The Raffles Institution (Year 5-6) Guitar Ensemble (RJGE) has risen to prominence to be one of the best full-fledged Niibori guitar ensembles in Singapore at the JC level under the baton of Mr. Michael Gaspar.

RJGE took part in the biennial Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) in 2013, where we performed two beautiful classical pieces, “Mountains in Autumn” and “Slavonic Dance No. 8”. It was a great opportunity for us to bond and get together to make music as a family and our efforts culminated into a hard-earned Distinction.

SYF 2013

Also, a combined concert with the RI (Year 1-4) Guitar Ensemble, REJOICE! was put up in May. This concert was the highlight of our RJGE year as we worked together to put up an amazing concert featuring various genres of music and creative works arranged by our own members. With supportive instructors and teachers, our ensemble is given the freedom to experiment, explore and enjoy. We put together a wide repertoire, ranging from classical and folk pieces, to more modern pieces featuring Jay Chou songs, a movie medley and even Disney cartoon theme songs. It was definitely a night to behold for the whole ensemble when we showcased our musical talent, exhibited great teamwork and enjoyed good fun.

Rejoice! A Celebration of Music 2013

Next year, there will be several exciting performances and competition to look forward to, including the 8^th Guitar Ensemble Festival in April as well as our very own concert in May.

Our practices are held twice weekly, every Monday and Wednesday. Additional practices may be held on Saturday mornings, if necessary, prior to major performances.

All Year 5 students are welcome to join the RJGE family to play good music and forge new friendships! No prior guitar background is required to join as lessons will be conducted by your seniors. We encourage all Y5s to join us for auditions and begin your journey with RJGE!

The Outdoor Adventure Club (ODAC) is made up of a community of people who love the outdoors, who dare to try new things and who look beyond themselves to work together towards a common goal. We ultimately aim to develop the character of every single ODACian and inculcate in every ODACian – respect, for oneself, for others, and for the environment, while using the outdoors as a medium. As the name suggests, ODAC takes part in a plethora of outdoor activities, such as overseas expeditions, kayaking, rock-climbing, hiking, cycling, mountain biking and many more.

There are several key milestones that each ODACian has to go through – Basic Training Camp (BTC), June Expedition, Gear Up and last but not least December Expedition. As ODAC does not take part in any competitions, these milestones are an important assessment of the achievement of each batch. Therefore, ODACians are strongly encouraged to go for the weeklong expedition (usually 4D3N) during the June holidays as well as the longer expedition during the December holidays.

Due to the nature of ODAC, it is preferred that ODACians do not sign up for enrichment programs as the overseas expeditions of ODAC tends to clash with the trips and activities of many enrichment programs, such as ALPS, ISLE, GCEP, BLP and LBA. Moreover, interested students should also take note that there is a cost involved in joining ODAC because of the price paid for our expeditions and personal equipment.

Our training days fall on Mondays (4.30pm – 6.30pm) and Wednesdays (2.30pm – 6.30pm), with the longer durations usually used for external trainings around Singapore. Training for our expeditions become a part and parcel of ODAC life. Running, static exercises, staircase climbing and Bukit Timah Hill trainings sometimes even with loaded backpacks are a familiar routine for all ODACians. This is to ensure that all ODACians attain a certain level of physical fitness, to eventually challenge ourselves in a way we have never before during the expedition.

Of course, if you were to ask any ODACian, not all trainings are about building up our fitness levels, we do have many trainings having the outdoors incorporated into them. As a batch, we’ve trekked the Southern Ridges, the Pipe-A-Pipe trail, Macritchie and Peirce reservoir nature trails and many more. And for many of us, these are trails that we would have never gone on by ourselves. ODAC has brought us on a journey to discover the hidden gems of our very own country, with mesmerizing, breath-taking and picturesque scenery.

ODAC’29 Southern Ridges

Each batch of ODACians has entirely different experiences, embarking on different expeditions to various places each year. And for last year’s batch of ODACians, we scaled both the sixth highest mountain in Malaysia, the second tallest mountain in East Asia, and cycled more than 250km along the East coast of Taiwan.

ODAC’29 Mt Yong Yap, Malaysia, June Expedition

ODAC’29 Xueshan, Taiwan, December Expedition

ODAC’29 cycling, Taiwan, December Expedition

ODAC embraces the idea of ‘the path less chosen’, no doubt, some people might wonder whether it is worth lugging a 15kg backpack up and down a mountain when there are other sceneries out there that are much more accessible. To these people, we will now very frankly tell you that ODAC is not the CCA for you.

We’re looking for the individual willing to step out of his/her comfort zone and continually challenge him/herself to better his/her skills, who has the mental strength to pull through difficult situations, who is a team player and cares for his/her batchmates, and most importantly, the individual who, at the end of the day, is are able to rejoice that he/she gets to be a part of what nature has to offer.

But just to clarify, we aren’t looking for people with a do-or-die attitude, we’re looking for people willing to try and give it their best shot. And if you think that you’re up to that challenge, we welcome you to join the ODAC family.

CCA Preview: Indian Cultural Society (ICS)

Looking for something exciting and fun yet meaningful? Do you want to bond with your fellow Indian batchmates over some interesting activities? Then Indian Cultural Society is the CCA for you. In ICS, you get to organise and participate in numerous notable events from our annual cultural production to service learning activities. In collaboration with SINDA, we organised Value-O-City (notice the pun with velocity and vivocity? hehe), an Amazing Race targeted at 150 primary school students at Sentosa. It was fun-filled day with various games and activities which not only enriched the kids but also our ICS members. We also did a 5-week long Skills School Programme for Primary 4 to 5 kids with emphasis on inspiring and mentoring the kids. Members were happy to make an impact on the small kids in a big way.

