instance, security issues where decisions may have to be made based on sensitive information which cannot be made public.’

This pragmatic approach to policymaking in Singapore has not changed over the years, but the numerous challenges that the government faces have evolved and in some ways multiplied. The vocal and often vociferous online criticisms of Singapore’s stance towards foreigners may not be entirely justified, but it does reveal a grain of truth – shifting social demographics have made it much more challenging to cater to everyone’s needs in Singapore.

RI AS A BEACON OF HOPE?
At first glance, the three key challenges that Ms Indranee outlines seem disparate. In reality, it becomes ever more difficult than ever to strike a balance between growth, demographics, and maintaining social cohesion in Singapore.

‘The question is how do we – year after year – continue to ensure that we can have good jobs for Singaporeans and that there is economic growth, so that everyone can benefit?’ says Ms Indranee. Her mention of everyone benefitting points to the complexity of Singapore’s situation. With a Gini coefficient of 0.464 in 2014 (before accounting for Government transfers and taxes, 0.412 after), the gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen amidst rising local affluence.

PM Lee’s comment on the ‘natural aristocracy’ ¹ in Singapore angered many, but what is more dangerous to our social cohesion is the possibility of an artificial aristocracy – one that does not promote people on merit but simply by default of their privileged positions.

More recently, the fracas that Minister for Social and Family Development, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin’s Facebook post about karung gunis caused recently is testament to an unease about rising inequality in our society. While we laud Mr Tan’s attempt to speak to people on the ground, the fact remains, unfortunately, that inequality is higher than ever in Singapore, with growing numbers of a small elite entrenched from the previous successes of our meritocratic system.

Last year, Nominated Member of Parliament Eugene Tan described RI as ‘less of a beacon of hope for meritocratic Singapore’. This comment stems from the admittedly true observation that RI does not reflect the social and economic composition of Singapore as it did in his student days.

Yet Ms Indranee points out that ‘each successive generation of Singaporeans has become more affluent… and consequently it must therefore mean that there are fewer students from less privileged backgrounds in absolute numbers compared to the past’. While this is arguably true, it has to contend with the general social perception that top schools are increasingly closed to those from lower socio-economic classes.

While Ms Indranee agreed that ‘schools such as RI that educate some of our best and brightest in society have a special place in our education system’, she emphasies that this makes it even more important that these schools ‘resolutely guard against elitism’. She elucidates further that ‘RI must be careful to ensure that the way the school is run and the way RI students conduct themselves does not make it become closed to high-calibre students from less privileged backgrounds.’, and that ‘it must continue to be a shining beacon of hope for Singapore’s meritocratic ideals, reflecting progress with equity and inclusiveness.’ Nevertheless, RI alone can only do so much.

Ironically, while education is often seen as the great leveller, Singapore’s tuition industry is worth more than S$1 billion a year. Tuition providers often tout success stories of their clients entering brand schools, attempting to attract students from the tender age of 10 or earlier. It is difficult to continue to believe that ‘the hallmark of our education system is in providing equal opportunities for all’, if one sees an improvement in another’s examination results upon the inception of a tuition programme. This has turned tuition classes into a zero-sum game, where those privileged enough to enrol into tuition will always be seen as gaining an academic edge in school.

To this end, the government has put into place a ‘comprehensive suite’ of programmes such as supplementary and remedial lessons in school, in addition to the Collaborative Tuition Programme offered by CDAC, MENDAKI, and SINDA – but the gap remains. It does seem as though a meritocratic education system can only do so much to alleviate the inequality separating the entrenched elite from the person on the street.

Perhaps then, SkillsFuture, which came about from ASPIRE (Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review), can close the gaps, and play a part in changing Singaporeans’ mindset about success. And this, Ms Indranee feels, is crucial – how we see success needs to be changed, and the best way to do this, is through education – not just by the typical focus on academic success but instead by ensuring that students get real depth and acquire mastery of skills, along with portable skills like communication, leadership and resilience, so as to prime them for the future.

ON POLITICS IN SINGAPORE
Ms Indranee seems particularly attuned to the intricacies and potential impact of policies. For her, policies affect a wide range of people and span many concerns, timeframes and levels of governance. People’s ‘diverse needs and wants’ constantly have to be reviewed in relation to each other. It is not a straightforward process, as Ms Indranee shares:

‘Take housing for example. Home buyers would want property prices to be low, so they can afford [homes] without too much financial strain. On the other hand, if you already own a property, you want the prices to be high as this is your asset, and you want a high price if you sell it. So if you implement policies that send housing prices down, you could devalue the homeowners’ assets overnight. If you have policies that send prices up, the homeowners will be happy, but young couples or new home buyers will be very unhappy… The challenge is how to get the balance right on a whole range of issues at constituency and ministry level.’

In her understanding of things, politics and policy-making in Singapore are all about balance. In a constituency, there is a whole range of people with diverse needs and wants – let alone across the country. As the leadership in Singapore changes, she points to the importance of the next generation of leaders upholding the hallmarks of our political leadership – leaders who are ‘honest, trustworthy, capable, care for Singaporeans and can address immediate issues and yet think and plan long term’.

In recent years, as the feminist movement in Singapore gains traction, many have pointed to the relative dearth of women in high political positions. As one of the small number of women who have achieved in political office, we ask Ms Indranee about whether women must sacrifice more to be successful in politics. She admits that ‘For the married women, especially those with children, there is the additional challenge of balancing family time and constituency work.’ She says there is definitely a place for women in Singapore politics.

THE ROAD AHEAD
Meritocracy, pragmatism and a good dose of honesty form the foundation of Singapore’s political system, and the validity of this system in turn hinges upon the soundness of Singapore’s education system; whether it can ensure that students some of whom may go on to be the nation’s leaders—will be gifted with sound moral values. Although the principles that have formed the bedrock of Singapore society have not changed significantly over the past 50 years, Ms Indranee pointed out that the challenges borne by Singapore’s political system are fast evolving. It is critical, then, that the government makes corresponding adjustments to achieve the balance that it seeks.

Natural Aristocracy:
¹ Term used by Thomas Jefferson in his letter to John Adams on Governance – ‘I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talent. There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents… The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature for the instruction, the trusts, and government of society.’ (University of Chicago)

by Valerie Chee (15S07B), Melissa Choi (16S06B), Esther Gao Yanxin (16S03N), Collin Teo (16S06Q) and Dominique Zhao (16S05A)

This article is a preview from the upcoming Issue #5 of the Rafflesian Times, slated for release this week.

Min-Liang Tan, CEO of Razer. (source)

One of two masterminds behind the creation of Razer, the world-leading company for gamer products, Tan Min-Liang is a man who can proudly claim to have excelled at something he truly loves. Ever since he daringly quit his job in law and ventured into entrepreneurship, Min-Liang has attained worldwide fame through unbridled creativity and sheer passion for his work.

Now with annual sales rumoured to be in the triple-digit millions and the brand’s snake logo eternalised in the form of tattoos on the skins of hundreds of devoted fans, the company has achieved unprecedented success in the gaming industry. What made Razer the gaming hardware powerhouse it is today? What impels such enduring dedication to a brand? Rafflesian Times speaks to Tan Min-Liang, co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Razer Inc., to find out.

THE MAN
Far from being the exacting, super-formal CEO one might expect as the head of a multinational, globally renowned company, Min-Liang proved, during our interview, to be a fun-loving entrepreneur who dared to challenge the status quo. For him, ‘every day is an exciting challenge’ and ‘is so much fun’. It’s no wonder that he loves what he does, so much so that he does not even consider it work.

Min-Liang’s passion for competitive gaming started when was a kid, having ‘played a lot of Quake and Unreal Tournament’. At the age of six, he and his older brother were exposed to the world of gaming and spent all their spare time there. Ironically, he was rejected by the computer club in RI, but assures us that he is not bitter, albeit remembering this even twenty years later.