Kids & Student Facilitators at Value-O-City Amazing Race

The Hero & Villains at Value-O-City Amazing Race

Look forward to being on stage in our very own annual Sangamam show, a cultural showpiece. Sangamam is one of the main highlights of our CCA as members come together to showcase their talents such as acting, singing and dancing. The road to Sangamam is filled with memories as you get to work with your friends to stage this production. As Maanasa, a member of ICS mentioned, “Sangamam is one of the most fun thing in JC!” Sangamam 2014 will feature a major change from the previous years. Come join ICS and get to be part of this milestone. You can surely expect the unexpected…

Sangamam 2013

Other than just in the Raffles Indian community, members also get to be involved in the wider Indian community through participation in SINDA Youth Leaders’ Seminar and Yishun Junior College Seminar.  Our members have also participated in diverse competitions from short films to short story writing.

We meet either on Wednesdays or Fridays weekly/fortnightly and more frequently as events draw closer. Your involvement in ICS is fully up to you, flexible and you can choose to take on responsibilities such as being in charge of events or help out during the event itself.

There is no pressure, only laughter and memories as one big family.

What is a “Chinese Orchestra”? To some a “Chinese Orchestra” is just a bunch of silly looking people performing the same Chinese New Year songs during every Lunar New Year celebration. To others, “Chinese Orchestra” is a cluster of students who perform weird Chinese music that seemed totally foreign at a certain CO concert they attended to support a friend.  Sure, to a certain extent, they may be right, but that is definitely not all there is to a CO.

To us, CO is a gathering of friends who share the same passion for playing music together. As an orchestra, everyone plays a part in creating and shaping our music. What makes us different from a symphonic band or orchestra however is that we create music using Chinese instruments such as the guzheng and pipa, and we build our foundation through Chinese music. But that doesn’t restrict us to making only Chinese music! In fact, CO plays music of all genres and origins, be it modern or traditional, Western or Oriental. Don’t believe me? Here are Chinese Orchestras playing cool songs that you can connect to:

In RICO, we believe that we should play music with each other and for each other. All members have a say in what songs we should play, and some even arrange or compose their own pieces which we often feature.  Regardless of our members’ prior experience in playing an instrument before or not, everyone has a place in RJCO.

As an orchestra, every member is crucial in shaping the group sound. Our practices are split into 2 types: sectional and orchestral. In Wednesday sectional practices, we split up into our sections to hone our individual skills and instrument mastery so as to achieve a homogenous sound within the section. In Thursday/Friday orchestral practices, all sections gather to coordinate between sections shape the music as an orchestra, creating one unified sound.

But it’s more than just the music. It is also about how 60 over people can work together to create something beautiful and become a big family. For most of us, our love for RICO stems from the friendship that binds us together. It’s about those late night dinners we have after practices and early morning gatherings just to see each others’ smiles before we plunge into the day. It’s about those outings, chalets and camps that allow us to spend quality time together, half the time mocking and teasing each other. And it’s about those friends that you know that you can fall back on, because there’s an entire orchestra behind you.  We go through the highs and the lows as one orchestra.

What is a “Chinese Orchestra”?  It’s just a usual group of students, bound by an unusual bond of friendship, playing music together.

A poem about Squash:

Squash
It’s fun
Not in the sun
And the number of players can be one

Drive, boast, drop and kill
That is how you display your skill
But also remember that a squash match
is ultimately a test of your will

Squash is the ultimate combination of skill, agility, fitness, mental resilience, and intelligence. Our training hones all these attributes through court and physical training. Court trainings include rallies and drills which are fundamental but important skills required to play a decent match. After all, no matter how tough a game is, every squash player goes back to their basics and play on from there. As the time ticks by, our breathing gets heavier, our legs get tired and our shots get looser. This is the crucial moment where our fitness plays a significant role in determining a win and a loss. Our regular physical training ensures that every player on the team is able to endure a full match. To add on, our weekly sprints and long runs also help us in preventing the fatigue feeling after a long match.

So where do we attain all these fitness and skills? Well, it all takes place 3 times a week at Serangoon Gardens Country Club and each session lasts for about 2 to 3 hours. Training usually falls on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, during off season periods or exams, training is shortened to only 2 times a week. For the past few years, Raffles Squash is proud to have had such a dedicated coach who has not only been with us through numerous years of Nationals, he has also been a friendly mentor who was always there to give us advice and support. With an amiable coach, trainings have always been fun and enjoyable! Knowing how to have fun is also one of the things that Raffles Squash pays much attention to because we believe that happy members will not only have a closer camaraderie, everyone will also be encouraged and motivated to train harder. Indeed, the time flies when we are training! 

So enough said about our training sessions. Let’s enter a squash court and learn more about this unique sport. Welcome to the squash court! 

The red lines denote the boundary of the play area and all shots must be within the top lines and bottom lines. Right now some of you might be thinking that aiming at such large walls is not a problem, but after you have considered how a point is won, playing squash is no easy feat! Squash is a mentally and physically draining sport which requires game tactics and strategies. Even having a perfect game plan does not always guarantee a full proof win. But no worries, with some practice and hard work, you’ll definitely be driving that ball at an amazing speed.

Since squash is a small CCA, the team is very close. We all get along very well together, and provide moral support to each other during matches and exam periods. We also enjoy lunch as a team after some training sessions.

And so, we hope you got a better idea of what Squash is and we really hope you’ll sign up!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. The performance will begin shortly and we would like to remind all audience members to switch off all mobile phones or similar distractions such as stray Facebook or 9GAG tabs. Audience members are also to note that flash photography and awkward screenshots of this page are not allowed. Any resemblance to persons dead or alive is purely coincidental. Presenting, Raffles Players.

Raffles Players is an eclectic group of individuals with a passion for the stage, with a thirst for challenges and a whole lot of energy. We are a random bunch of students who have been thrown together by a similar interest and drive, (and unfortunately a common hatred of sunshine and exercise) and who have taken refuge in the pleasantly air-conditioned Theatre Studies Room.

Sessions are usually held on Wednesdays, with rehearsals increasing in intensity in the lead up to a production. Once it comes to production season, get ready for unimaginable fun (and stress). We have a number of productions at different points in the year. The time leading upto a production is an intense period where Players are given opportunities to try their hand at the different aspects of theatre, aside from acting. These include Sets, Costumes, Lights and Sounds, Publicity, as well as Stage and Production Management. From sourcing for costumes all over Singapore, to designing lights for every new production, be prepared for a fresh and exciting experience no matter which subcommittee you join!

Raffles Players is also proudly involved in organising one of the most anticipated annual IHC events – Dramafeste. This sees non-members engaging with the dramatic arts, proving that theatre is for all as the 5 houses strive to put on a wholly original production in a short period of time. 2014 will be an especially challenging year as Raffles Players will be participating in the Singapore Youth Festival Arts Presentation as well. Life in Players varies greatly- it moves from a quiet buzz of activity, with 2-hour long sessions once a week to a frantic blur of marathon rehearsals. No matter the circumstances though, Players strive to deliver the best performance possible.

J1 Production 2013

We’ll be frank with you- Raffles Players is no walk in the park. The pressure to perform and to do well is immense, and coupled with tight deadlines and limited resources, it’s a very challenge-filled two years ahead. Member Jo-Ann Heng commented, “It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. All my batchmates will tell you the same.” At the end of the day, Players always pull through.

The most rewarding part of the Players journey perhaps, is not the successful productions or the positive (if any) Press Reviews, but the people encountered and friendships forged through long days and hard nights. “Through Players, I have met people of uniquely different talents and characters, and created friendships that will outlast the stage”, mused member Ejaz Latiff.

Should you wish to join Players, the audition process is simple. For actors, it involves the delivering of a set monologue and various theatre games, and for set designers, the presentation of a portfolio will suffice. If you have no prior experience in theatre, but are keen to pursue an interest in it, you are very welcome to audition as well. After all, Chairpersons Eugenia Tang and Natalie Ng jointly ruminate that “The two years will be crazy and jam-packed with things to get done, but it’s really the random pockets of time you get to spend knowing your batch mates better that make all the difference – and that’s where you’ll find your most lasting memories.”

Bonding while painting sets

E.A. Bucchianeri wrote that theatres are “Curious places, magician’s trick-boxes where the golden memories of dramatic triumphs linger like nostalgic ghosts, and where the unexplainable, the fantastic, the tragic, the comic and the absurd are routine occurrences on and off the stage”. Hopefully, your journey will be as magical (yes, we mean this non-ironically) as ours has been so far and we look forward to seeing you soon!

By Ang Yu Sheng (14S06A) and Lee Hwee (14A03A)

Bid independently, call a card as a partner, guess who your partner is through the course of the game, and stop once you’ve reach the required number of “sets” – that’s what Bridge is to you isn’t it?

Welcome to Contract Bridge, where the confounding bidding process speaks meaning for itself. A game where your partner is already determined, where you are allowed to have a look at all of a player’s cards and if you are lucky, may even get to have a rest and spectate a game without even playing a single card! Seems like a culture shock?

Not to fear for we will guide all members through the basics and the various strategies that can be utilized for competitive play. Trainings are conducted on Wednesdays and Fridays, and include lessons on bidding and game play (which are conducted by a senior, an alumni, or our teacher-in-charge – Mr Marvin Lai), as well as pair matches or team matches to prepare members for different types of competitions.

In essence, what is the point of training and practising if we do not experience participating in a competition? Throughout the 2 years, we encourage members to participate in various inter JC competitions as well as other international competitions, which has produced outstanding results, clinching 2 out of 3 championship trophies across the inter JC competitions.

Bridge Club is looking for students who are passionate in strategic games which exercises their mental wit and intelligence. We are also seeking members who desire to pursue Bridge as their hobby, dedicating their time and effort to refine and hone their skills, and to bring their gameplay to a much higher level.

There is a common misconception that Bridge is but a frivolous social game that is predominantly based on luck. However, this is untrue. The result of a round is largely determined by the skill a player possess, the depth of analysis conducted, and whether he is able to exploit slight advantages available to earn extra tricks. This goes to say that the result of a hand does not depend on your cards, but the way you play them with your tactical knowledge. The same hand, played differently, will yield different results. Sometimes, one slight blunder can prove to be extremely costly.

This is not to say that bridge is a game purely for “intellectuals” or a game where more experienced players always win. Almost every new member of the club is new to the game as well. Hence, new members can learn to enjoy and explore this truly amazing game in a friendly environment at Bridge Club.

So come join us, and embark on a journey exploring the “king of all card games” (Bill Gates), and ace it yourself!