Even in his Junior College days, he exemplified a key trait of an entrepreneur – not giving up in the face of setbacks. ‘My results at the end of my first year was F-O-O-D (equivalent to USSD today) – FOOD, so I can remember that, and I had to argue my way to be promoted to J2 – but that was pretty funny.’ Eventually, he made colossal improvements and bagged 4A‘s for his A Levels.

Later, Min-Liang graduated from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law in 1995 and practised as a lawyer for a couple of years, before making the daring switch to entrepreneurship. Not long after, he designed and tested the world’s first gaming mouse, the Razer Boomslang, which was launched in 1998, taking the world of high-performance gaming by storm. The company’s formative years in the early 2000s were punctuated with sizeable struggles – a blur of designing products he wanted to use and selling them directly to gamers online. In assembling his team, he disavowed focus groups or market research, instead assembling it like a massive multiplayer online (MMO) game.

In 2005, after conquering the odds of the burst of the dot.com bubble and repeated factory shutdowns, Min-Liang took the helm as CEO of Razer with his American friend Robert Krakoff as President. This was just the beginning of his success story. As recognition for his revolutionary work and originality, Business Insider named him one of ‘The 25 Most Creative People in Tech’ in 2013. And in March this year, he became a Board member on the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

A stark contrast to his seemingly spontaneous, off-the- cuff personality, Min-Liang’s role supervising and directing the design and development of all products requires meticulous attention to detail and a degree of control that few can pull off. He declares that till today, ‘Every single outward facing design, whether it’s a poster in Poland, a retail shelf in the US, or even a little card, I still approve every single thing. I’m a bit of a control freak.’ According to him, even their name cards (pictured right) ‘are printed in specific places in world’, and ‘with the same card stock.’

Min-Liang’s combination of audacity and unconventionality is unique – he tells us that he still doesn’t know many people who have switched from professional careers to more unorthodox ones. Even more laudable is the fact that he fully respects the choices his peers make. He professes, ‘I don’t believe that there’s a “path less travelled”, as everybody chooses their own path.’ To him, the most important thing is that ‘whatever path that you’re in, you do well in it.’ In fact, for many of his RI classmates, ‘the traits that they had back in the day are making them incredible at what they do today.’

EMINENCE OF THE TRIPLE-HEADED SNAKE

‘I think we’ve created a phenomenal brand, today we’re the leading brand for gamers, everywhere in the world… you don’t need to show them [gamers] the logo – you show them the black and bright green accent, they go like “Hey, that’s a Razer thing!”’

As Razer contends for international recognition, the proliferation of its distinctive logo has served to showcase exactly how much the company has grown over the years. Min-Liang attributes ‘only constant reinforcement and adherence to the company philosophy’ to building the brand of the company, and ultimately amassing a global following. He remarks that ‘for us [Razer], the vision has always been pretty straightforward – we focus on the gamers. “For gamers, by gamers”. That single vision has really helped us.’

‘Many of them [other gaming companies] have tried to replicate what we do. They can’t replicate cool. I think it’s because of our focus and that we are gamers ourselves.’

Min-Liang further claims that authenticity has turned out to be the prevailing quality and winning attribute of the company. Indeed, it has allowed the team at Razer to put themselves into the shoes of the gamer in order to perfect and optimise what consumers get to enjoy and experience.

He concurs with pride, ‘We’re deeply, incredibly passionate about the products we make. And it’s not just about products, it’s about the packaging. It’s not just about the packaging, it’s about when you read the Press that we do, or the marketing, or even when you step into the office. Every single thing has a very unified approach and vision.’

When questioned on how exactly he manages to bring this authenticity across to such a global audience, Min-Liang cites an obstinate refusal to cut corners. ‘For us, we have literally, for example, destroyed hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars of product, even when the smallest items are not up to par… When the designers or new engineers come in, they go like “What’s the big deal about it? Nobody’s going to see it.” And our point is, we know it, and we’re going to nuke $750,000 worth of products because we didn’t do this well.’

BEHIND THE SCENES
In the past, a main priority for Tan Min-Liang used to be vetting the hiring processes for the company. However, he conceded with a mild sense of disappointment that in recent years, the process of painstakingly vetting every single candidate has turned out to be, simply put, too time-consuming. Despite this, Min-Liang still strives to source for the best, strikingly unique talents to join his company.

Future Razer aspirants, take note. He listed ‘hunger, passion, and of course, smarts in what they do’ as the top qualities that stand out amongst future members of the Razer team. Notably, Min-Liang has even offered jobs to independent creatives that simply did ‘something cool on Youtube’. Hiring creative, self-motivated individuals has added dynamism to the company’s talent pool, taking it to greater heights.

Aside from their ultimate goal to wow, Razer epitomises the phrase ‘work hard, play hard’, embracing it as part of their work culture. Min-Liang ensures a healthy balance by consistently pushing for top-notch, quality performance (Razer has taken top honours at the International Consumer Electronics Show for five consecutive years) while fostering a relaxed and laid back atmosphere within the workplace, introducing unconventional measures such as allowing employees to play computer games such as Defence Of The Ancients (DOTA) during office hours. To the justified jealousy of gamers everywhere, he even handed out personal Blades (Razer laptops), to each and every member of the company, at the expense of a $2 million dollar hit to the company. His rationale?

‘The only mission that we have for everybody is that we’re giving everybody a Blade, so that you guys can play computer games. And that’s what we do.’

SETTING UP BASE
Apart from his astute and steadfast management of the company’s inner workings, Min-Liang has developed a keen understanding of the business scene that Razer thrives in. Back when Razer officially entered the business world ten years ago, start-ups, quite frankly, ‘weren’t sexy’. Without any .coms coming out of Singapore, nor any mega companies, introducing yourself as an entrepreneur or technopreneur was typically met with a glaring lack of interest.

Even to date, Singapore has yet to be the birthplace of any mega companies, or ‘unicorns’. So while Min-Liang acknowledges that things have improved and changed dramatically in the past couple of years, Singapore is, in actuality, ‘still very far from that Silicon Valley culture’. One thing he likes to tell the government bodies he sits on is that this is mainly a cultural issue. ‘If I’m in San Francisco and I’m grabbing my Starbucks in the morning, more often than not, the guy behind me is saying “Hey look! Have you seen the new app?” or “I’ve got this new idea I’m pitching to a VC (Venture Capitalist).”… Over here, usually what I hear in the morning when they’re buying breakfast is “eh, what are you going to have for lunch ah?”… In the Valley, it’s all about trying to find the next round of funding, the great idea. Here, I think the perspectives are very different.’

Although startup culture in Singapore evidently differs vastly from that in the USA, Min-Liang emphasises that it is not at all a negative thing – merely a cultural disparity. In fact, he remarks that ‘Today, it’s actually easier to start-up in Singapore, with all the grants and stuff like that. The question is whether it’s easier to succeed in Singapore.’

But it’s not just Singapore’s business scene that has evolved over the years; inevitably, the people in it have changed as well. The influx of millennials into the workforce has been accompanied by no shortage of criticism and derisive labels – ‘the strawberry generation’, ‘Generation Me’, and so on. Yet, Min-Liang has remained unabashedly optimistic in his view of the millennials throughout his experiences working with them, even going so far as to predict that “this generation is going to be truly phenomenal.”

‘A kid today with a smartphone has more information in his hand than the president of the US fifteen years ago. Literally with that in mind, I think the millennials are a hugely exciting group of people,’ he points out. Even the widespread sentiment that Generation Y is ‘soft’ and ‘coddled’ does not seem to apply to Razer’s employees at all. ‘Do we give them a hard time? Hugely so.’ says Min-Liang. ‘We scream, we yell at them, whatever it is. But they don’t break down – in fact they come back, and they’re hugely passionate about the products.’ It seems that the millennials working for Razer do not live up to the bad name which the public so often labels us with. ‘The difference is when they get an opportunity to be a part of something much greater and contribute back,’ Min-Liang reflects. Or, as he jokingly puts it, ‘Maybe it’s because they get to play DOTA at the office all the time.’