Why should the beautiful game be a man’s sport? Us soccer girls wear our mud  splatters and smelly sweat-soaked bibs as badges of pride for everything else cleaner that our CCA offers. That’s not to say you can’t join us if you don’t enjoy  playing in the rain though, because bathrooms – with hot water, no less!! – are at the ready after training in EWBIS, and flocking to them/our shower sessions are only another kind of post-training bonding activity.

Besides lunching, celebrating birthdays, BBQs and camps together, as Mr. Leong, our coach, always says, “PT is the best way to bond.” Our training includes Physical Training on Mondays, split up according to different goals over the
months: endurance, strength and agility. While running ten rounds around the track or doing a circuit of twenty-one stations may sound daunting at first, accomplishing such feats for and with your team can greatly boost morale! Improving your fitness over the year and realizing so will help both your team  and yourself – one of the payoffs of being recognized as one of the more “hardcore” sports CCAs for girls.

Apart from that, we have two training sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays where we are taught drills to improve our ball skills. Mr. Leong is very honest with us in saying that girls usually need more work, because very rarely have we played before we join the CCA. So don’t worry if you have never touched a soccer ball in your life – many of us started the same way too! What we’re looking for is the right attitude and passion to work hard (though basic coordination skills and some ball sense would be appreciated too). Just come down and try dribbling the ball because otherwise you’ll never know if you have hidden talent waiting to be discovered!

Beyond that, the team is really a joy to have as a family in the stressful years of JC. In fact, you literally hear us before you see us – because of the amount and volume of laughing we emanate. Messing up during trainings is always good reason to laugh, and creating hilarious memories always brings people together. So does dying together weekly during PT, and nobody complains because of how there’s always someone to cheer you on while you’re hanging from the IPU bar next to the canoeists. Having someone to run for on the pitch helps you understand Mr. Leong’s aphorism, “Lose never mind, but must win!” (He says many funny things by the way, starting from calling you ‘aunties’ to counting “2, 4, 6, 8, 7”.) Sounds contradictory at first, but what he means is that striving to win does not mean awarding the result the same importance as the process we go through together. He always goes through videos of our games with us after so that we learn, and always tells us if a game is good or bad depending on our teamwork and positioning rather than the goals we concede.

For more quotes from our beloved coach and other information, you can always visit the soccer board (one of the few remaining ones in school) in EWBIS, or join us and hear Mr. Leong’s stories of our stores and board yourself! Whatever it is, you get a kick out of soccer!!! >:)

Written by: Le Thuy Ngoc (14A03B) and Ng Shi Min (14S03U)

“A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

At Raffles Institution, the library is a popular place that offers students a quiet study area, an ideal location for academic research and a treasure box of knowledge for the mind. With its role being the essential component of every school, it is vital to upkeep the library’s comfortable learning space to allow every student to utilize it to its full potential. That is the role of a librarian!

Library Society is a student-centered service CCA where each member takes pride in his/her role as student librarian and strives to contribute to the school by serving at the Shaw Foundation Library. CCA meetings are held on Wednesdays from 2-3pm but are not conducted on a weekly basis. Student librarians are required to clock in 100 hours for two years (inclusive of meeting hours), that is 60 hours in Year 5 and 40 hours in Year 6. Any additional hours completed by student will be counted directly towards CIP hours.

“Many people have the impression that the Library Society consist of a nerdy bunch of people who discuss books and do nothing but shelving. While it’s true we love books and frequently have impromptu book discussions during our meetings, Library Society isn’t just about “packing and shelving books”. It is much more than that!” said Koh Hui Ling (14S03B).

As student librarians, we are involved in basic library duties such as shelving, paperwork and stocktaking. But beyond that, we also aims to engage the school with annual events, such as Year 5 Project Work research lectures and the highly anticipated Inter-house Challenge Games (IHC). Additionally, Library Society also offers opportunities for students to give back to the larger community by initiating library-related service projects. Past projects include the Quotes project, a Reading Assistance Programme and an Audio-books project for the Singapore School for the Visually Handicapped. Through these projects, students are able to apply the skills learnt, develop character and teamwork, as well as display their leadership qualities in the different sub-committees they are assigned to.

Members at CIP event

Besides having a platform to serve, other perks of joining the CCA include a warm and cozy CCA room exclusive for student librarians (with amenities like sofas and TV), flexible CCA timings and a very close-knitted CCA. “Library Society is like a family, with members who share the same passion and great teachers-in-charge to guide you along,” said Ng Shi Min (14S03U).

Members in CCA room

Undoubtedly, what one stands to gain most out of their journey in Library Society is definitely the experience. According to Le Thuy Ngoc (14A03B), “I love coming to CCA and interacting with the librarians there. They may look cold and scary at first glance but once you get to know them personally, they are really friendly and approachable!”

So if you have a burning passion to serve the school community and wish to gain a cozy community of friends at the same time, then consider joining Library Society! We look forward to having new members joining us in our vibrant and fun CCA journey in 2014!

And the music was good
And the music was loud
And the singer turned and he said to the crowd
Let there be rock!

— Let There Be Rock; AC/DC

Dreamt of melting the faces off hundreds of screaming fans with your playing? Or of holding an audience spellbound with the sound of your voice? Then Raffles Rock might just be for you! As Chairman Gordon Kang puts it,

“There’s no better feeling than performing music on stage with your friends and watching the crowd go nuts.”

Gordon Kang, Chairman of Raffles Rock

Raffles Rock is all about making good music and having fun, and we work towards those things during our weekly practice sessions in the jamming studios along the Computer Lab corridor. Tuesday is our designated CCA day, when everyone will come down from 4pm – 7pm and practice in their respective band. Other practices may also be scheduled within bands as and when needed. When we’re not pressed for time to rehearse for a gig, we usually either try out new songs so that we’re more familiar with them should we want to play them for future gigs, or just have fun jamming and making music! This is when the varying musical tastes of our members really make things interesting, with styles such as those of Dream Theater (Progressive Rock/Metal), McFly (Pop), and even Disney music influencing the improvised product.

But of course, Raffles Rock is about so much more than our weekly practices or the music we make; it’s more than a CCA; it’s a family, the product of shared creativity, dedication to and passion for music.

As a CCA, we also hold an annual concert; this year’s being the second edition of ROCKOUT – Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud. Held at the SCAPE Warehouse, over 700 tickets were sold this year! Though the venue may vary from year to year, you can be sure that the same spirit and dedication to give the hundreds of audience members who turn up a reason to Rock Out will remain the same. We also perform for school events, such as Take 5 and National Day, and even events such as New Years’ Countdowns or charity gigs from external organizations. Joining Rock provides an opportunity to perform on a big stage several times a year, and also to gain performing experience in front of a variety of crowds.

To get into Rock, there will be a live audition, and an interview. The live audition will be for you to impress the panel of Rock members (as well as our teacher in-charge, Mr. Steffen Toh) with their technical and musical prowess on their respective instruments (including the vocal chords!). A musical background or having been from a musical CCA are not requirements, a good number of current Rock members don’t fulfil either of those requirements and are nonetheless spectacular at what they do! The interview is important for us as well to get to know you a little better, so we know who we’re accepting into the CCA! 

The ancient art of alchemy is in essence, the ‘art of transformation’, from one element to another. Ancient alchemists strived to transform base metals into noble metals, and develop the elixir of life, which would confer youth and longevity. The key objective of Club Alchemy is just as its namesake – to transform people into passionate alchemists, eager and curious in the study of chemistry, in a setting conducive for peer learning as well as self-discovery, while forging forever lasting friendships with like-minded members.

Why Alchemy? Firstly, chemistry is everywhere in the world around us!  It’s in the food we eat, clothes we wear, water we drink, medicines, air, cleaners… you name it. Chemistry is rightfully called the “central science” because it connects other sciences to each other, such as biology, physics, geology and environmental science. Because of this, Alchemy sessions’ mainly focus on exploring the chemistry of everyday objects and phenomena. By linking chemical knowledge and theory to practical knowledge, we hope to ignite Alchemist’s thirst for knowledge and an attitude of inquisition.

Alchemy Club’s sessions are far from mundane, as we cover Chemistry topics which are usually out of syllabus, interesting and have real-life applications. Topics out of the H2 syllabus are usually covered to broaden exposure to Chemistry. Sessions include presentations on areas of interest such as food chemistry, complex coloured salts, electrochemistry, and many more. Members also present on whatever interests them.  Practical lab sessions are also included, where a whole range of experiments from cheese and ice-cream making to interesting experiments to even synthesizing compounds.

Besides practical sessions, the Club has a range of activities catering to everyone. Games such as buzzer-round quizzes are sure to excite club members, while discussion sessions on quirky topics such as solvated electrons keep Alchemists’ mind as broad and diverse as possible. Alchemy Club satiates the curiosity of the inquisitive with many chances for interaction.  A whole range of exciting events are lined up for Alchemists every year, including organizing the Inter-house science challenge, as well as co-hosting events such as the biannual Eureka! Quiz and the RI-Maurick Water Conference, which is to be held next year (2014).  No moment will be dull in a Alchemist’s life – our explosive events are set to engage young minds and transform them!

Who are we? Well, we’re just a group of sixteen girls who love to dance, and found the answer to that passion here in Chinese Dance. With its elegance, energy, and mix of traditional, contemporary and folk elements, Chinese Dance is indeed one of a kind as an art form – and one very close to all of our hearts.

Under the guidance of Madam Chen Lili, our team meets twice a week in the multi-purpose studio to dance our hearts out. To us, dance is not a hobby but a passion, not a skill but an integral part of our lives. Our team mates are not just fellow dancers, but family members – and one of our greatest joys is to perform together.

What have we done this year? Our seniors, along with a few of the dancers in our batch trained long and hard and did the school proud by clinching Distinction at the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Arts Presentation earlier this year! They presented a beautiful remake of a much-loved old piece choreographed for the SYF Central Judging back in 2007. While the SYF team was preparing for the presentation, the rest of us were hard at work practicing for our first performance as a batch at the Global Alliance of Leading Edge Schools. Our team faced many challenges during this period of time as we come from a diversity of backgrounds – from gymnastics, to ballet, to ethnic dance, to contemporary dance – and this made it difficult to synchronise our styles into a single, cohesive piece. Furthermore, the personality of the dance we had chosen was new to many of us. However, our common love for dance, the tireless perseverance of every member and the patient guidance of our instructress enabled us to put up a performance we could be proud of in the end.

What’s up next? We definitely aren’t stopping here! Right now, our team is in preparation for a performance at Boon Lay countdown. The piece is a timeless classic choreographed by our instructress to a popular song by Jay Chou, and we certainly hope to live up to its reputation and her expectations! Also look out for us at Take 5 and Dance week later next year, where we will be showcasing a variety of dances ranging from contemporary to folk Chinese dance.

More than performance opportunities, we hope to continue to bond as a team, as a Chinese Dance family, and grow both as dancers and people through our journey together as a batch of dancers. We hope that you will enjoy our heartfelt performances, and continue to support us!