MEMORIES OF RAFFLES
Speaking to Min-Liang, his ample love for his alma mater is almost instantly clear. His years in RI being one of the best times of his life, he asserts that ‘it’s the friendships that you make, and the clowns that you meet, and the people that you fight with’ that made RI what it was for him.

In addition, Min-Liang reminisces that RI used to be a great social leveller. He pointed out that ‘you get guys from all sorts of backgrounds’ and that even till today, many of them still remain as great friends, despite their differing backgrounds. Testament to this is the fact that the current Chief Finance Officer of Razer used to be Min-Liang’s Secondary 1 classmate.

Till this day, Min-Liang frequently meets up with his friends from RI for hearty chats. He tells us ‘I don’t remember the Chemistry lessons, or whatnot that I’ve gone through. What I do remember, are the people.’ Perhaps most moving of all is the love he has for Raffles, best embodied by this quote: ‘My admin always turns away most of the press interviews I do, and she was like “Why are you doing this?” because she turns away like everything else. I said “because it’s RI and I am happy to do something for RI.”’

CONCLUSION
Today Razer is larger than ever – and in huge part thanks to the work of Tan Min-Liang. If there’s anything that can be learnt from his story, it’s that an undying passion for the unorthodox, thinking out of the box and the will to push through with it is what creates success. As Rafflesians, we’ve always prided ourselves as the ‘thinkers, leaders and pioneers’, but how often is it that we truly dare to challenge the status quo and try something new? Min-Liang’s journey has shown that taking the path less travelled has its payoffs, albeit with much struggle and difficulty. Nevertheless, it’s this attitude of entrepreneurship that we should aspire to emulate.

by Wahid Al Mamun (15A01A), William Hoo (15A01E), Alex Tan (16S03B), Karen Cuison (16A01D), Choo Shuen Ming (16A01E) and Adelyn Tan (16A01E)

This article is a preview from the upcoming Issue #5 of the Rafflesian Times, slated for release this week.

The Dim Sum Dollies trio. From left to right: Pamela Oei, Selena Tan and Denise Tan

Remember that catchy ‘Train is coming, train is coming!’ jingle? Does The History of Singapore ring a bell? Fronting the SMRT courtesy campaign, as well as recent musical romps about our nation‘s past are the quirky and eternally funny Dim Sum Dollies®.

The Dollies are known for the sharp, sassy and accessible humour with which they tackle local concerns – in full-length musicals, no less. From Operation Coldstore to MRT breakdowns, no affair in Singaporean history is too small or political to escape the Dollies’ sly eyes and fun puns. Naturally, the trio has grown to become a well-loved fixture in Singapore’s
arts scene.

Selena Tan, Pam Oei, and Emma Yong founded the Dim Sum Dollies in 2002. Following Yong’s passing in 2012, Denise Tan joined the group. Of the four, Selena Tan (RJC, 1988), Pam Oei (RJC, 1989) and Emma Yong (RGS, 1991; RJC, 1993) are graduates of RI.

Tan and Oei have come a long way since their RI days. As the founder of Dream Academy®, Tan oversees company direction and welfare. Oei currently juggles motherhood, Dolliehood, fronting and writing for a rock band, and preparing to direct a play at the end of the year. We caught up with the duo amidst their busy schedules for a quick chat about where they came from, and where they are today.

ORIGINS
The Dim Sum Dollies’ pre-university days played no small part in their growth. Both Oei and Tan first realised their passion for the stage in their secondary school days, where they honed their creative sides through a bevy of theatre-related activities. Oei’s calling was made known to her after she volunteered as a backstage crew member for Beauty World. She consequently turned down subsequent offers to be part of other crews. School plays had taught Oei that she would rather be on stage than behind it.

Tan was inspired by various Shakespearean performances and workshops held in her secondary school. Teachers constantly helped her unearth and develop her passion for theatre. Back in Fairfield Methodist School, Tan was part of the English Language Drama and Debate Society (ELDDS). The teacher-in-charge of the Society, Ms Lim, encouraged Tan to attend a drama camp – and attend it she did. She fell in love with the art form, taking on theatrical projects from the tender
age of 14.

Following secondary school, Tan’s time in Raffles Junior College was defined by her ‘good education’ in the Humanities Programme, as a student of 88A01B. Tan muses, ‘We were taught to think… and to question. We did a lot of extra stuff on our own.’ Her class once put up a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest all by themselves in Lecture Theatre 3. Oei, who studied Physics, Chemistry, Math and Economics as a member of 89S06A, unflinchingly – and laughingly – recalls her academic disinclination. ‘I was probably one of the banes of the teachers’ existences,’ she jokes. ‘I think the choice of subjects was a poor one!’

Tan’s experience as a debater stood her in good stead for her degree in law at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Oei opted for a degree in architecture at the same university. As university students, they worked odd jobs to make ends meet while establishing their reputation in the theatre scene. Day jobs paid the bills, and night theatre jobs paid paltry sums with the completion of entire projects. Nonetheless, fuelled by their hunger for the stage and an awareness of their potential, the two soldiered on.

Tan remarks, ‘By the time I finished my law degree, I’d actually been an actor and a singer much longer than I had been a lawyer!’ Despite the fact that she had already been actively pursuing theatrical opportunities from a young age, her decision to go professional as a stage actress still did not sit well with her parents initially. After all, she was willingly abandoning the law profession – and with it, her sizeable salary – for a field with uncertain monetary prospects.

‘They said “don’t do it”. I remember thinking very carefully about it, and then I planned it. I planned it on my birthday. I brought my parents out to a coffeeshop in the morning – thought there wouldn’t be any big major outbursts there – and told them quite plainly that I was going to give it a try. I had my resignation letter, told them how much money I had, and that I would be able to survive, and not to worry. Then I went to work.Then I came home at night and my mother was crying. And my mother asked, “Do you want to reconsider?” And I said, “No, I’ve already decided.” After that, she was just resigned, I suppose.’

GROWING AS A TRIO
The Dim Sum Dollies’ subsequent success was fraught with its own set of trials. Despite the group’s job offers and collective experience, establishing their presence in local theatres remained an uphill task.

Tan’s business acumen and foresight was instrumental towards securing The Dollies’ foothold in the arts scene. As Oei put it, The Dollies aimed to ‘create the shows [they wanted] to create’, effectively charting their own paths. It was a daunting and risky shift, especially for actors accustomed to living from job to job. ‘[We had to] put a lot more risk out there in order for there to be a plan forward,’ Tan recalls. Oei is quick to praise Tan for her drive: ‘I can think of very few actors who would be able to create a company for [themselves] and plan a future in this career.’

This willingness to take risks enabled a milestone in the Dollies’ career: Tan made a radical decision to move the Dollies from the 400-seater Jubilee Hall in Raffles Hotel, to the 2000-seater Esplanade. Oei recalls her apprehension upon the announcement of the move. ‘After punching her I said, “How are we going to do it?!”’ But do it they did – their opening show played to a full house.

Pam: You were yawning backstage. I remember that.
Selena: I told you already, my yawning is a defence mechanism.
Pam: Who yawns when stressed out?! This is just ridiculous.
Selena: Trying to get as much air into my brain as possible!
Pam: Yeah, that was a truly horrifying terrifying night.
Selena: But it was fun.
Pam: It was. But terrifying. Terrifying and fun. Like a rollercoaster ride.
Selena: Really.

The show’s resounding success prompted the Dollies to realise that they were willing and able to forge ahead, both in their line of work and as an act.

The Dollies carry out the ‘terrifying’ on a regular basis too – and by regular, they mean at every show. Selena shared, ‘For many Dim Sum Dollies shows, we’ve been dangled in the air, up in the rafters waiting to… [be] flown down. But before you’re flown down you have to go up, and you actually have to hang in the dark for a long time. So in the dark, it’s just you and your harness, looking at the little lights in front of you!’ Oei quips, ‘Dangling in the dark is a true Dim Sum Dollies experience.’