Automatica

Club Automatica is just the place you’d want to be if you enjoy either manipulating Physics theories or playing with technology. We are formed by 2 divisions – Quanta, which deals with Physics, and Robotica, dealing with robotics applications.

Club Vision
“To nurture a group of passionate, skilled students able to push boundaries in robotics and Physics through creativity and innovation”

Quanta

Seeking to acquire the fundamental grasp of our world and how it works and revolves (pun intended), Quanta aims to delve deeper into the vast and electrifying world of Physics. Quanta is a division of Club Automatica.

From the knowledge of something as fundamental as an apple dropping to the ground through gravity to the exploration of the abstract world of quantum mechanics, Quanta explores various concepts through interactive discussions and sharings. For those who share a passion of exploring Physics deeper and learning more about anything and everything related to Physics, Quanta is the place for you. Quanta sessions are usually held once a week, with sharings often occurring by any member who is keen to share his/her thoughts about something which he/she read and found interesting, some of our quirkier sessions include the investigation of the Physics behind the Spiderman scene where he stops a train using 2 thick strands of web, quantum mechanics and the physics of a ball in motion (and not just projectile motion or Stokes’ Law while we’re at it).

Figure 1 Currently, this our electrifying new setup, the tesla coil

Quanta is multidimensional (again pun intended), we also have demonstrations and setups of interesting phenomena, such as soon-to-be-held/recently held JIP workshop on non-Newtonian fluids and our very own Tesla Coil. Currently, we also intend to construct features such as simple ballistic mechanisms. Building these devices is no mean feat, coming up with such devices requires a fair amount of creativity and innovation, and we intend to increase appreciation of Physics’ phenomena through these interactive displays.

Figure 2 Preliminary prototype models for our pneumatic projectiles

We also aim to connect aspiring students with the Singapore Young Physicists’ Tournament (SYPT), a competition where students from across Singapore would duke out their knowledge on Physics problems in debates known as “Physics Fights”. Presentations of past participants and knowledge on the tournament would give prospective students some knowledge as to what to expect in the qualification later towards the end of the year.

So who can join us at Quanta? Anyone and everyone who has an interest in exploring the fundamentals of the world around us are welcome to join. You need not be a Physics students, just a desire to learn will be perfect.

Ultimately, Quanta want to show you that Physics is not an insurmountably daunting subject riddled with nefarious Greek letters, but rather a subject that explores the fundamental principles of the world around us. This exploration we cannot promise will be easy, but it definitely will be fun, enriching and intriguing. We learn fundamental principles governing our world, from the vast expanses of our universe to the smallest of subatomic particles. We learn Physics.

For more information, feel free to contact Kartik (Quanta Chairperson) at kartikbalodi@yahoo.com.sg or 97816553.

Written by: Ho Xiu Lun and Joelle Chong

Picture this. The lines are drawn and the stands are filled. You smell the grass and feel the sun fuel you. “Play ball.” The crowd roars as you step up to bat and this is when the adrenaline kicks in. With a triumphant swing, you send the ball soaring through the sky and clinch the victory by bringing home the winning run. This is softball.

We play for the (g)love of the game, training three times a week under Mr Nelson Lim, our wise and experienced coach. Our coach has been with us for over 20 years, training countless batches of champions. Year after year, Raffles Softball has performed remarkably, with the ‘A’ Division Boys defending their title for the past three years, and the ‘A’ Division Girls bringing home the title the year before and coming in third runners up last year.

You can also expect various exciting overseas training opportunities to countries like Thailand, Australia, Malaysia and beyond. Not only so, annual tournaments such as the SRC-SBSA Softball Carnival and AIA-SBSA Kallang Softball Open provide us with ample opportunity to hone our skills and bring us closer together as a unit.

In Softball, you’ll find in your team mates a second family, one who shares the same passion as you and will always have your back. Our teachers-in-charge are one of the most dedicated around and so is the softball alumni who spares no effort to go the extra mile, sacrificing their time to assist us during training.

If you have any experience playing softball or are interested in picking up the sport, we welcome you to be part of our softball family!

Softball: Where the good steal.

Club Automatica

Club Automatica is just the place you’d want to be if you enjoy either manipulating Physics theories or playing with technology.

We are formed by 2 divisions – Quanta, which deals with Physics, and robotica, dealing with robotics applications.

Club Vision
“To nurture a group of passionate, skilled students able to push boundaries in robotics and Physics through creativity and innovation”

ROBOTICA

In Robotica, we deal with all things electrical and mechanical. We use different platforms to build our own wonderful creations. From simple kits like Lego NXT (yes, the plastic blocks brand, but much much cooler stuff, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0-hmiCIShE) and VEX (for larger, metal robots) to more adventurous ones like the open sourced Arduino as well as propietary systems such as Joinmax! However, the club is not just about what we do, it’s more about how we do it. Innovation and creativity are indispensable in our arsenal of tools. In a sea of indistinguishable mechanical contraptions, we strive for the beautiful solution, poised as the guiding light for the robotics scene worldwide.

Our training sessions are fully student-run. But don’t worry, we have adequate qualification and experience, having been through up to 8 years of robotics competitions nationally and internationally. However, our individual brilliance would count for nothing if we didn’t share. Thankfully, sharing is one of our favourite activities (making robots come first). By teaching one another, as well as our juniors (through RARE, an initiative for Y5-6s to teach our Y1-4 juniors), and sharing with whoever wants to listen through our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Club-Automatica/325436347581930). This way, we can pass on the knowledge and passion that we have for Robotics to our fellow enthusiasts personally!