Speaking of the regular, the Dollies’ current stage commitments are relentless. Rehearsals are gruelling, and there is no space or time for backing out. After all, venues have already been booked at least a year in advance, and audience expectations have to be met. Furthermore, the Dollies are too iconic to be substitutable. They have no doubles. Stopping is simply not an option. ‘There’s no such thing as a good day or a bad day…. There are so many other people working with you, for you, and you can’t not want to do what you need to do,’ came the candid remark from Oei. It was promptly echoed by Tan. ‘[Preparing for a show] is like an assembly line, I suppose. If you drop a ball, everybody else is affected.’ Fortunately (and unsurprisingly), good days are far more common than less-good ones. Oei sums up the sentiment neatly: ‘At the end of the day, I still love it.’

PERKS OF THE NICHE
To both women, the significant growth of the local theatre scene is largely a product of changing perceptions. In terms of practitioners, more people are taking the plunge into full-time work. ‘It’s much bigger now, definitely. It’s more professional; most of us are working full-time. We’re full-time practitioners, whereas it was unheard of before. Everyone had day jobs. Everyone was a lawyer. Everyone rehearsed at night,’ Oei says.

Perceptions are also changing when it comes to the nature of the discourse that local English theatre is allowed to engage in. Today, boundaries are being pushed further than ever before. The Dim Sum Dollies’ December show, The History of Singapore Part 2 went to so far as to reference controversial moments in Singapore‘s history. These include Operation Spectrum, the alleged Marxist conspiracy of 1987. The Dim Sum Dollies were let off easily, with light script revisions by the Media Development Authority. This was possibly due to theatre’s relatively niche viewership, compared to, say, television. In the words of Oei: ‘We get away with a lot more, I think.’

Is the status quo going to be challenged even further? Apparently, the answer lies in the hands of the people. Tan declares: ‘If everybody agrees that they’re all ready, they’re ready.’ Oei adds thoughtfully that society today is governed less by the authorities and more by the people.

All in all, the Dim Sum Dollies soundly embody Singapore theatre today – vibrant, full of ideas, and growing in reach. With their majority appeal in a minority field, the Dollies fill an important role in the local arts scene. This is especially so with their witty, timely messages that just about toe the line between the spoken and unspeakable, and that serve as barometers of local sentiment. As Singapore society continues to flourish and mature in terms of its ability to carry out meaningful dialogue on the issues that hit home, the Dollies will surely be there every step of the way, adding every news bite to every new play.

REMEMBERING EMMA
In 2012, Emma Yong (RGS, 1991; RJC, 1993) passed away from stomach cancer at the age of 37. A student of the Humanities Programme, she graduated from RJC in 1993. Emma’s time in RJC nurtured her passion for the arts. She performed in plays and musicals, and was a member of the Film Society. In particular, joining the film society developed her eye for literature – so much so that she won the Angus Ross Prize in 1994, awarded to the top non-British student in the Literature A-Levels. ‘Emma was very bright,’ remarked her Literature tutor, Mr Geoff Purvis. ‘She was very interested in literature, very intense… quite sharp.’

Upon graduation from RI, Emma completed an honours degree at University College London in English Literature. Following this, she completed her post-graduate degree in musical theatre at London’s Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Noted Mr Purvis: ‘We all admired the fact that… talented as she was, [she did] not become yet another lawyer… [we admired] her integrity in pursuing what she loved… especially in those days when serious professional theatre in Singapore was in its infancy.’

While Emma went on to star in numerous theatrical productions, she is best remembered as a Dim Sum Dolly.

In her memory, the Emma Yong Fund was established in 2012 as a means to honour Emma’s life and work, and to give financial aid to theatre practitioners in Singapore who are suffering from critical illnesses.

by Md Khairillah (16A01B)

The most prestigious of scholarships, 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 Rafflesian President’s Scholar, Tan Kuan Hian, now studying liberal arts at Johns Hopkins University to find out more about him.

President Scholars 2015: Etsuko Lim Tze, Tan Kuan Hian, Clara Lim Shu Qi and Russell Ewe Yuhang. Photo retrieved from TODAYOnline.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What class were you from back in RI and what was your CCA?

14A01C, in the Humanities Programme. From Year 1-4 I was in the RIPB, the Raffles Debaters, and Raffles Athletics. In Year 5-6 my CCA with RI was just Track and Field, although I debated with the national team.

What are your thoughts on winning the President’s Scholarship?

It’s hard to articulate my thoughts and feelings on winning the President’s Scholarship. The first is that I think it’s a bit misleading to say I, or any of the other recipients, “won” the Scholarship – rather, it’s a huge honour that we’ve been lucky enough to receive. I think anybody who begins by viewing the Scholarship as a reward to win is probably not in it for the right reasons and also unlikely to receive it.

Linked to this, the second big thought was surprise. I don’t think anybody expects to receive the Scholarship, and I definitely didn’t. I was really happy to receive the Scholarship, and a large part of that happiness was because it was totally unexpected as an honour.

Upon further reflection I think the President’s Scholarship is an opportunity, more than anything else, to serve in the public service. In some senses my thoughts on it are the same as mine are on the Public Service Commission Scholarship and the Singapore Police Force Scholarship – they are opportunities to begin a career in the public service, and fundamentally involve a responsibility to serve Singapore.

In RI, you were a prominent debater, having been in the WSDC team for two years running. What importance do you think debate had in your RI experience, and do you plan on continuing to debate in university?

It’s too early for me to say whether I want to debate in university. Debating in the US is quite different from debating in Singapore and debating internationally, format-wise, so I’ll spend some time exploring it along with other options.

I think it is difficult to overstate the importance of debating to my RI experience, and in general to my development from Year 1-6. But I think that is true of any activity, for any student, if that student invests heavily in that activity and gets involved with the community surrounding that activity. Debating is perhaps unique in that it trains skills that are very applicable in real life and in schoolwork, but I think many other activities are just as meaningful.

In fact, people tend to focus on the fact that I debated a lot, when I think that my running track was just as important. Obviously hurdling has limited classroom or real-world applications, but the physical challenges of a sport provided a different sort of training and release than the intellectual rigours of debating. Perhaps more importantly, being in track helped me make loads of friends (whether teammates or just people in the gym) whom I don’t think I would have met if I’d just stuck with debating and being in the Humanities Programme. It’s not that any group of friends is better to have, but I think it was very important for me that I had multiple groups of friends with different interests and views, so that I had more diverse views and patterns of behaviour.

Upon leaving RI, did you also have any regrets? Would you have done anything differently?

There are many things I would have done differently – many times I could have been nicer, more charitable, more respectful. I think anybody who says they have absolutely no regrets about a period in their lives has to be lying, or has to be the second coming of whichever religious figure you believe in. But more broadly, in terms of really major decisions that shaped the path of my life in RI and beyond, I don’t think there’s much I would do very differently. I would have made a stronger effort to get to know even more people, because RI is such a big school, and build stronger relationships with school staff (like the staff in the SAC, canteen vendors, and of course teachers).

But in terms of big decisions which I regret, I do wish I had been more focused and put in more effort into track in Year 1-4, because it was only in Year 5-6 where I took training more seriously. I’d also be more focused and work harder in debating, because there were periods where things were tough and I got tired of debating – which is I think understandable, and no matter what the activity is there will always be highs and lows, but I could have done better during the lows.

Overall, though, I had a great time in RI and there isn’t much I really regret.

Were there any moments in your RI experience which you found especially significant in shaping who you are as a person?

I think sometimes we fixate too much on individual moments as being crucial in determining who we are, when really it’s in the daily grind that we find ourselves. There were some random chance meetings and conversations which helped me a lot by providing opportunities I otherwise wouldn’t have had, but then again I prefer not to fixate on the vagaries of life because we can only remember the coincidences that happened, while those that didn’t could be just as important.

In general, do you have anything to say to our Rafflesian readers, and any tips they could keep in mind for the future?