Of course, we apply these skills in the plethora of competitions we take part in such as Robocup Singapore Open & National Junior Robotics Competition. This way, we are able to pit our skills against others and expose ourselves to a variety of solutions.

1) RoboCupJunior Singapore – Awards:
1st for Dance Challenge – Individual Team Secondary
1st for Dance Challenge – Super Team
1st for Soccer Challenge – Soccer Open League Individual Team (here’s a link to the videos of the finals where we beat ACSI 18-1 first half: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=945JS0hvFzA, second half: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxDzak2tu3g&feature=c4-overview&list=UU7DpTAK4xH0-Mq9bNsVJTEQ)
Best Achievement Award

2) NJRC – Awards:
2nd for Best Research
3rd for Entrepreneurship award
Distinction Award – tertiary category

If you’ve got the interest, then that’s all we need! No prior experience is needed at all. As a close-knit bunch of robotics enthusiasts, we’d gladly guide you from lost soul to at least good enough to build and program a simple robot (personal commitment and enthusiasm is definitely a plus point to have to be good).

If you already have the experience though, why not join like-minded people like us to further your skills and try out new ideas! Who knows, you could be the next Dean Kamen Kenneth Chow (chairman, kenneth_chw@yahoo.com.sg).

In 2013, we had our division sessions every Wednesday, 2.30-4.30. This coming year however, the training day and timing are subject to change, based on our members’ availability. We’re extremely flexible about it as we believe that it would be a waste to lose out on our exciting sessions only due to schedule conflicts.

Fact of the day: All our members have won at least one first placing trophy in a competition this year, definitely an added incentive to join us.

Raffles Modern Dance is a tightly-knit CCA that never fails to inculcate the love for dancing in its members. It has a warm atmosphere with every dancer playing a vital role in the team. In Modern Dance, the dancers are exposed to the unique style of their resident instructor, Low Mei Yoke. Madam Low prepares the dancers for important events such as the biennial Singapore Youth Festival (SYF), as well as, major school events such as Raffles Rhapsody. Weekly trainings and self-improvisation classes constantly improve the technicality of the dancers. Furthermore, the dancers are given a chance to choreograph their own dance pieces during non-SYF performances. This allows them to explore their fullest potential and creativity.

There are numerous opportunities for Modern Dance to perform each year and these platforms serve as a great way for the dancers to improve their stage presence. In 2013, we took part in the Singapore Youth Festival and attained a Distinction for our item titled ‘In or Out’. Other performances include in-house events such as Open House and Take 5.

During term time, Modern Dance meets twice a week, on Mondays (4.00 – 6.00) and Wednesdays (3.00 – 6.00), for a total of about 5 hours. However, nearing the time of performances, trainings may increase to three times a week and trainings may be extended. During the holidays, trainings will be conducted during the earlier half of the holiday.

Modern Dance requires auditions and the selection process consists of two stages. The first stage requires participants to learn a set of choreography and the second stage to improvise according to any music played. However, participants may be asked to prepare a short routine as well. Selection into Modern Dance is based on the participants’ ability to learn quickly and their overall performance.

Apart from gaining performing experiences, the dancers will learn an important element in Modern Dance – chemistry. Modern Dance comprises movements that are interdependent between dancers. It focuses on expression and emotion. To foster inter and intra batch bonding, Modern Dance also has outings throughout the year, for instance to watch dance performances together. We are also planning to have a bonding camp in April.

As Martha Graham once said, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul”, Raffles Modern Dance is truly a CCA that allows its dancers to push beyond their limits and mature into even greater dancers.

Bill Shankly once said, “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s a lot more than that.” For many people, football is something that they gather together to kick about an air filled ball into a net, or settling down in their living room to catch a glimpse of Manchester United versus Liverpool on the television. To us, this sport is much more than that. Joining football and playing football, entails joining a family of equally passionate football fanatics who give their hearts out to emulate their footballing heroes, trading skills that may seem impossible to accomplish and demonstrate their innate ability with the ball on their feet.

Coming off second place in last years National Schools competition, this year, we will be trying our utmost best to reach the top and to topple the reigning champions off their throne.

Although ability in football is greatly appreciated in every squad, talent can only go so far as how hard they work for it. Here in football, selection is not only based by your natural ability with the ball, but how much you want to play and your passion in joining this sport. Here, we also have the best teachers in charge, with the ever-passionate Mr. Lee, our biology and economics maestros Mr. Ganison and Mr. Sunderaj, and coupled with our revered coach Mr. Philippe Aw, trainings will definitely be the activity that you look forward to every week!

Our trainings are held about thrice a week, with most days allocated to field training (Hooray to five-a-side matches!) and improving our skills on the ball. Of course on the rainy days or on the days that the lightning alert magically sounds, physical training, or PT, commences, which entails a rigorous workout of stairs training, core training and jogging around the campus. Then again, you better pray that it does not rain before training, lest you arrive home with a bag full of smelly, mud stained garments that your mom will most definitely be displeased at.

Have I mentioned that football is a family? Joining football means joining a team of brothers that share with each other interesting (sometimes crude) anecdotes that never fail to make us laugh, or simply having a meal at the nearby S-11 or the Sky Garden at J8. Walk past the tables near the Hodge Lodge, and you’ll hear the most raucous and noisiest bunch of people, mostly made up of the footballing team. The bonds that we have in this footballing team are strong, and although the time that we may spend together may be short over these two years, but it is the feeling of friendship and camaraderie that we have built up on the field playing football that will stay with us for the years to come.