The PSC is far too discerning to fall for interview tricks or buy rehearsed answers, so if anyone’s looking for an interview cheat-sheet I’m sorry to disappoint you – it doesn’t exist. As far as interview tips go, there really isn’t much new I have to say. Read widely (not just the Straits Times), have an opinion on issues that you can defend, and think very hard about why you want to join the public service and take up the scholarship.

For more general advice, be really committed to what you do, no matter what CCA or project it is. That commitment will not only shape you for the better, it will often yield results as well. Build relationships, and I use the word build advisedly – friendships don’t just appear and stay. They take work to maintain, and having friends for whom you are willing to put in that work is always a blessing. This helps with applying for PSC scholarships I guess, but that’s because it’ll just make you a better person. I’m working on doing these things in my own life, too.

Finally, remember that there are loads of people out there who are just as and quite often more capable than you are, and that that’s completely fine. Be acutely aware of what you can and cannot do. If you can do something, don’t be ashamed about it. If you can’t, don’t be ashamed either – acknowledge it, and then decide whether you want to become able to do it, or whether you’d rather focus elsewhere. There’s no need to do everything, and no need to be the best at anything. I think accepting that can sometimes be difficult, but it’s important to do, because it’s true.

Raffles Press wishes Kuan Hian the best in his future endeavours.

by Celine Ng (16A01A), Karen Cuison (16A01D) and Louisa Li (16A13A)

Raffles Press presents a handy guide for students who wish to study medicine in the UK, featuring words of wisdom from three seniors currently studying medicine in the UK – Amanda Choo and Samantha Chan of Cambridge, as well as Jaclyn Tan of University College London.

First things first – How to pick which university to apply to

The common thread of advice given was, of course, to do research on the individual school and find one which would best suit you. Specifically, here are some things the interviewees had to say about their choices:

Amanda: I chose Cambridge for academic and personal reasons. I was drawn to the course’s emphasis on building a firm scientific foundation in pre-clinical years, the use of cadaveric dissections along with prosections (with a good student to cadaver ratio), strong research background and my college’s good supervisor to student ratio for supervisions. Personally, I was amazed by Cambridge’s long history and historic alumni, the beautiful city (to be fair I hadn’t visited UK prior to my offer), and wanted the opportunity to challenge myself living abroad and doing a rigorous course.

Samantha: Personally, I wouldn’t recommend an open application as you might get put into a college you don’t like (like an all girls college or one that is far from the city centre). Looking at past application to offer ratios might help, after shortlisting some criteria for your college such as size, location, college culture, number of international students, student welfare etc. College websites and student prospectuses give an idea of these factors. The probability of getting accepted with an open application isn’t higher (and likewise a college wouldn’t know if you applied to them directly or via an open application), so might as well pick a college you wouldn’t mind being in. Most people end up loving their college anyway!

Jaclyn: Try to find out about the teaching styles offered (lecture­ based, practical­ based learning, or combined) and see what suits you best. As you will be spending 5/6 years of your life there, make sure you’re comfortable in the immediate environment and neighborhood. When researching on schools, do not just look at the prospectuses and websites. Talk to seniors studying there to get differing opinions but make sure to take things with a pinch of salt. Finally, don’t be afraid to consider deferring your entry into university.

What to expect from applications

All three emphasised the fact that different universities can have vastly different application processes, so it’s always best to do research on their admission criteria. Specifically, one ought to look out for:

• The possibility of an interview
• The weightages of various sections – BMAT/UKCAT scores, interview scores, essays or personal statements, for instance
• Selection/ Elimination processes – rating students on a total score, for instance

Individual research aside, students are of course encouraged to get in touch with admissions offices whenever in doubt, with Samantha noting that “Cambridge colleges tend to be quite obliging on information if you ask. [sic]”

How to prepare for your applications

Once again, all three interviewees were unanimous in their advice, emphasising the need to start early. Specifically, interested applicants ought to

• Start their personal statements around 3-4 months in advance
• Start their BMAT preparation a few months in advance: they should practice writing essays weekly, go through BMAT 400 assessment books, and attempt past-year Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) under timed conditions to get a sense of what will be demanded of them

For the Cambridge interview segment, both Amanda and Samantha noted the strong emphasis on demonstrating intellectual rigour, with Amanda saying that “The interview is mainly academic, although other questions about your application (e.g. reasons why you chose medicine, questions about your personal statement) are possible”. They also noted its emphasis on demonstrating the quality of your thought -in Amanda’s words, “It is not meant to be a trivia quiz or an interrogation but is meant to allow the interviewer to see how you think and investigate problems”. Those fretting over the interview are advised to

• Approach their science teachers or seniors studying medicine to give them mock interviews so they can practice answering questions
• Practice articulating and explaining their reasoning thoroughly
• Ensure that their knowledge of A-level Biology “and possibly Chemistry” is solid

• Form groups and discuss relevant hot topics
• Read up on the latest medical advancements and news (E.g. articles in Scientific American and New Scientist), be ready to discuss common ethical scenarios. It might be helpful to summarise useful articles in order to aid comprehension and recall of key points

For the UCL interview segment, Jaclyn noted the importance of being familiar with what you’d written for your BMAT essay, which the interview panel would have a copy of.

Additional tips

Amanda: (On the interview)  It is perfectly okay to not know an answer or to get something wrong but it’s preferable to show a calm thinking/troubleshooting process if you’re in a bind. Basically, they’re looking for someone that they themselves want to teach, so be a positive student!

Samantha: Ultimately, a lot of it is down to luck, and try not to be too obsessed over the outcome. Take each step in your stride and enjoy the process (like interview prep), and good luck!

Jacyln: Even if it’s tempting to apply to all the BMAT schools, diversify your choices. You won’t get your BMAT score until you send in your applications!

In conclusion, the main ideas were to:

1. Do your research and be sensitive to the different requirements of each school
2. Start preparations early and work hard at them
3. Demonstrate intellectual ability beyond content knowledge.

Raffles Press wishes all applicants the very best!

by Qiu Kexin (16A13A)

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of RI’s academic management and should not be used as a substitute for formal academic counselling.

Editor’s Note (2/11/2015): The sections about the average scores of Ivy League institutions and advised timings for taking the SAT has been updated with more accurate information.

Chances are, if you’ve hung out in junior college long enough, you would have heard of the SAT exam sooner or later: perhaps from a conversation with peers planning to study overseas, or from surfing webpages about how to enter foreign colleges, or from advice given by well-meaning relatives. As the SAT is not compulsory for students under the Singaporean education system, many of us can go years without ever hearing about it — until the time comes for us to consider our options for post-tertiary level education.

Deciding whether or not to take the SATs can be a daunting task for the uninitiated, especially for those who have always been fixated on simply the GCE O and A Levels. This article aims to answer some of the most common questions local students have about this alternative mode of assessment.

What is the SAT?
The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is a series of university entrance examinations administered by the USA’s College Board. It may help one to think of it as a North American version of Singapore’s standardised tests.

An SAT score is required by nearly all US colleges when applying, which is why most people planning to study in the US will take this exam; it is essential for the admission process.

There are two types of SATs. The first is the General SAT (also known as SAT I), which tests candidates using three all-important sections: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. There are also Subject Tests that assess one’s proficiency in niche subjects such as Chemistry, Literature, or World History. The rest of this article will cover just the General SAT, but the Subject Tests will also be featured in their own article on Raffles Press in the near future.

What is the SAT test format and syllabus like? *
* The test format will be changing for tests taken after March 2016. Refer to “How will the SAT be changing after the March 2016 redesign?” below.

Much of the content tested in the General SAT is arguably similar to what students will learn in Singaporean schools at the upper secondary academic years, with some marked differences. One common comment is that the Math section is always a breeze for Singaporean students. However, some sections can also be more challenging for local students to make up for this, particularly the Writing section.