Come join us! Be it that you’re a footballing god that may rival Cristiano Ronaldo, or that you’ve never touched a football (but always wanted to), football is the CCA that you would most definitely be welcomed into!

by Lee Chin Wee 14A01B

Opinions are rather strange things. Trapped and stewing within the confines of our head, they are but isolated thoughts. Spoken and shared with a few close friends, they start to gain some character – sharpened by dissenting views and polished over time. But when broadcasted to a wider community, that’s when opinions really come into their own – they gain the power to persuade, to entertain, to wound, and to move. After all, the world doesn’t owe us a duty to listen to what we think.

As the official student journalism society of RI, Raffles Press aspires to be a platform where our members can make their voices count. We meet once a week, from 2.00-3.30 pm on Wednesdays. While our training schedule may seem low-intensity, rest assured that our reach is anything but! The annual RI yearbook features dozens of event write-ups from our very own members. The revamped Rafflesian Times, a collaborative effort with the Communications Department, goes out to thousands of alumni all around the world. Word of Mouth, our online publication, reaches out to over 2,000 regular readers on a daily basis – we regularly hit more than 60,000 views a month!  Who knew that contemporary accounts of student life could be so popular?

Weekly Sessions

But honestly, beyond the self-congratulatory statistics, there are many significant intrinsic benefits that can be reaped by joining Raffles Press. As a club, our philosophy is that the rewards you reap should be commensurate to the work you plough into the CCA. The more articles and projects you’re willing to participate in, the more fulfilling your time as a Press member will be. Don’t just take our word for it – think about the last good article you’ve read on the internet. Perhaps it inspired you to take action, or at least encouraged you to think more about a particular issue. We’re giving you the chance to touch someone’s life instead. It could be a poignant feature on a former Rafflesian drug addict, an Appreciation Week piece on one of our cleaning staff, or simply a heartfelt article about a service learning trip – it’s all up to you to decide.

After all, Press is a CCA that seeks not to compete but rather to collaborate. We’ve forged strong working relationships with the Communications Department, the Students’ Council and the Photographic Society (just to name a few) in order to enhance the Rafflesian Experience. Through our CCA Previews, we have given traditionally smaller and less publicized CCAs a platform to bring their message across. Through our Please Mind the Platform Gap series, we provide crucial information to ease the transition to Year 5-6. Through our involvement in the Rafflesian Times, we have injected a strong student voice into an otherwise corporate magazine. Many of the initiatives that Press has spearheaded over the past two years have been founded on the simple premise that student voices matter the most. We firmly believe that Raffles Press provides the dialogue needed for a stronger sense of Rafflesian community.

Field Trip to NTU Newsplex

Here at Raffles Press, we also take the personal development of our members very seriously. Members can expect their training sessions to be occupied by external workshops, internal lectures and the occasional field trip – the last one was to the Wee Kim Wee School of Communications at NTU! This year, we plan to invite a number of prominent journalists and mainstream media experts for the purposes of club enrichment. Better writers will also get the chance to mentor less experienced members from both Press and Publications (the Year 1-4 equivalent), honing their writing skills in the process.

This year, we intend to hold selection trials for the club, which will take the form of a simple English competency test as well as a short interview segment – hopefully not too daunting a prospect, especially because we intend to accept over thirty new members in 2014. Do look out for scheduling details on the CCA registration page itself.

Consider joining Press if you have a flair for writing. Consider joining us if you’ve always wanted to be a journalist. Consider joining us even if you simply want to play a part in shaping the school community. Join us so that one more voice can be added to our chorus of opinions.

Do you enjoy a good hike in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, the sight of migratory birds overhead at Sungei Buloh, or the waves that lap against seagrass lagoons along Changi’s coast? Don’t doubt it – all of us have an instinctive connection with nature. If exploring your love for our environment and conserving such places for our future is your kind of thing, then Raffles One Earth is the CCA for you.

As a designated Service Club, we have two main objectives. Firstly, to create regular environment-related service opportunities for the school population. Secondly, to advocate on pressing environmental issues so as to raise awareness on the significance of environmental conservation. Under this framework, we hope that our contributions towards the cause would go a long way in making our Earth a more sustainable place for future generations to live in.

We meet once a week on Fridays from 3.30-5.30pm, with club sessions usually involving planning for service activities. Such activities include going down to primary schools to carry out environmental outreach, spreading the message to primary school students through interactive activities like terrarium making, handicraft sessions involving recyclables, and clean-ups at the Kranji Marshes. School-wide activities are also among the list of what we do. Highlights for the year ahead include recycling campaigns, photography exhibitions featuring Singapore’s ecology and facilitated workshops that put the spotlight on contentious environmental issues.

Since there are no strict guidelines on the type of projects members can initiate, some may also choose to organize community service opportunities such as coastal cleanups for the school population. This provides firsthand experiences at environmental service, allowing participants to better appreciate the importance of environmental conservation through the service experience. For club members, there will also be the occasional outing to places such as Bukit Brown and guest speaker sessions as well.

Horseshoe crab rescue

Join us and you can look forward to fun activities such as mangrove salvaging and horseshoe crab rescue, taking you to places you’d otherwise never see! Make new friends, and more importantly get to know like-minded people with a passion for nature and the environment.

Do indicate your interest to join us when filling in your CCA options. The selection process is only a short interview and there are no prerequisites. We look forward to seeing you!