To break it down, the sections test on the following content:

• Critical Reading (67 multiple-choice questions)
  • Consists of passage reading and sentence completion sections.
• Math (44 multiple-choice and 10 grid-in questions)
  • Tests candidates on basic arithmetic, Algebra I and II, and geometry.
• Writing (49 multiple-choice questions, 1 essay question)
  • Tests the ability to identify sentence errors, improve sentences, improve paragraphs within a specific narrative context, and write an essay in response to an abstract prompt.

The total test time is 3 hours and 45 minutes. Critical Reading is similar to the reading comprehension sections in the A Levels’ General Paper, or the O Levels’ English papers. As for Math, the content assessed will be familiar to anyone in Secondary 4 and above (though the questions tend to be more ‘creative’, so one must still prepare).

However, the content tested in the Writing section is likely to be unfamiliar: Singaporean candidates should study grammar rules, read up on vocabulary, and familiarise themselves with the argumentative style expected for the essay question so as to be better prepared.

A sample “identify the sentence error” question. The correct answer is D.
(Source: College Board)

How is the SAT graded, and what score should I aim for? *
*After the March 2016 redesign of the test, points will no longer be deducted for incorrect answers. Refer to “How will the SAT be changing after the March 2016 redesign?” below.

Most prospective candidates are familiar with the 2400-point grading system for the SAT, which combines the scaled scores from each of the SAT’s three sections (in turn, each section has a full possible score of 800). Fewer may know that one’s scaled score is not determined “bell-curve” style by comparing it to other candidates, but rather, by one’s own performance. As a guideline, the College Board has released a score conversion table illustrating the corresponding scaled scores candidates will earn for a certain given raw score (which usually remains consistent) — that has been pictured below.

The College Board’s score conversion table.
(Source: College Board)

Generally, renowned universities will expect at least a 2000 score on the SAT. The scores of applicants accepted into Ivy League institutions always range anywhere from 2100 – 2400 points. However, standards for international students will be higher than for domestic American applicants due to intensely selective admission processes, so aiming for higher scores will be a safer bet always. Raffles Institution candidates on average will score 2200 points.

When should I take the SAT?
It takes a month for SAT scores to be released online, so students planning to use their scores in university applications should take it at least two months before applications are due.

More crucial, however, would be the year you choose to take the SAT in. In the US, the SAT is most often taken by students in their Senior year (i.e. at the age of 17 or 18); but besides their grade, local students also need to take the validity period of SAT scores and the timing of early university admission procedures into account.

• For the former, Singaporean universities will consider your SAT score valid for five years, while US universities will consider it valid for two or three years.
• For the latter, early admission rounds begin as early as May or June annually. Thus, the rule of thumb goes that taking the SAT sooner is better. SAT candidates intending to secure a place in university as soon as possible will need to have a test score at the ready by May/June during their J2 year.

It is possible to take the SAT while you are in Secondary or Year 4, as long as you have sufficiently prepared for it. Though JAE students rarely choose this timing, as they need to prepare for the O Levels, many Integrated Programme students do take it in December after their Mother Tongue papers while they are still in Year 4.

On the other hand, it is more common for people to take the SAT in J1 or J2. However, J2 students will have to balance studying for A Levels, H3, scholarship applications, and early university applications on top of the SAT. The J1 year conversely may be lighter, but J1 students also have to contend with Project Work, Promotional Examinations, and CCA commitments.

Yet another palatable option — but only for those taking gap years or those not participating in early university admissions — would be a date after the GCE A Levels in November. Though the suggestion would likely prompt heated protests from students, at the prospect of having to continue studying after the As, this could be a welcome choice for those who wish to focus on one large examination at a time. Besides, after surviving the momentous A Levels, we’re sure taking the SAT would seem manageable in comparison.

Last but not least, students who have to enter National Service commonly delay taking the SAT until the end of their first year in National Service.

How do I apply for the SAT?
Application and test payment is done online through the College Board website. A step-by-step guide for applying for Singaporean students can be found here.

What resources can I use to prepare for the SAT?
The College Board offers many free online resources. Among other things, you can answer sample questions, do up a study plan, and check the minimum SAT score required by various colleges on their website.

Admittedly however, online practices from the College Board will be insufficient for most students. Students can buy the Official SAT Study Guide (which has 10 practice tests) from Kinokuniya, or look to other websites such as Major Tests, Khan Academy, and Princeton Review for even more practice. As for free-of-charge textbooks, SparkNotes has a nifty online study guide, and even more guidebooks can be borrowed from public or junior college libraries.

The Ten Year Series for your SAT

Other options out there include prep courses or tutoring services offered by some organisations, but these are costly; fees range from the lower end of $1,000, to as high as $5,000. More information can be found here.

At the end of the day, the main recommendation is simply for candidates to do a mock SAT sitting at least once, so they can familiarise themselves with the timings for each section.

The Million Dollar Question: Do I need to take the SAT?
The SAT is only most useful in certain situations, so you can ask yourself a central question to make a firm decision: is there any chance of you studying in the US?

If not at all, the SAT will likely be unnecessary. Globally, the SAT is usually required by only American institutes. Singaporean and British universities will assess applicants based on their GCE A Levels performance instead.

Nevertheless, taking the SAT won’t hurt, especially for those who have not decided where they wish to study. The SAT can be a safety net for applying to local universities, as a replacement or supplement for your performance at the A Levels.

• National University of Singapore allows candidates applying for Law-related courses, who did not obtain the minimum B for General Paper or B in Knowledge & Inquiry required, to submit their subject’s result (must be at least an E) together with a score of 700 or more for the SAT’s Critical Reading section to satisfy the requirement.
• Nanyang Technological University requires a minimum score of 1,900 for the SAT (and a score of 680 or better in each of three required SAT Subject Tests.).
• Singapore Management University requires a minimum total score of 1,900, with 600 each for both Critical Reading and Writing (for non-Law programmes) or a combined score of 1,400 for Critical reading and Writing (for Law programmes)

Considering all these, taking the SAT may sound like a good idea right about now. However, there is one final hurdle in making a decision: the SAT has an exorbitant application fee. It usually costs Singaporean students about US$100 to apply for one sitting (for an explanation of the costs, click here).

That said, an SAT score is not necessary except for those seriously considering applying to American institutions, so students should not be pressured to take it just because ‘everyone else is too’ if the cost doesn’t seem to be worth it. Additionally, changes are always happening in the American education system; recently, 800 US colleges made a switch to text-flexible admission processes that would no longer mandate SAT score submissions, including renowned institutions such as New York University and Middlebury College. Students can use their A Levels scores for admission to these colleges instead. The moral of the story behind all this is that students should always check the minimum admission criteria of their prospective colleges.

The Verdict
To arrive at a definite decision, students will have to weigh the pros and cons of taking the SAT by conducting a plethora of research. Besides just checking the minimum admission requirements and the date that admissions will be open for potential colleges, they need to decide whether they plan to take a gap year, or are willing to bear the opportunity costs of such a test as these will affect either the timing they choose or the very decision to go for the SAT.

Those fortunate enough to be able to bear the costs of multiple sittings (the SAT can be taken an unlimited number of times) can have a first sitting as early as possible in case they need to retake it. Otherwise, sitting for a mock ‘diagnostic’ SAT before you do anything to find out if you have the aptitude for it will also help you make a firm choice.

Last but not least, if the SAT doesn’t seem to be their cup of tea, students can always explore other options such as applying for other institutions, or taking the ACT instead (another standardised test that is widely accepted by US colleges). Planning will go a long way into aiding students in making the best decision, as will discussing post-tertiary education options with adults and friends. At the end of the day, students should mainly take the SAT because they need to, or because they will appreciate it as an opportunity to gauge their academic proficiency.

* How will the SAT be changing after the March 2016 redesign?
The SAT redesign only applies to tests taken on or after 1 March 2016. The most major changes that will happen are the following:

• The Essay-Writing section will be optional.
• The new score scale will be 1600 with a separate score for Essay-Writing.
• Points are no longer deducted for incorrect answers.
• The new test time will be 3 hours, or 3 hours and 50 minutes with the essay

The gist of the SAT sections will be the same, but the content tested in Math and Critical Reading will bank on application and data-response skills more greatly than on memory work. A detailed rundown of the changes can be found here.

by Vanessa Chia (16A13A) and Nicole Tan (16A13A)

From our very brief knowledge about Sri Lanka, the country was initially to many of us merely a nation plagued with civil strife for 26 years of its history—a worryingly belligerent and divided one. Perhaps the streets had been left in ramshackle war-like conditions. Perhaps the locals, having already been through a turmoil, would be guarded, even hostile, towards foreigners. These were thoughts that ran through the minds of the 59 Humanities students, completely unsure of exactly what to expect from a nation with such a complex history, as we boarded the three-hour flight with much anticipation and apprehension to find out whether such presumptions would ring true. Despite this, however, the seemingly trifling island off the coast of south-east India, in fact boasted more than the unsuspecting visitor could comprehend, and we would soon find that we were fortunate enough to have experienced this first-hand.

One of the highlights of the trip was our visits to several Sri Lankan schools. Our very first exposure to the Sri Lankan education system was the visit to Royal College Colombo, the country’s leading and oldest public boys’ school with selective entry. Stepping through the towering school gates, we were greeted by a majestic brick building– once used as an infirmary during the civil war, it now had an enrolment of 8000 students. “Disce aut Discede”, the school’s motto, was inscribed upon a brass tablet mounted at the college’s entrance; Latin for “Learn or Depart”. It succinctly encompassed what this institution stood for in the purpose of education, both academically and holistically. It said much about the attitude instilled in the students, a creed of hard work, effort, and perseverance. Back home, this creed stands firm; yet, with deadlines to meet and exams to conquer, sometimes the unhappiness all too easily smothers our eagerness to learn. The school visits reminded us, however, that we could not lose sight of the major purpose of going to school, such as our active decisions to learn, grow and become better versions of ourselves in the process. Royal College Colombo’s motto was a wake-up call of sorts: giving up is easy. It is staying on to strive and do better that is the struggle we must overcome.

Pupils from a village school nestled in Watawala

In stark contrast to Royal College, our next few exposures to Sri Lanka’s education system came from small village schools. One was nestled in the mist-covered greenery of Watawala, another in Kandy, and the last was a boy’s orphanage. Our first steps into these schools were immediately met with the distinct chatter of children and bright-eyed faces peering back at us. The contrast between their learning environments and that of Royal College was clear– dim lighting, pieces of old wooden stools passing off as furnishing — setting them vastly apart from the sprawling Royal College campus. It was shocking and hard to grow accustomed to this. Not just the environment, but the understanding that these were the conditions in which these eager students learnt and played in zealous energy. The students, with their cautious excitement, however, seemed almost oblivious to the substandard conditions of the school. What stood out to us was was the realization that this oblivion could only stem from their lack of exposure to any environment better than those they had. But what humbled us most of all was that this handicap was not at all evident from the children’s attitudes — their eagerness and enthusiasm for their school shone in the course of our very candid conversations. The environment we have back in Singapore should call for much greater appreciation, and not be so easily taken granted of the way we always do, and it took us a real experience in a disadvantaged school for this to become eminent to us.

As the children continued to titter with delight around us, it was clear to us that visiting these schools was really more so for our own benefit—hardly for that of the children. The principal of the Kandy school did, in fact, request for us to return and help the school out when we acquire the time and resources to. Definitely, the brief half an hour of interaction and performances that we carried out could do little more than bring a brief smile to the children’s faces. In the long term, we can only hope to be remembered as one of the many groups who have dropped by, but it’s a start—much of service is the learning involved in it. Yet perhaps the short time we were there was more than sufficient with the purpose of bringing them some joy, or even better, if the knowledge and experiences gained potentially lay the foundation for planning and making long term, sustainable change in the future.

Locals we met on a Watawala farm visit

Sri Lanka, merely from the school visits, already proved to be a really humbling place for us. Much of this was likely rooted in its status as a less developed country, but we think the more intimate connection the country made with us would come from the humble hospitality and kindness willingly extended to us continually during our stay. Sri Lankans are immensely warm people, receiving and welcoming us tourists with bright smiles and friendly waves. Honestly, much of our travel time on the coaches were spent sticking our heads out of the windows excitedly waving to the locals just for the purest joy of seeing their amused smiles and reciprocatory waves and hellos. This scene, this image, stuck with many of us– in Watawala, we visited a local farm, where we were fortunate to get in touch with the way Sri Lankans lived. Despite their back-breaking work hand-picking tea leaves daily, they were ever so friendly and receptive to our curious gazes and greetings. The locals of these highly agrarian communities lived such peaceful and humble lives; simple, yet content with their lot.

We contrasted these sights with our bustling city life here — abundant with immense opportunities and many platforms for new experiences, and yet, perhaps also abundant with a great deal more troubles, discord, and discontent. These all left us feeling occasionally envious of the locals, and also guilty for taking our many luxuries and comforts for granted.

Knuckles mountain range

In this vein, instead of the skyscrapers we had here, we got our fair share of a different type of towering magnificence– this time, one that was natural and breathtaking all the same. A 2 hour long trek through the Knuckles Mountain Range bestowed upon us beautiful sights as we (almost sufferingly) walked into nature’s embrace. If the hike didn’t leave us breathless, the scenery did. A route that was hard for us to maneuver was one that many native Sri Lankans had to take in their everyday course of travel– as we warily tiptoed across the seemingly precarious rocky edges, a local school boy coming in the opposite direction deftly hopped around us and ran on his way. Once again, we were humbled beyond measure, counting all our blessings for what we have in Singapore: simple things such as pavements! At the end, we were left breathless and fatigued, but with the knowledge that we had merely walked a fraction of the footsteps of the mountain’s inhabitants.

Having lived in a country beset with long drawn out and bloody civil strife, many Sri Lankans have had normal life continually and suddenly interrupted and interspersed with lockdowns, displacement and curfews. But since the country’s liberation from full-scale war in 2009, these locals have been striving to pick up the pieces again, with help from organizations both international and local, including The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children. These organizations, established during the war, have since been making their impact in fields like poverty reduction, environmental protection, youth and innovation and conflict resolution. What inspired us most was the exuberance and insights of the young local interns present at the sharings. These interns, some as young as 21-year-old law undergraduates, undertake tasks such policy research and lead youth innovation teams for their country, all this time attending make-up lectures at their university on weekends. Up till now, challenges in the form of deeply entrenched socio-cultural norms had remained; a proposed reduction in sugar intake was rejected by most of the population, accustomed to valuing the relatively expensive sugar as a sign of respect. Nonetheless Sri Lanka is slowly opening up to the world again—and something we found so impressive was the resilience in many Sri Lankans taking the active step to rebuild their lives and their country, and the open-heartedness and mindedness with which they received what was foreign — namely us.

Rounding off the trip

By the end of the trip, despite our initial apprehension about what to expect from Sri Lanka, the beautiful country had instead presented to us astounding sights and a rich culture that left us infinitely hungry for more. The “resplendent island” indeed lived up to its namesake in its very own way, imparting to us knowledge of its beauty, its rich heritage, and most of all the priceless gems of humbling experiences and memories. Eye-opening and enchanting, without a doubt, our stay was an immensely fulfilling one, one that many of us would love to relive again. Sri Lanka, to many of us, hence turned out not to be so much of a symbol of post-war dilapidation, but rather more so the zenith of cultural insight, and a wealth of humbling experiences. To us, the serene contentment and the brightest, warmest smiles of the Sri Lankans will be the most memorable sights to behold for a long time to come. On this reflective note, we left the with confidence that a few years later, if we landed on its shores again—perhaps as tourists, perhaps even for business—so much more would’ve changed for the better.

by Justin Lim (16A01B) and Isabel Elizabeth Siow (16S03I)

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of RI’s academic management and should not be used as a substitute for formal academic counselling.

At the pinnacle of Raffles Institution’s pursuit of academic eminence, two notable academic programmes exist, dedicated to students with exceptional interest within certain areas of study. Namely, the Mathematics and Science Raffles Academy is catered for students with a strong passion and aptitude for any one of the Mathematics or Science subjects, while the Humanities equivalent of this Raffles Academy, the Humanities Programme, provides a stimulating environment for those keen on a more discussion-oriented learning experience in the Arts subjects. Contrary to being exclusive coteries of students sourced from only the Raffles Programme (RP), these programmes also eagerly accept bright students from other walks of life, namely the O-Level track. This article will aim to address some of the common concerns that JAEs have about these two special programmes and shed more light on the experience of being a JAE student under them.

Source: Wikipedia

The Maths and Science Raffles Academy (RA)
The RAs aim to provide more opportunities for such students to explore their interests and gain exposure in the field of their choice. Pull-out lectures and guided investigative projects are some of such opportunities which are made available for students in a RA class.

There are three main differences between a RA class and a non-RA class in terms of academic pursuit.

• Firstly, RA classes attend some pull-out lectures for their subject, during which they will cover additional, out of syllabus information that is not covered during H2 lectures. Such lectures allow lessons to proceed at a faster pace and for students to learn about interesting topics that they would otherwise not have had the opportunity to touch on in curriculum time.
• Secondly, the students in the RA classes are generally in the top 10% of the cohort, although there are always exceptions. As such, the considerable pressure on individuals to perform well academically is a factor for consideration when making the decision to apply for RA.
• Thirdly, students in RA classes have more opportunities to enter Science and Mathematics competitions compared to their non-RA friends as such opportunities will be often presented by teachers to students in the RA class. That said, it is still entirely possible for students in non-RA classes to participate in the aforementioned competitions if they have sufficient motivation and passion for the project.

How do JAEs enter the Maths and Science RAs?
Notably, there is no limit to the number of RAs that JAEs can apply for (although the most common number is two), but all applicants will be required to sit for a written test during the Orientation period. Each test is approximately an hour-long and consists of either a mixture of MCQs and structured questions, or is entirely made up of structured questions, depending on the subject. Students are also encouraged to bring along photocopies of their O-Level and Prelims result sheets, as well as other certificates of achievement from previous Science- and Maths-related activities for submission. Entry into the Raffles Academy class for JAEs is based purely on merit, rather than on fulfilling a numerical cap for students.

To increase your chances of doing well in the test, you can read up on the A-Level syllabus for your chosen subject from textbooks and guides as the questions are mostly set based on the A-level syllabus. At least, they were for the Biology entrance test from last year. Most recommended materials can be found in POPULAR; the holy grail for Biology happens to be Campbell & Reece, a heavy brick of a textbook. Most of my classmates swear by it and I do believe that, if you’ve read it cover to cover twice through, you’ll be all set for the test. The Chemistry counterpart of Campbell & Reece would be Ramsden’s textbook.

Source: Pearson

What is the acceptance rate?
The accepted number of JAE students varies year-to-year, as entry is determined meritocratically by one’s performance on the admission test. All successful test-takers will be admitted, regardless of whether, for example, four or ten students pass the test in a particular year.

In my year, a classroom-full’s worth of students took the entrance test for the Biology RA, and just two of us made it through. Each of the remaining three RAs had more or less the same entrance rates.

Will JAEs be able to fit in?
It may take a while for you to find good friends in the class, as most of your Raffles Programme (RP) classmates will have already known each other for a long time. However, most of the other students in the Science RAs are not as stuck-up, contrary to popular opinion. Newcomer status in Raffles will not get in the way of finding an accepting circle of friends eventually, so long as you reciprocate people’s friendliness. In my experience, most of my classmates were genuinely nice people who would be willing to befriend you as long as you had an open mind. It also won’t hurt that students in RA all have a common passion for their chosen subject, which can bring them closer.

Should I enter RA?
If you are genuinely interested in the subject you are applying for then we would encourage you to go ahead. The RAs would allow you to explore such interests and provide valuable opportunities for you to learn more. However, it is not advisable to enter the RA for purely the privileges that would be afforded to you, without true enthusiasm backing you up as you could find yourself stuck in a learning environment you would become tired of. Learning about topics that are out of the syllabus could become more like a chore than a pleasure if you do not already enjoy the subject and, at the end of the day, the certification would not be worth the heartache and budding resentment that results from an extended curriculum not tailored to your interests.

The Humanities Programme (HP)
If conversations about international politics, great literature, human relationships, or anything ostensibly humanities-related interest you, look no further than the Raffles Humanities Programme (HP).

As a programme catered to passionate humanities students, you will find yourself in a cosy and intellectually stimulating environment dedicated to the study of what exactly makes us human. To that end, while Humanities and the Arts Stream share a common syllabus, what differentiates the Humanities are the cultural outings that are frequently organized for students within. One particular highlight is also Combined Civics, a weekly ‘mini-assembly’, where the Humanities Programme teachers invite notable individuals ranging from international laywers, to professional coders to speak to the students about a variety of topics beyond the classroom.

How do JAEs enter HP?
JAEs have two opportunities to enter HP: first in February through RI’s internal selection, and again after the selection for the recipients of the Humanities Scholarship (HSP) later in April. The administrative processes of both stay similar: you have to submit an essay in response to one of the the questions you can find on the MOE’s site detailing the HSP, in addition to academic and CCA portfolios, and the relevant certifications pertaining to your achievements. You will then have to attend an interview for both rounds to determine your personal interest and aptitude for the Humanities.

It’s important to note that those who have passed RI’s internal selection may not necessarily participate in MOE’s round of selection for the scholarship; it is thus possible for someone within RHP to not have the scholarship.

Will JAE students struggle academically compared to RP students?
This is a common myth that isn’t true at all. JAE students in HP often perform just as well as any RP students would. What remains a difference is simply the content and styles of education they would have received in secondary school. For example, O-Level History students would be well versed in the rise of Stalin, Hitler, and the Cold War– of which the last topic resurfaces as a topic in the A-Level syllabus– while RP students would conversely have studied earlier historical events like the French Revolution.

RP students would also have had more opportunities and time to try their hand at research and investigative studies during their third and final years in Secondary school, while JAEs would have had devoted more time to rigorous practice with the content for their O-Level examinations. So while their skills may be different, both parties can learn from each other’s strengths as they very clearly have different experiences with regards to their academic endeavours.

Are JAEs able to fit in?
JAE students would initially join a mainstream Arts class before receiving the results of their HP application. However, they would only be spending a few days or less with this class, and would join HP during the lull of introductory lectures held across the school.

The co-author’s class, 16A01B, in one of HP’s earlier cultural outings to Shakespeare In The Park.

RP students would have only spent the same few days with their HP class, so JAE students entering in February need not worry about their entrance interrupting any cohesive, perfect class dynamic. However, it is understandable that students entering in April may feel distressed as regular classes have been ongoing for more than 2 months. But many JAEs in HP assure that “members of HP are friendly and open to forming new friendships as long as you’re willing to do the same as well.” (Qiu Kexin, 16A13A).

Past the potentially bumpy induction into HP, the social lives of JAEs will be effectively similar to that of the RP students. JAEs might still find it more comfortable to interact with their fellow JAEs as they would find their common experience of taking the O-Levels, or of being educated in a different community extremely relatable. Nevertheless, our JAEs also advise applicants not to be afraid to step out of their social comfort zones: “Coming from a different background can in fact help one befriend those around them, as one can have unique and interesting experiences that would make for effective icebreakers when talking to others.” (Vera Sun, 16A01B).

Conclusion
Joining the preeminent within the already eminent as a new-coming JAE may sound daunting, and it does indeed bring a unique set of challenges, but the rewards of joining such programmes would in totality outshine any initial trepidation. Positive experiences will await those who keep an open mind and can step out of their comfort zones; so if you have nothing to lose, go ahead and send in an application to the Student Affairs Centre. You never know where it might get you.